Youth Sailing School - case study

Client: Frenchman's Bay Yacht club

Production: 2016-2019

In market: ongoing

To invigorate a youth sailing program that was indebt and under utilized.

I chose to re-brand the program from a high performance training school, to a inviting summer camp.

The first step was a full assessment of the program's assets, both financial and physical. The boats they owned and the coaches they employed were not aligned with the program's new goals. This required selling off some assets while procuring new boats form other schools both locally and in the US. The student to coach ratio was also revised as well as the types of coaches we hired.

On the marketing side was leveraged multiple social media channels, most notably local Mom's Groups on Facebook. We built a new brand focusing on exercise, fresh air, social opportunities, and new skill development. We branded the school as a place every child could thrive.

We also partnered with the local boys and girls club and children's aid and provided spots in the program for kids from families that otherwise would not consider sailing as a viable activity.

In the first year I balanced the books and the school achieved a small profit for the first time in eight years.

By the third summer enrollment had grown from 24 to 96 and the number of staff from three to nine.