Team VMG Junior Sailing Program

Being outdoors in both an independent role and a team role is important for youth development. The Team VMG Junior Sailing Program was started in 2014 with the mission of providing the opportunity and equipment for youth eight through twenty years of age to experience independence in O’pen Skiffs, iQFOiL, the Olympic Class Lasers and wing sailing. These Team VMG sailboats are sailed by a single person. Age eight to twelve for the O’pen Skiff plus twelve to twenty for the Olympic Laser, Olympic iQFOiL and wing sailing.

Team and leadership development is offered to teenagers through the use of Paradigm, a fifty-five-foot open ocean sailing vessel, with its home port on the Chesapeake Bay. The trips on Paradigm are both day trips and overnight trips with the Team VMG sailors in command under the observation of the instructors. Paradigm, through Team VMG, is also offered as a research vessel in a relationship with project partners from the University of California Davis Graduate Studies in Animal Behavior.

“ The Junior Fleet Program is superb🏆. Our grandson, Trey, can hardly wait to arrive there every single day! ”
– Carolyn

Team VMG™ Hosts Coastal Passage Making Camp - Gibson Island, Maryland

Teenagers 14 to 20 – Camp limit 6 – Cost: Food/Book/ Transportation to Gibson Island

Subjects: Yacht Preparation, Rigging & Sails, Passage Planning, Life Aboard a Coastal Passage maker, Weather, Navigation, Communications, Computers Aboard, Systems Aboard, Seamanship, Heavy Weather, Anchoring, Dinghy Management ‍

Text: “US Sailing, The Certification Series, Passage Making” Cost $24.95 ‍

Housing: To be arranged with the cost covered by Team VMG™.

Training vessel: Paradigm a Trintella 55 which just completed a 11-month offshore refit October, 2024

‍Format: Morning instruction followed by Chesapeake Bay on the water training. Additional activities: Tour of the Gibson Island Boat Works, Cookout at the Point, Swimming, Game Room, Opening night dinner at the Gibson Island Club hosted by Team VMG™ polo shirts provided.

‍Camp Mission Statement: To introduce young sailors to the dynamics of coastal passage making.

The O’pen Skiff is the innovative new sailboat for inspiring youth sailing. Based on the modern skiff concept, the O'Pen Skiff is very fast, very simple, and very FUN to sail! The self-bailing open transom hull is responsive and safe, with a modern rig that's rugged and versatile.

TeamVMG.org offers the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 for teenagers and young adults. The ILCA (formerly the Laser) offer fast exciting planning boats for age and weight youth beyond the O’pen Skiff. A quote from famous round the world ocean racer Skip Novak: ‘“The feel” is what separates a good sailor from a so-so one, and you’ll never get it unless you’ve had a good soaking in a tippy dingy.”’ Additionally, the ILCA, a men’s and women’s Olypic Class, offers a path to competitive sailing as in this video:

Team VMG Sailing in 2021 added three iQFOil windsurfers plus two iQFOil foiling windsurfers. The goal is as always to get kids outside. Windsurfing especially foiling windsurfing is fast, exciting, plus affordable which will keep kids interested in being outdoors even as young adults racing or just sailing. Additionally foiling windsurfers like the iQFOil will be in the Paris Olympics as is the Laser also a part of Team VMG’s fleet.

In 2025 TeamVMG.org has added wing sailing and foiling wing sailing. Wing sailing and foiling will allow TeamVMG.org sailors another way to experience the freedom, accomplishment, and excitement of being outside on the water:

To learn more about VMG Sailing, contact Charlie Wright at charlie@teamvmg.org