OYC
These courses are for our more adventurous, fun loving students that want the freedom to sail across the lake rather than on a prescribed course.   Whether sailing to a destination as part of our Adventure Sailing program for a STEM based field trip or given a chance to grab a Nutty Bar at Arnold's Park in our Performance Sailing Camp, we want these students to have a chance to simply enjoy the ride while learning the sport. 

PERFORMANCE SAILING

AGES: 8-18
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This camp will introduce older, more experienced children to West Lake Okoboji as they sail to new destinations on the Laser Radial or the BIC O’Pen dinghies. Students select their destination after learning how to read weather forecasts, online maps, and charts. Knowledge of the points of sail and basic boat handling skills are required. Students will be assigned boat type based on their size, skill, and wind conditions. 

Typical student weight ranges: 
​BIC O’Pen: 85 – 120 lbs
Laser Radial: 121 – 150+ lbs

Goals
  • Ability to independently rig a sailboat
  • Capable of determining wind direction
  • Ability to use tiller and mainsheet together
  • Confidence in handling a sailboat alone
  • Ability to right a capsized sailboat safely
  • Successfully sail from Irons and on all points of sail
  • Able to round marks correctly and navigate a course
  • Able to dock safely

Prerequisites 
  • Prior approval is required for children that have taken Optimist Fundamentals Camp or our Intermediate Camp
  • Previous Laser/BIC Camp participants. 
  • Repeat students of the Performance Sailing 
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​Next Step Options:
  • Performance Sailing and Adventure Sailing
  • Optimist, X-Boat Racing, and Intro to Spinnaker

ADVENTURE SAILING
SCIENCE AND SAILING​


EXPLORATION THROUGH INQUIRY​
​This unique program is based in exploration!  It is  a fun combination of sailing and science and how discovery in both fields can work together in a STEM based program.
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Taught in partnership with Iowa Lakeside Laboratories and the Okoboji Sailing Center, students will be introduced to the areas of science that include limnology, physics and atmospheric studies.  Students will discover the ecosystem of West Lake Okoboji while sailing to field trip destinations around the lake.

​ADVENTURE SAILING
Science and Sailing
Ages: 11-14
(Sailing Experience Required*)

Session 1
Why am I Floating?
June 10-12, 2019

Session 2
Where Did These Lakes Come From?
June 24-26, 2019

Session 3
That's What Kind of a Machine?
July 8-10, 2019

Session 4 
What's Swimming With Us?
July 22-24, 2019

Session 5
How Does That Boat Go?
Aug 5-7, 2019

​Take one, two or all FIVE!
This series will walk you through a STEM-based program taught by Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, Iowa's Department of Archaeology and Okoboji Sailing Center that is focused on our lakes region. 

The focus will be the formation of the lakes and it's early inhabitants, what is living in these lakes, and how sailboats really work and how they sail around on these uniquely located resources.
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Goals
  • Inspire student interest in the subjects of science and technology specific to NW Iowa
  • Solve problems using scientific method
  • Understand how individual systems impact lake ecology
  • Increase youth environmental awareness and stewardship

*Prerequisites: ​
  • An interest in our environment
  • Prior approval is required for children that have taken Intermediate Camp
  • Optimist Fundamentals​
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Middle School Microbiology
Ages:
8th-10th Grades
(​ No  Sailing Experience Required!)

This is a new collaborative partnership between Iowa Lakeside Laboratory and Okoboji Sailing School where we combine scientific inquiry with sailing, adventure and… a bit of ancient Greek philosophy!

See Iowa Lakeside Laboratory's Website for
MORE INFORMATION
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Goals
  • Gain specific knowledge in the biology and vegetation patterns of the Iowa Great Lakes region​
  • Solve problems using scientific method
  • Increase youth environmental awareness and stewardship
  • Learn skills associated with destination sailing.

*Prerequisites: ​
  • A interest in studying our world from the side of a sailboat!
  • No previous sailing experience required!
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SMOOTH SAILING
A Nautical Art Workshop


​AGE GROUPS: 6-9  &  9-12

'What if I design a new sailboat ...?' 
​'What if I paint a picture ...?' 
'What if I make a sculpture ...?'

If you like to feel the wind, to dive under a wave, or to walk barefoot along the beach you are close to art.  Looking at the world in new ways to form ideas and to do something with them is what the Smooth Sailing Art Workshop is all about. 

See the shape of a sailboat, the shadows it reflects, and how the light is caught in the water as inspiration for art.  

Explore the materials of pencil, watercolors, wire, wood shapes and clay with Diane O'Hern, a K-8 Art Educator for a 2-day workshop where nautical themes are discovered in a new light!​