On Nov. 4th thru the 6th, US Sailing conducted an Instructors Training Course here at ASC. This course is designed and implemented by US Sailing in order to train instructors the right way to teach sailing. It is an intense four day course, 8 hours a day with 2 to 3 hours of homework every night. Each student receives several books weeks in advance to study, a total, over 600 pages of material to go through. The main theme is to teach people how to teach and what to teach so students learn the basics of sailing the proper way. This along with Georgia laws governing water craft, Red Cross training in First Aid and CPR and membership to US Sailing and you become a full-fledged US Sailing Instructor.

We had one candidate from Porter Rico, a husband and wife form St Augustine, FL, two from Maryland, one of these is a doctor, one from Pennsylvania, and two of our own juniors that have been helpers a t Sail Camp for the past few years. Everyone passed the course.

Our two juniors now gives ASC five fully accredited instructors. Elise Annis will be joining the group in the spring after she completes a US Sailing reinstatement training course. This will certainly make ASC one of the Southeast's strongest sailing instructor schools in the area. Many thanks to Jeff Annis, Jim Claffey and Ed Durant for the use of their cabins as we provided housing for all visitors. Thanks to the local JY Fleet for the loan of their boats for the water part of the course. I, along with the support of the club, provided breakfast and lunch for everyone for the four days as well, which made for a complete in house operation. ASC certainly stepped forward with good ole Southern hospitality and a willingness to share what we have in order to promote sailing not only here but around the country.

Jim Holder