Adult Classes

• [''Send us an email and we'll put you on the list, but they're super rare.'']

Our primary focus is youth instruction, but now and then we hold special adult classes as fundraisers. Send us an ''I want an adults class'' e-mail and we'll put you on the list of people to notify next time we schedule one. NOTE: It is very difficult to schedule adult classes, and they are rare. The Yacht Club is booked almost every weekend in summer, which means no dry classroom space and no bathroom. Weekday-after-work adult classes tend to suffer from insufficient wind, and are costly because we have to pay instructors time-and-a-half since they've all just done a full day with the kids (which means the break-even adult enrollment for each class is higher), and that's assuming the instructors have the energy, along with the volunteer program administrator who has to set it all up. And post-season classes suffer from instructors jetting off to college, and, no really, the pack of harbor seals that seasonally occupies our floating dock shortly after classes end- and the only way to clean that mess is intense power-washing. It still haunts my dreams.... -So we try to remove the boats and dock as soon after the end of youth classes as possible, which leaves little to no time for adult classes. Also, experience says that it's actually very hard to get enough people to register for a class, despite the fairly strong interest, even when attempting to plan a private class for a specific group of people. They are just plain logistically fraught, which makes them rare.

Dinghy Rentals

• [''We don't do that, really sorry'']

I know, I know, you're in town for a bit and you sailed as a kid and really want to try it out again, or you were on the team in school, or you just want to take a boat around because you loved sailing so much- I've been there, believe me! No one in Juneau has what you're looking for. I wish I had a better answer than that. You can try reaching out to SEAS about crewing on a privately-owned keelboat, but I don't know what the success rate is with that (and I think when people reach out to them first instead of us, they often send you our way, creating a cycle of perpetual disappointment). JYS is prohibited from renting dinghies by our insurance. We also lack the man-power to administrate rentals (someone would have to handle the registration, show you where the gear is, get you a drysuit, and handle the return when you're done), and if the wind dies, we don't have anyone to come get you. JYS has the only institutionally-owned fleet of sailboats in Juneau. What you're looking for just doesn't exist, I'm so sorry. I know how badly you want this, and we just don't have a sustainable way of making it happen.

Adult Racing Series

• [''Join us and you can make it happen!'']

''But I live here! I ran my school's sailing club! I'm a great sailor! I have Coasty friends who feel the same way who will pack each night! I'm desperate! Puh_LEEEEZE!!!!'' The only way this will happen is if you join our board and volunteer as the race director (in addition to supporting the regular youth program), for which you would have our complete support! The only time this has ever worked was 2012, when a Coasty refused to give up after I broke her heart with a glum email reply about how all previous attempts to do a regular racing series fizzled and faltered after a few weeks and I was tired of beating a dead windmill. She put in a ton of effort and inspired me to do the same and we had a good series. She knew all the right people, and convinced the Yacht Club's then-Commodore to host race night parties at the Club with food and good hangs, and there was even an awards ceremony at the end of the season. She was back for 2013, but that was a busy year for most of the regulars and the race schedule was a lot smaller, and no more snacks at the Yacht Club because of the lack of regularity. And the year after that she was transferred to Guam (and declared empress, we assumed, but it was never confirmed). I tried to keep it going a little, but turnout was low, so race nights tended to turn into me giving free sailing lessons every Friday evening. It's easy for a person to say they'll come every week when it's their first day and they're standing on the dock in a drysuit by a rigged boat in the sun after a nice evening on the water, but when it's a week later and it's drizzly and they just got come from work and are deciding if they're going to go sailing while faced with having to get a drysuit on and rig a boat and go out for two hours, resolve tends to falter. Juneau just isn't big enough to have enough people decide Yes in that moment every week. I'd love to see a regular racing series again, but it has to be self-sustaining and not take anything from the youth program, both in terms of equipment and volunteer energy. It won't be easy, but it's got to be possible again for the right person with the right commitment. If you want to make that try, reach out!