Santa Barbara Seashells get O'Pen Skiffs!
Sunday April 10th marked the start of the 2022 Santa Barbara Seashell sailing program. For over 70 years, this club has been getting together in the Santa Barbara Harbor on small boats to teach kids good seamanship skills and racing. Unlike some programs that may act more as a day care, or a school, the Sea Shell Association does a great job of involving the parents in the program, to help kids with boat maintenance and education.
In the beginning, the boats were built at home in the off season and then brought out to the program in the spring. In the 90s that transitioned to production US Sabots to reduce the barrier to entry of space and construction skills. A few years ago, the program adopted some RS Terras and RS Fevas. The latter provided a next level to the program, with the jib sail, larger size, and a spinnaker. The bigger boat had room for two adolescent kids to get out and race at a higher level.
This year, the program has added ten O'Pen Skiffs to the lineup. The Skiff class has a diverse international following. There are many programs using the boats for the standard buoy race platform as other classes do. Additionally, they have the "Un-Regatta" program. The boats gather in a regatta fashion, but there are various components to the competition make the events more interesting and arguably more fun. Big events typically have a fire boat spraying an arc of water. There is also a "bridge of doom" that is an inflatable arch that sailors have to sail under. Events also typically have a freestyle competition that is judged separately. Mast climbs, capsizes and wheelies are all often seen at such events.
Like many programs in the post-pandemic times. They are seeing a growth in participation, both from existing "sailing families" that have parents and siblings that have sailed before, as well as new families with no sailing experience. Many people have been