News

Dear NCS Families,

We hope that you continue to be safe and healthy. If you received our previous communication on May 27th – and if you have requested a cancellation, refund, credit or donation – please know that we are processing your request as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.

Earlier this week, the Massachusetts governor announced the beginning of Phase 2 reopening for Massachusetts. This was important news, as it allows us to begin offering sailing lessons, which are slated to begin on Monday, July 13th.

Program Status
While we are excited that Phase 2 allows us to be operational, we will have strict limitations regarding class sizes and social distancing, and will implement new protocols to keep our students and staff safe. While these limitations may change in Phase 3, we cannot predict when Phase 3 will begin, so we will move forward with classes under Phase 2 guidelines. We will start by offering only Opti classes, with one child per boat and the instructor in a coach boat.

Classes currently slated to run, beginning on July 13th:

• Opti Green AM/PM 7/13-7/24 and 7/27-8/7
• Opti Blue 7/13-7/24 and 7/27-8/7
• Opti Race 7/13-7/24, 7/27-8/7, and 8/12-8/14 (Note: there will be no off-island travel this summer)

Unfortunately, we must cancel the following group classes (in addition to programs canceled prior to July 13th):

• Whalers AM/PM - 7/13-7/24
• Guppies AM/PM - 7/13-7/16 and 7/20-7/24
• Tiny Salts - Session 1: 6/22, 6/29, 7/6, 7/13 and Session 2: 7/20, 7/27, 8/3, 8/10
• Big Boat Sailing - 7/13-7/16 and 7/20-7/24
• Water Sports - 7/13-7/16 and 7/20-7/24
• Teen Green - 7/13-7/24
• 420 Development - 7/13-7/24
• 420 Blue - 7/13-7/24
• 420 Race Team - 7/13-7/24

We will do our best to offer private lessons as soon as we are able to do so. Please stay tuned if you have a private lesson scheduled on or after July 13th, and we will follow up.

We are deeply apologetic to those students who we will be unable to accommodate in sailing lessons. We will do our very best to place students in available programs. And, as we work through cancellations we will attempt to accommodate waitlisted students.

** If you do not plan on attending an NCS session that is slated to run, please contact us as soon as possible, as we are updating class lists based on group size limits. **

We will continue to make decisions about class sizes and sessions based on the reopening phase that Massachusetts is in. We will take action session by session and phase by phase. We have not yet made decisions for sessions beyond July 24th, except for the Opti classes.

New Procedures & Protocols Preview

• Starting July 13th, we plan to reorganize classes into smaller groups and will communicate directly with you regarding your class, start times, safety precautions and procedures in advance. Our current protocol will include the following:
  Place all students in a 4-person 'pod' or 'family' with an instructor. Students will stay with that instructor and group for the length of their program, to the best of our ability. Social distancing will be maintained.
• All classes will be taught in Optis.
• All classes will be held at our Jetties Sailing Center, to allow for social distancing on the beach between students while they rig Optis.
• There will be no van service.
• Masks/buffs will be required by everyone at the site, while on the beach. Students may remove their masks/buffs while sailing, unless approached by an instructor.
• We recommend students bring their own Type III USCG-approved PFD. Suggested models include: NRS Youth Crew PFD, Astral Kids Otter 2.0 PFD, Stohlquist Kids' Escape PFD*
• We recommend sailors wear Atlas full-fingered gloves (or a similar product). *We will provide PFDs and gloves for anyone who does not own them. They will be cleaned after every use, as will all boats, equipment and touch points at the site.
• Temperatures will be taken at the site before each class, and you will be asked to review a symptoms check-list each day.

At all points during our operations this summer, we will follow local, state and federal guidelines for the health and safety of our sailors and staff. We are excited to be able to open our doors this summer, even in a limited capacity. Our goal is to get students out sailing, and we are doing our very best to ensure that can happen for as many students as possible.

Please see our NCS Summer 2020 Cancellation Policy, below, should your student be registered for a cancelled session and let us know how we can help you.

Regards and thank you for your continued support and patience,

The NCS Team

NCS Summer 2020 Cancellation Policy

First, we are happy to help you transfer your registration fees to other classes or private/family lessons later in Summer 2020 or to Summer 2021. If you roll your registration fees over to 2021, you will receive priority registration when we open enrollment next year. There will be no cancellation or change fees.

Second, you can use your registration fees to rent watersports equipment from NCS this summer by the week or the month (to take to your home), or purchase NCS/NRW merchandise.

Third, please consider donating your 2020 registration fees to NCS to assist us in the recovery from the financial losses caused by this crisis. We are doing all we can to get through this successfully and ensure we are here to serve you next year.

Finally, if you would prefer a refund, let us know. Refunds, less a 3.5% administrative fee (to cover the cost of the credit card fee), will be issued starting later in June, as this is a manual process and NCS needs to work with the software company that processes registrations to issue the funds. Please note that any membership or scholarship donations paid at the time of registration are not refundable, nor are the Active Network registration fees refundable. We will not charge the normal $75 cancellation fee for any classes that are cancelled by NCS, although the cancellation fee does apply to parent-initiated cancellations.

*2020 Scholarship Recipients: Please note, 2020 NCS sailing scholarships for island children will not be carried over into 2021. All island-resident youth are encouraged to reapply for scholarships in 2021 prior to the opening of enrollment.*

Please contact Francine Balling, Chief Operating Officer, with how you would like NCS to proceed with your registration fees: registration@nantucketsailing.org. We will handle all requests on a first-serve basis, and in as timely a fashion as we are able. Please note that we anticipate processing many requests over the next few weeks.

Please also note that there are other ways to continue to support Nantucket Community Sailing this month and beyond:

* Shop via Amazon Smile. Log into smile.amazon.com and select Nantucket Community Sailing as the non-profit you support. Every time you make a purchase using this method, NCS receives 0.05% on eligible purchases and there is no additional cost to you.

* Stay Connected. Like our Facebook and Instagram pages. Please follow NCS on social media for up to date information, videos and upcoming fundraising efforts.

* Purchase NCS and NRW Gear on our website - a great way to support us all year long. http://www.nantucketcommunitysailing.org/page/store