as a yacht club. The kids all have an eye on the boat in the driveway . What does it do ,How does it move and how many people can I take on it? are many of the questions from high school and middle school kids that pass by. I would love to take them out but I feel backed up with the " what if something happens to them syndrome". A lot of these under privilaged kids parents floated up here. I feel like they need a chance to feel the flow . I know this is new to the forum but what is the best recourse for all . Thanx Bob Grubb Delray Beach FLA.

A small planted seed like that can really grow - My dad had a Hobie 16 for a year or so when I was about 10. I never really sailed again until I was looking for a hobby at about age 25 and remembered that boat.

DSYC,
This is a subject that needs visiting, we have a shrinking sport and need to find ways to get youngsters involved to create the next generation of sailors - underpriveledged kids are a tough target market, if you get them interested they will sooner or later have to buy a boat that could be out of their reach or that of their parents. We have a similar problem in Cape Town, the major keelboat club has trained hundreds of kids to be crew on keelboats but their retention rate is very low becuase most of these kids can`t afford transport costs to the yacht club to race. Unless the yacht club or a donor organisation can supply funds to train young kids and keep them involved you will have an uphill task.
But on the bright side if you get your yacht club members to go out to schools and give a demo video, rig a boat on their lawn and take willing kids out sailing you might get a positive response, and perhaps even get buy-in from the school or education department to fund a sailing program in their school, in conjunction with your yacht club ?? It will take a lot of effort but it`s not out of reach. As far as what happens if something happens to them - US laws are different but if you have a letter of consent from their parents and all the right safety gear ie lifejackets etc and you do`nt take them out in a hurricane, you have minimised the risk. Perhaps in the US you would need them to sign an indemnity form, not a bad idea in any country to prevent unwanted attention from lawyers.
Our Dart sailors took that initiative and recruited young orphans as crew for their league, two of them became iterested and have gone on to having permanent positions on boats, one has travelled overseas to represent his country in a Worlds, so amazing things can be acchieved, but you have to have a plan to get them to the next level, ie you can`t take them sailing and if the bug bites, leave them to their own devices to remain sailing, they will need funding and assistance all the way.
Good luck with your venture !
Steve