The MRYS Homeschool Sailing Program is a 4-week, hands-on introduction to sailing designed to build confidence, teamwork, and seamanship skills in a fun and supportive environment. Meeting twice weekly, students progress from basic water safety and boat familiarity to independently steering, trimming sails, and maneuvering a sailboat. Through a structured, game-based approach, our new sailors develop an understanding of wind, boat control, and cooperative sailing while gaining valuable time on the water. By the end of the program, they will feel comfortable and capable aboard a sailboat, with the skills and confidence to continue growing as sailors.
The MRYS Homeschool Sailing Program is an 4-week, hands-on introduction to sailing designed to build confidence, teamwork, and seamanship skills in a fun, supportive environment. As a US Sailing STEM program, it integrates science, technology, engineering, and math concepts directly into on-the-water learning, helping students understand not just how to sail, but why boats move and how wind, force, and design work together.
Meeting twice weekly, students progress from basic water safety and boat familiarity to independently steering, trimming sails, and maneuvering a sailboat. Through a structured, game-based approach, sailors develop practical skills while exploring core STEM principles such as wind dynamics, buoyancy, and simple mechanics.
In later sessions, students may also have the opportunity to take part in a hands-on Opti-building project, applying engineering and problem-solving skills to construct and better understand the boats they sail.
By the end of the program, participants will feel comfortable and capable on the water, with both the sailing skills and the technical understanding to continue growing as confident, well-rounded sailors.
Each session meets Tuesday and Thursday for 8 sessions. Sessions meet from 9 AM to NOON.
Our programs are open to all sailors who have reached their 6th birthday. All children are required to pass a swim check administered on the first day of class. Students must be able to swim 25 yards wearing the clothes they will be sailing in, including a life jacket and shoes.
Manatee River Youth Sailing (MRYS) is now approved for Direct Pay through the Step Up For Students scholarship program. Eligible families can use their Step Up scholarships to pay directly for Manatee River Youth Sailing programs—making it simpler for students to access sailing instruction, build confidence, and grow through water-based learning.
How to apply your Step Up For Students scholarship to a Manatee River Youth Sailing program:
Manatee River Youth Sailing will receive notification of your reserved funds.
The MRYS Homeschool Sailing Program is a 4-week course that incorporates the US Sailing STEM Educator curriculum, meeting twice weekly (Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:00 AM–12:00 PM) for students ages 6–18. Over eight 3-hour sessions, students progress through safe, age-appropriate levels from beginner to advanced with small instructor-to-student ratios and certified coaching. The program blends on-the-water sailing instruction with classroom STEM projects, teaching water safety, seamanship, boat handling, and navigation while exploring science, technology, engineering, and math through hands-on experiments and engineering challenges tied directly to sailing—including wind and aerodynamics, buoyancy, weather, data collection, and river ecology. Students develop practical skills including steering, sail trimming, and boat control, and may participate in optional Opti-building projects applying engineering and problem-solving. The program emphasizes project-based assessment and a supportive environment focused on building confidence and teamwork, equipping participants with both the sailing skills and technical understanding to continue growing as confident, well-rounded sailors.
The MRYS Homeschool Sailing Program follows a structured progression designed to build skills systematically while maintaining confidence and safety.
Week 1 focuses on Introduction & Comfort, where students learn water safety, life jacket usage, boat basics including parts of the boat, and receive their first guided sail with basic steering exposure. In the second session, they practice boarding, balance, and movement on the boat while developing wind awareness and beginning to steer independently.
Week 2 emphasizes Steering & Sail Awareness. Students practice tiller use and direction control through straight-line steering exercises while learning the concept of “points of sail.” They are then introduced to sail control, understanding what the sail does and how to pull and ease the mainsheet, gradually combining steering and sail trim with instructor guidance.
Week 3 builds Fundamental Skills through tacking practice, where students learn to turn through the wind, use proper onboard communication (“ready to tack”), and build confidence maneuvering the boat. Students also develop wind-reading skills by observing ripples, flags, and feeling the wind, allowing them to sail different directions with increasing independence and boat control.
Week 4 focuses on Boat Control & Independence, where students combine steering, sail trim, and tacking together with minimal instructor input and maximum student control. In the final session, students either learn crew roles and working together as skipper and crew, or progress to their first solo sail in individual prams, focusing on managing both the mainsheet and tiller independently.
For continuing sailors, the program extends to Week 5 with Improving Technique, where students learn to adjust sails for better performance, understand slow versus fast boat trim, and practice stopping and starting the boat safely with controlled positioning.
Week 6 builds Confidence through maneuvering skills such as target sailing and improving accuracy in turns, while students learn problem-solving on the water and how to handle challenges introduced by instructors.
Week 7 emphasizes Independence & Fun Application, with students sailing with minimal instruction while focusing on decision-making, followed by mini challenges, games, and fun races that reinforce teamwork and confidence.
Week 8 concludes with Review & Celebration, where students practice all learned skills, identify strengths and areas for improvement, and participate in a final sail or mini regatta to demonstrate their abilities and celebrate their progress.
Please Label Everything!
We are located in the Bishop Sailing Center at the Bradenton Yacht Club, 4307 13th Street W, Palmetto, FL.
Morning Classes: Drop Off 9 AM – Pick Up 12 PM
All students must be signed in and out with an instructor by a parent or guardian. No sailors may be left unattended on-site outside of MRYS sailing hours. If you cannot take your child in hand, please make arrangements for another adult to sign them in and out.
USE OF MANATEE RIVER YOUTH SAILING BOATS
Children who use MRYS boats are responsible for exercising reasonable care and good seamanship. They shall reimburse the MRYS for the cost of any loss of, or damage to, a boat, its equipment, or the property of others that results from the neglect of such care and seamanship. In addition, participants recognize that hazards are involved in the operation of boats and therefore make no claims against the Manatee River Youth Sailing or the Bradenton Yacht Club based on injuries related to the use of the boats. Anyone participating in the MRYS must wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket at all times on the water and must return the boat and its equipment to the place and in the condition in which it was found.
RULES OF THE PROGRAM
Please click HERE to view our program rules and disciplinary policy.