Here's a valuable AYC Member Benefit!

Would you like to sail on Sunday afternoon on Tempe Town Lake but don't have the right boat for the job? Well, adopt a boat!

Members of the Arizona Yacht Club can sail a club-owned Sunfish, Laser or C14 during the Sunday afternoon race training sessions. For free.

First, of course, you need to know how to sail. If you don't, take one of the Arizona Sailing Foundation courses to learn. If you're not a member of AYC, join. And then:

• Fill out some paperwork (links below) and pass a very simple test. Give it to the adopt-a-boat person (we don't have one at the moment) or the race committee, which sets up by the flags (see picture below).
• You'll also need to sign up for the series or for the day if you're racing. If you're not racing (which is fine), notify the race committee that you're not racing but that you're on the water so they'll keep an eye on you.
• Don't break the boat—or pay to fix it if you do.

We keep the boats in the marina, so they're easy to rig and launch. (If you're sailing a C14, be sure to bring a tow vehicle with 2" hitch to launch the boat. The other boats can be launched by hand.) The adopt-a-boats sail in active fleets, so you'll have lots of others to play with and learn from.

• The legal stuff and boat checkout document
• The simple test (come prepared to discuss your answers)

Basic information about race procedures (and about the C14 boat) is on the fleet page here.

Here's a little info on the Portsmouth fleet.

"My son and I had a great time. I think whenever water, boats and water guns are mixed together there's sure to be a  great adventure. I wanted to thank you and the club for having boats available and for making us feel very welcome. I have to say the [ASF] boats are remarkably well set up and very competitive. I hope more members take advantage of the "adopt-a-boat" program and come out for the water wars and a few races. Thanks for everything!"
—Kent Maas