The KATS Kids
Kids And The Sea is a water sports program developed in 1987, on the Island of St. John, USVI. The program in the British Virgin Islands was started in 1990, mainly backed by the Rotary Club of Tortola. The KATS program has many types off classes offered to anyone that wants to participate. The program does have some parameters that must be met before a child can move on from one class to the next.
Number one is that the child must first take a swimming course, successfully pass, and then can move onto the rowing / boat handling course where knot tying is also taught. The next level is sailing courses, in which there are three levels. Level one is for the complete beginner who is given course books to read and is tested on, on the water sailing with either a volunteer instructor or a level two or three-student as their on board coach.
From there, a student moves to level two, which means that they are qualified to sail the boats on their own. They are taught to capsize the boat, re right the boat and continue on sailing, and having fun! The third level of students are kids that have started out in the program when they are eight years old and can continue on in the program until they reach their eighteenth birthday.
These are the very advanced kids that race our fleet of Lasers here in Tortola, and also compete all through the Caribbean. Another boat that the KATS program is very proud to own and race is the IC 24, which is a newly founded fleet of old J24's that have had major modifications made to the cockpit and down below bulkhead layouts. The company that does the conversions takes a J24 in nearly any condition and makes it into virtually a new yacht.
The grand finally of the KATS sailing season, which starts in January, is the coveted Chief Ministers Regatta, held here in the British Virgin Islands, and consists of up to ten teams from all over the Caribbean, for three days of really exciting sailboat racing. The regatta is also when all KATS sailors receive their certificates of achievement for the past year.
Enough cannot be said about the all volunteer instructors, The Rotary Club of Tortola and all of the donations, personal and corporate, that are made to the KATS program, to keep our kids safe on the water, have great fun and meet kids from other parts of the Caribbean for friendships that last a life time. Truly a program that keeps the community of the British Virgins Islands a shining star in the whole of the Caribbean.