Program Mission Statement:
The mission of the HSS Program has four core elements:

1. To provide the next natural step in continuing sailing education for young sailors who have already gained an interest in sailing and have learned some of the basic techniques through prior participation in CYC's Sail Camp.
2. To offer a safe, structured and engaging program through which teenagers from our local community can learn the basics of sailing for the first time without obliging their families to make a large initial financial investment.
3. To introduce the sport of sailboat racing to young or novice sailors to further improve their sailing skills and to teach them the Racing Rules of Sailing.
4. To provide experienced sailors with advanced training and exposure to highly competitive racing against schools from other areas, to expand the scope of their skills and experience, and to promote friendships with sailors outside of the Knoxville area.

Relationship, if any, of this Program to a National or Regional Governing Organization:
School teams participating in this program are members of the South Atlantic Interscholastic Sailing Association (SAISA), which is one of seven Districts that make up the high school portion of the nationwide Interscholastic Sailing Association (ISSA). Participating schools enter regattas organized by SAISA, and can, by selection, participate in the National ISSA Championships.
Webpage(s), Link(s) or Mailing Address of Governing Organization (s): http://www.saisa.org

Relationship Between Program Participants and the CYC General Membership:
Participation in the program is not restricted to CYC member families. At the time of this writing, the ratio of Program participants from non-member families compared to those who are from CYC member families is approximately 3:2. The HSS Program is a steady source of new CYC member applications.

Limitations of and Requirements for Participation in the Program:
Participants must be full time students enrolled in grades 9-12 at an area high school or be enrolled in the 8th grade of an area school that serves as a feeder school for one of the participating area high schools. All students in the program must submit a form that authorizes Program instructors to seek medical assistance if a sailor's parent or guardian cannot be reached (attached). In addition, every sailor participating in an SAISA or ISSA regatta, whether in Knoxville or elsewhere, must submit a Medical Waiver form (attached) to the regatta organizers. Program managers have developed a Sailing Checklist to remind sailors what equipment they need to take to away regattas (attached).

Program Participation Costs and How Those Funds are Used:
Participants register for one year (two school semesters) of participation by paying either $90 at the beginning of the fall semester or $50 at the beginning of each of the fall and spring semesters. Approximately 25 % of those funds represent boat user fees, which are transferred to the CYC (through the CSC). Approximately 10 % of the fees collected provide refreshments at practices and contribute to the cost of food and other supplies used during local HSS in-house regattas. Instructors are also paid an honorarium at the end of each semester to cover their gas expenses in coming out to the CYC (about 50% of Program costs). The remaining funds are kept in a dedicated checking account for use as needed by the Program to cover unexpected costs (e.g., small overages associated with regatta attendance). All participants must supply their own sailing gear, including a lifejacket, and must pay their share of the combined costs incurred when teams travel to an away regatta: these latter costs are usually $120-150 per sailor for each of up to 7 regattas per year. Fortunately, the enormous number of hours contributed to the HSS Program by certified sailing instructors are provided at no cost because most instructors are Student Members of the CYC (and members of the UTSC) who meet their CYC work hours obligation by instructing HSS participants.

Check-in/Check-out of Participants, and Number of Current Participants:
Some participants drive themselves to and from HSS activities at the CYC, while others ride with parents or friends. These travel arrangements are not the responsibility of the Program or its managers. Upon arrival at and departure from the clubhouse, participants check in and check out using a daily registration sheet kept by the Program Director or his designee. The same system is used for all HSS events at the CYC, including regular practice sessions, regattas, maintenance work parties, social events, etc. As of the date of this document, there were 49 registered participants in the fall semester, and about 15 of those have registered already for the spring semester.
A list of the current participants of the Program is held by the Program Director, and may be viewed in his presence upon request. However, for child safety reasons, a list of the names of the participants will not be posted at the CYC, on-line, or in any other publicly accessible domain, and hard or electronic copies of the list will not be provided to anyone who is not directly involved in managing the program.
As of this document's preparation date, the following area high schools participate in the Program (number of students registered in fall, 2005): Farragut HS (18), Bearden HS (10), Webb School (9), West HS (5), Catholic HS (4), Walker Academy (4). We anticipate that Oak Ridge HS and the Tennessee School for the Deaf will start sailing teams in the fall. The program has a realistic capacity of about 50 sailors (about 20 sailors per practice: about 20% of the registered participants are absent at each practice). It may be necessary to limit the number of sailors per school per school in the fall, unless more boats can be obtained.

