I could not disagree anymore with the previous reviewer who gave no credit to the club and their…read moremembers by only focusing on and magnifying his negative experiences that may very well be caused by factors other than what he has attributed his bad experiences to. I have participated in every event he reviewed except for the kids sailing program, which I cannot speak for nor against.
1. This is the best place to learn sailing in Jacksonville because the people here actually sail, almost all the time, which is pretty much whenever the weather allows. They sail a lot because they love this activity.
2. The reviewer complaints about only small boat sailing being taught, which shows a complete and total lack of understanding of boating in general. I think he has no idea how much more difficult it is to work on big boats(sail boats or not), from launching to getting back in the dock slip (or up the ramp on your trailer) as well the much greater risks involved in a bigger boat when you make a mistake, which you WILL do when are an amateur like he is. If you make a mistake on a big sail boat because you didn't know how to handle high winds, the economic cost and potential human toll of the injury is far more than that of a small boat. In short, if you can't handle and prove yourself on a small sail boat, you have no business being skipper/captain in a big boat. Of all boat types, I dare say sail boats take the most expertise to handle, so he is at least many nautical miles away from becoming a skipper on a big sail boat. It was wise not to let him control a large sail boat because disaster would be guaranteed.
3. Closed minded? Well maybe to you, but not to me. I'm a Chinese immigrant who has legally settled here in the us and I was indeed concerned about racism from all the white people in the club, as past experience in the deep south tells me when there are a lot of white people congregating without a whole lot of diversity, there is a good chance racism thrives. Yet my experience at the club was the opposite. As I braced myself for racism rearing it's ugly head, I keep finding there was nothing that I could justify accusing as racism. Now I don't know every member of the club yet, so some people may still confirm my fears, but I can say with certainty the vast majority are not racist, and certain not the members of the board nor the officers of the club.
4 he objects to the classes teaching racing, but he doesn't tell you that this is how people learn best, much like doing math problems after you've been taught a mathematical theory, or asked to write a poem when you take a poetry writing class, and having to take exams at the end of the semester. Racing is a tool that gives structure to the instructions given, so that you have an opportunity to try to put the pieces together to make it all work. No one said you have to win! In fact, I didn't "win" much of anything but learned a heck of a lot when I tried to apply their instructions only to find I didn't think it through or developed good habits. It is not winning that matter, it is what you learn when you try to win that allows you to learn best. I knew this and so did the instructors.
If I could give stars to his review, I'd give it 1 out of 5. His complaints were basically pure bologna and not worth taking seriously, though I do not dispute that fact that these negative experiences he complained of can and do take place, at this club or any other club. As to being anti Jew, we I think he is way to sensitive and maybe even paranoid. I found this club through an sailing event scheduled by the Jewish community alliance (to which I'm a member also) to begin with and I saw no antisemitism what so ever my 6 months here as a member. Remember, they have no reason to hide their anti-semitism from me if they had any to being with, because I don't exactly look Jewish. In fact during one of the dinners, one of the members sighed regretfully that back on the 60s, Jews were often not allowed in to clubs like this in all of Jacksonville because of the prevailing socially attitude back then. We all agreed that society is better now that we are more open minded racially. Where is the Anti-semitism except in your imagination?
Sorry if my review seems one sided but I just had to balance out a totally biased and misleading review by the last guy that is partial and misinformed to say the least. I hope he is not going to try to label me as anti Semitic for simply disagreeing with his incorrect and ignorant views.
