Sailing: Join Long Beach’s Rich Tradition Affordably

While the summer days have left us, there is still plenty of fun to be had on the waterfront in Long Beach. If you didn’t grow up sailing, you may think that sailing is something for those that have sailboats or are members of yacht clubs, but this need not be so. Long Beach has an extraordinary amount of low-cost opportunities to learn how to sail, and you don’t have to join a yacht club to learn.

When Mark Ryan says anyone can sail, he really means it. A native of Long Beach, Ryan, along with Jack Bazz and Erin Gasson, share their passion for sailing by teaching others to sail through Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine http://www.longbeach.gov/park/ year-round.

Ryan and Bazz have been teaching at the Leeway sailing site for seven years. They told me that they enjoy sharing their love for sailing with beginners. In only four weeks, most learn how to sail and if they pass the test at the end, they can rent sailboats for $15 per hour from noon – 5 p.m. year-round. Canoeing, kayaking and wind surfing lessons are also available.

Ryan and Bazz are history and engineering majors at Cal State Long Beach. Ryan said he hopes to become a history teacher and, with that, let me in on some Long Beach sailing history.

Alamitos Bay Yacht Club was loosely organized following World War I. On Aug. 14, 1924, 12 local sailors and boat builders met on the upper deck of a two-story pier on Alamitos Bay and founded what became Alamitos Bay Yacht Club (ABYC). Two years later, ABYC was formally organized. In 1945, ABYC members leased the land which is now home of the City of Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine sailing programs, the Leeway Sailing Club and Gondola Getaway. The City of Long Beach then leased the land at the end of the peninsula which is the current location of ABYC, Ryan said.

Watching the initial beginner’s class at Leeway, I was struck by the age range of first timers; many in their 40s and 50s. (The youngest age allowed is 8 years old). The calm and skill of Ryan and Bazz was wonderful to watch. The beginner class runs from 9 a.m. – noon on Sundays and by 11 o’clock, the class was out sailing without the instructors, using sailing terminology and calling each other by name. When asked if he had anything else he wanted to tell everyone about Leeway sailing Ryan said, “come sail.”

The United States Sailing Center (USSC), just a few yards down from the Leeway sailing location, also offers sailing lessons. Glennon Stratton of the USSC informed me that they will start a new group for lessons for their basic keelboat program as soon as they get three-to-five participants who are interested. If you want to get a class together on your own you can, or just put in your name and they will let you know when there are enough people for a group http://www.ussclb.org/.

The USSC was created from the success of the 1984 Olympics where Long Beach and Los Angeles co-hosted the sailing competitions. It currently hosts many sailing programs including: high school sailing for several local high schools, at-risk programs, college sailing and programs for those with disabilities. In fact, the USSC will be hosting the world summer games for the intellectually disadvantaged along with ABYC in 2015.

As Jeff Merrill, commodore of ABYC told me, Long Beach has some of the best sailing conditions anywhere with the consistent wind, along with the break wall, for inside sailing and access to the open water. He said it is a tight knit community among Long Beach Yacht club, ABYC, Leeway and the USSC.

What a fabulous activity to turn a weekend into something special. I think it is just another thing to be proud of here in Long Beach, and, while I am bragging, specifically in Belmont Shore and Naples. If you want to learn to sail, Long Beach is the place to do it.