OYC

Our mission is to create broader community access to the waters of the Iowa Great Lakes.   To help in that regard, the Okoboji Sailing Center is proud to offer scholarships to introduce the wonderful sport of sailing to students who otherwise could not afford to attend classes.  Thanks to generous donations from our community and partners we offer need based scholarships to as many students as we are able.  ​

HOW TO APPLY
Download the scholarship application by clicking the link below.  Save the completed form and email to [email protected] or send to the Okoboji Yacht Club Sailing School, Inc., P.O. Box 544, Milford, IA 51351.  After we receive your application, we will contact you with the status of your application, and if awarded, directions on registering for classes.  Full and partial scholarships are awarded based on need and availability. 

Scholarship / Grant Programs Available TODAY:
​Ralph "Boober" Schneider Racing Scholarship
This privately funded program is a merit and needs based scholarship is available to local high school sailing athletes registered in OSC programming. Annual amount is capped at $500.

YOUTH IN PHILANTHROPY (YIP) AND THE OKOBOJI FOUNDATION 

IMPACT MADE!
​

On May 2nd, 2019 Youth in Philanthropy made a grant to the Okoboji Sailing Center for $20,000 to double the size of our 420 fleet to a fleet of eight as we grow interscholastic sailing (7th - 12th grade) in the Iowa Great Lakes Area.

Included with this grant is funds to improve the existing four boats, new sails , and a floating dock system to improve the safety of the program for our athletes as they sail on the fridges of the sailing season.

From all of us at Okoboji Sailing Center, our Board of Directors, Staff, and of course all the students, we say thank you for this opportunity to give broad access to West Lake Okoboji with equipment that will be used for competition (MISSA), physical education, and our new robotic STEM courses.  The community schools impacted by this generous gift include Okoboji, Spirit Lake, Dakota Dunes, and Sioux Falls Lincoln.  We are hoping more local schools and our home-schooled students will soon be added to this list!

Again, thank you YIP for your efforts and your incredible gift!
​
About the Club 420 Class Association
The Club 420 Association was established in 1980 to promote, foster, encourage and sponsor one-design sailing across North America. The Association sponsors a class North American Championship, US and Canadian National Championships, the US Team Racing Championship as well as regional championships and clinic for the class across North America while promoting the class to all ability and experience levels of youth sailing. Our events have up to 200 boats register, with all levels of sailors competing in some of the finest and socially fun regattas you will attend.
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About The Club 420
The Club 420 is a two person dingy which forms the base of many local, high school and collegiate programs in North America. Simple for beginning sailors and yet challenging enough for collegiate champions. The C420 offers more learning opportunities than any other double-handed boat you can find. Over 5,000 Club 420s are sailed in youth, high school and collegiate programs all over the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. 
​For more information please visit our website at www.club420.org
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About MISSA
MISSA (Midwest Interscholastic Sailing Association) was established as the regional governing body for high school sailing in the Midwest. Our objective is to further the sport of sailing in Midwest secondary schools, and to provide a standardized set of rules and procedures for competition. Currently, there are 55 member schools. This number varies from year to year but has been fairly steady for the last several years. www.missa.hssailing.org/about/history-of-missa

DICKINSON COUNTY ENDOWMENT FUND

PROVIDED AN ADVENTURE!
​

In June, 2018 DCEF provided a $1,000 grant to supplement the cost of several Adventure Sailing programs and life jackets dedicated to new sailors who may have never experience a expedition out on the water. 

Popular programs include those like our annual Y-kids programs, regular sessions at the Okoboji Sailing Center with STEM and Sailing - Adventure Sailing, and programming completed in partnership with Lakeside Lab.  This funding also supported, in part, the costs of 16 red life jackets (seen in the image) for students that are experiencing their first adventure on the waters of the Iowa Great Lakes.  During our Adventure Kids event, done in conjunction with Bedell Family YMCA,  Okoboji Sailing Center instructors introduce over 90 local children, ages 5-9, in 2018 to sailing with a lesson in Millers Bay. These funds also provide support for all our other adventure sailing programs, included those done in partnership with Iowa Lakeside Laboratory.


​Thank you Dickinson County Endowment Fund!
YOU can make an IMPACT too.
The Okoboji Sailing Center strives to offer access to every student that has an interest in bettering themselves through the sport of sailing; a life-long activity that builds life-changing skills and personal attributes such as confidence, autonomy, self-reliance, perseverance, teamwork, sportsmanship, self-esteem, and more!

​Individual contributors like you are able to assist in this mission of access and our vision of supporting a student in making positive impacts on the world. If you are interested in making an impact, please contact us at:
[email protected]
​Or
712.337.0121
We will discuss with you on how your goals can be aligned with an opportunity to change a life.

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