Sailboat Type(s) Used by the Program:
The Program primarily uses four JY15 dinghies owned by the CYC and seven sailboats owned by the UT Sailing Club (four JY15s and three 420s). Occasionally, two privately owned JY15s are loaned to the Program by CYC. SAISA regattas hosted by the CYC are sailed in JY15s (including CYC-owned, UTSC-owned and privately owned boats). However, when competing at other regattas, 420s are supplied by the host club. On rare occasions, the HSS Program tows one or more of the UTSC-owned 420s to an away regatta if the host club cannot supply enough boats for their regatta. Only CYC Training Fleet members and UTSC 'Key Keepers' (who are all CYC Student Members) can unlock the JY Barn in which the JY15 and 420 equipment is stored.

Support and Safety Boats Used by the Program:
The Program primarily uses CYC-owned inflatable dinghies and outboard motors for on-the-water coaching, safety and general support (e.g., mark-setting, rotating crews, etc). Occasionally, CYC members use their private sailboats as additional support boats (e.g., as a race committee boat). The Program has occasional need for other CYC-owned boats, including the Committee Boat(s) and the hard-bottomed safety boats (e.g., Whaler and Sunbird).

Miscellaneous CYC Equipment and Facilities Used by the Program:

• Docks - the Program uses the JY15, 420 and Opti docks in the Training Fleet basin for boat storage, crew rotation staging and safety/support boat operation. During regattas, the swimming beach and the Thistle dock are used for crew rotations, assembly points and viewing the racing.
• Racing Equipment – a set of small inflatable buoys and attached mushroom-style anchors that are housed in the Training Fleet Barn are used for routine practices and training. HSS regattas hosted by the CYC usually employ the CYC's large yellow inflatable buoys and the pin marker, as well as the CYC's main committee boat and the racing equipment associated with that boat (flags, sound signally devices, wind meter, VHF radio, etc).
• Other Facilities (buildings, utilities, etc) – participants primarily use the bathhouse bathrooms and the breezeway area during good weather: overflow use of the inside bathrooms is necessary occasionally. Special effort is made by Program managers to minimize the impact that use of CYC facilities by the HSS Program has on access to the same facilities by CYC members, but this is complicated by the fact that about one third of the HSS participants are also CYC members with rights to use all CYC facilities. Occasionally during the school year, and only by prior arrangement with the CYC facilities scheduler, the HSS Program meets in the CYC clubhouse for social events.
• Vehicle or Boat Parking and Storage of Program Equipment and Supplies - Approximately 10-12 participants, instructors and Program managers leave vehicles in the parking lot beside the clubhouse during regular practices. No non-CYC boats or non-CYC equipment is stored on the property. The Program provides it's own non-perishable food-related supplies, and stores them in one designated cupboard in the CYC galley: fridge/freezer storage is not used.

Approximate Weekly Hours and Days of Regular Program Activities:
The HSS Program is only active during the usual school year (including breaks that occur within the fall and spring semesters). During the warmer parts of each semester, the Program meets for weekly on-the-water and/or on-shore instruction every Monday and Tuesday afternoon (approximately from 4PM until a little before dark). When the water and weather conditions are unsuitable for sailing (e.g., during winter months while school is in session), the program is usually reduced to a single Monday or Tuesday meeting each week for classroom-style instruction between about 4:15PM and about 6:30PM.

