Latest news, weather, high school sports for Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

MARQUETTE -- If your child wants to try his hand at sailing, he's lucky, because one of the most reasonable youth sailing schools in the state of Michigan is right in our backyard--the Marquette Junior Yacht Club Sailing School.

For $95, your 8 to 18-year-old little guy or girl can catch the wind for an entire week.

"It's a really great way to enjoy Lake Superior," said instructor Chad Lewis.  "It's very safe and supervised.  We really want kids to learn how to sail and learn how to sail correctly, so we use a program that is nationally recognized; it's kind of the correct way to teach sailing, the correct progression, and you know it's a very relaxed atmosphere."

Seasoned sail instructors teach kids the basics, from boat handling to wind direction.  They learn on a range of boats including Boston Whaler Harpoons and Optimist Prams and Ensigns.  But they're not just learning how to sail, they're also learning the lay of the lake, which is great for a lot of the kids who are local and will be applying what they learn right on Lake Superior.

"You know we definitely teach some very Lake Superior specific things like how to handle the cold water and how to be aware of weather that can come up somewhat quickly," Lewis said.

While most kids just want to have fun, camp instructors say sailing is contagious, and many of their students try to take it a step further, like 11-year-old Brad Seaborg, who just began racing.  We asked him what he liked about racing. 

"It's real competitive and it's a chance to do something else than sailing around," said Seaborg.

But even if they don't race, sailing is a great lifelong sport for kids to adopt. 

To sign up for a session, you visit the Marquette Yacht club near Lower Harbor.