youth sailing
Learn by doing.
Access to the water, to boats, to our maritime culture.
Sailing at The Apprenticeshop is community sailing—that means it is for everyone! You don’t need to own a boat and you don’t need to be a member. Sailing is an ancient tradition of transportation that is part of our collective human heritage. Today, it is a portal to infinite possibilities—setting off from the dock you can sail around the world, make a career as a mariner, or you can simply do it for fun. For over 20 years, we have been putting the tiller in the hands of our youth, regardless of previous experience or ability to pay. We want all youth, whether they are just curious or already passionate, to have an opportunity to access boats and experience the challenges and rewards of sailing. Sailing builds decision-making skills and confidence; it encourages both autonomy and collective spirit; it cultivates joy through exploration, and excitement in competing to reach a goal.
We won’t leave any child on the dock. Financial assistance is available!
High School Sailing: Spring and Fall Season
Spring 2025 Season starts March 24th!
Our Program
High School sailors are invited to join us for our spring and fall racing seasons!
Spring Season - Some sailing experience is recommended. The Apprenticeshop hosts Varsity teams from Oceanside High School, Camden Hills High School and Islesboro Central School. Sailors from other school programs can join the Rockland Community Team and compete in many of the same regattas
Fall Season - Club team open to all skill levels.
Our Boats
Our fleet consists of Club 420s: A 2-person sloop-rigged fiberglass racing dinghy. 420s are the premier high school and college racing sailboat in the U.S. They are stable and simple enough for beginners, but can sail fast and are responsive enough to challenge the most experienced sailors.
Caring for equipment, maintenance and respect for the facility are an essential part of seamanship and are scheduled into the program. Sailors are expected to participate in rigging and launching boats at the beginning of the Spring Season and de-rigging at the end of the Fall Season.
Regattas
Most weekends, the teams will attend racing regattas either locally or in locations such as Portland, Castine, Bowdoin, Boothbay or Mount Desert Island depending on the schedule (usually Saturdays).
The Notice Of Race (NORs) for some of our regattas are available at nessa.hssailing.org. The NORs state the race schedules, rules and general event details. The Pen Bay Sailing League organizes the majority of our regattas. The schedule is shared via email sometime early in the season. The seasonal series consist of 4 events, one at each venue: MDI, Boothbay, Rockland, Maine Maritime Academy.
Youth Summer Sailing | $365/session
Our summer sailing program is a great way for youth ages 6-14 to learn the basics of sailing and get more comfortable out on the water. Each session is 5 days (Monday through Friday) and participants can choose to take one session or multiple throughout the summer! Sailors are grouped based on age and experience levels, our younger, newer sailors learn in Optimist prams and our ‘Shop-designed Carney 8 Prams. Older sailors and those with more experience work together as a skipper and crew to sail 420 dinghies.
Financial Assistance
We offer financial assistance aimed at supporting families of all sizes and income levels. Our goal is to make sailing at The Apprenticeshop accessible to as many youth as possible each summer! So that our funds can support everyone who makes a request, financial assistance is available for only one program session per camper per year.
Call the Main Office at 207-594-1800 and ask to speak with Liz to discuss financial assistance.
Waiting List
If a session is fully enrolled, you may register to be placed on a waiting list in the event space becomes available. You must make an account in our registration system in order to register for the waitlist for any program. A deposit is not required to join the waitlist. The list is compiled in order of the date registrations were received.
If a spot becomes available, we will notify you that space has become available and will be held for 24 hours. Please be aware that availability can change on short notice.
Cancellations & Refunds
If The Apprenticeshop cancels a program session on or prior to the first day for any reason, a full refund or credit will be provided. If a customer cancels within 10 business days of the first day of a program or session, no refund will be provided but a 25% credit may be applied towards another program before the end of the year. If a customer cancels more than 10 business days in advance of the first day of the program they will receive a full refund, less processing fees.
SUMMER 2025 REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!
June 23rd - 27th
June 30th - July 3rd
July 7th - 11th
July 14th - 18th
July 21st - 25th
July 28th - August 1st
August 4th - 8th
August 11th - 15th