Limitations on Access to CYC property and Facilities and Equipment:
Program participants, instructors and administrators who are not CYC members or guests of members are only allowed on the property during designated HSS Program events (e.g., scheduled practice sessions, regattas, and approved social events), and only have access to those CYC facilities and equipment that are used as part of the Program. Persons associated only with HSS may be given an HSS Program-special gate code number, but will not be given any keys to any club facilities, or the gate code number that is used for general access by CYC members.

Safety issues associated with the Program, and how they are managed:

• Swimming - all newly enrolled participants must pass a specific swimming test under the supervision of a qualified sailing instructor, performed without a lifejacket.
• Lifejackets – at all time while on the water, whether anchored or moving, all participants, instructors, and other adults assisting with the program who are on a CYC- or UTSC-owned sailboat or motorboat wear a lifejacket. The owners of privately owned support boats assisting with the Program (e.g., keelboats serving as race committee boats) are encouraged to wear a lifejacket, but they are required to observe published CYC rules regarding the use of lifejackets on that kind of boat.
• Capsize recovery – before any other kind of sailing instruction begins, all participants will be taught how one person or two can right a capsized JY15. Each participant will then demonstrate to an instructor that they can right the boat by themselves. Sailors whoa are too light to right the boat by themselves will be able to perform the drill paired with another light sailor.
• Motorboats – motorized support and safety boats are a potential hazard. Instructors are the main motorboat operators during regular on-water practices. Occasionally, others will operate safety/support boats under the direction of the instructors. These helpers will have prior experience operating the type of boat in question. In all cases, and in accordance with TN state law, anyone operating a motorboat in association with the HSS Program will either be born in a year before 1989 or will have a current TN Boating Safety Education Certificate. (http://www.boat-ed.com/tn/course/p4-3_whomayoperate.htm)

A combination of basic sailing skills and basic RRS instruction is given to beginner sailors, while advanced sailors are given challenging drills to help them develop their sailing and racing skills. Since HSS Program participants will never be taking out a Training Fleet boat independently of Program participation or without supervision, it is not necessary to require a formal check out of the JY15s before beginning the program. However, all of the elements of the official Training Fleet Check Out process for JY15s are covered as part of the Program's new sailor training. Furthermore, qualification to use the boats in particular wind strengths (as is part of the formal Check Out process) is not necessary because the sailors will always be supervised by a certified instructor, whose responsibility it is to make sure that each sailor's abilities are not exceeded by the demands of the prevailing conditions.

Often it is necessary to rotate crews on and off boats during practices because there are more sailors than available boats. Instructors use their best judgment under the prevailing conditions, and based on the availability of other support boats, whether these exchanges take place at the docks or from support boats that are already on the water. Most practices conclude after one or more short races around buoys set by instructors or adult assistants: all participants usually participate in these practice races. Upon the instructors' signal, participants return to the dock, de-rig their boats and put all Training Fleet equipment away in its proper place. Instructors check that all equipment and boats are put away properly before sailors go back up to the clubhouse. Participants sign-out before leaving. Sailors arriving at practice late or leaving early are also expected to sign-in and sign-out.

The safety of the sailors is uppermost in the instructors' and the Program Director's minds. It is also of high importance to avoid no more than fair wear and tear on club equipment. Instructors are primarily responsible for on-water safety (e.g., evaluating the prevailing weather conditions, using an appropriate ratio of safety/support boats to the number of sailors on the water, reminding participants about lifejacket use, etc) and the conduct of the sailors.

The sailing instructors and the Program Director are responsible for any disciplinary actions that they consider necessary to ensure everyone's safety and optimum enjoyment of the Program, and to minimize property misuse or damage. The Program Director keeps watch over the on-water and the on-shore activities of the instructors, sailors and any other adult helpers, and is ultimately in charge of the entire Program: he has the final word regarding any problem that might arise and how the program is organized and run.