Sailing along Tempe Town Lake

The architecture and design of the Tempe, Arizona luxury condos, Bridgeview at Hayden Ferry Lakeside, is inspired by a nautical theme. This innovative condo design does not have to be your only “nautical” experience.

There are boats and instructors ready at the Arizona Sailing Foundation (ASF), the non-profit educational organization tied to the 250-family-strong Arizona Yacht Club. With US Sailing-certified instructors and a big fleet of training boats, ASF is the only place within hundreds of miles of our desert home where you can get this sort of on-the-water, award-winning education.

During the past year, more than 100 adults have stepped into an ASF sailboat for the first time to learn to sail, and walked away tacking and jibing. Classes are for everyone from teenagers on, and ASF has had students well into their 70s.

Called Start Sailing Right, the class is based on the curriculum, book and certification created by the national US Sailing organization. There are two classes set for this fall, each with four all-day Saturday sessions, with 2½ hours in the classroom followed by four hours on the protected waters of Tempe Town Lake. When students first hit the lake in Catalina 14.2 sailboats with main and jib, each boat will carry an experienced sailor to coach students on tiller and sail trim.

Graduates of the Start Sailing Right program can carry that experience into a Sailing Development class, getting more “stick time” at the helm of a sailboat under the supervision of a US Sailing instructor. Finally, if they’d like to try some sailboat competition, students can advance to the Introduction to Sailboat Racing class, where they’ll learn race procedures, rules and tactics to take out to the race course as captain or crew.

How to learn more, sign up or get answer to your questions? Click over to www.arizonayachtclub.org and then click on “education.” You’ll find the schedule, costs, and programs—and you’ll be able to sign up using a secure online signup system.