US Sailing Education Zone coming to Extreme Sailing Series™ San Diego

by US Sailing on 14 Oct 2017 The Extreme Sailing Series™ will return to the United States for the first time since 2011 and the US Sailing Education Zone will be there. The Education Zone will provide fun learning activities for youth patrons as part of the US Sailing Reach initiative for STEM education and sport outreach. Through interactive and hands-on activities, children will have the opportunity to learn about science, technology, engineering and mathematics through the sport of sailing. US Sailing partnered with Mission Bay Aquatic Center, Sailors for the Sea, and Harken to create the Education Zone experience. The Education Zone will be open Oct. 19-22 from 10am to 6pm PT.

The Port of San Diego and the San Diego Tourism Authority are serving as host venue partners for the San Diego Act, which will take place Oct. 19-22 on Harbor Island and feature food trucks and craft beer gardens, live music, family-friendly activities and much more. Boasting an original “stadium-style” racing circuit designed for spectators, the Extreme Sailing Series™ is free to the public and includes a mix of unique on-the-water entertainment and numerous on-shore activities.

US Sailing is organizing the “Reach Simple Machine Scavenger Hunt” supported by Harken. Hundreds of participating youth have a special opportunity to connect science and sailing through mechanical advantage by exploring the association between six simple machines: wheel and axel, lever, pulley, screw, wedge and inclined plane. The youth participating in the scavenger hunt will be challenged to find examples of all six simple machines in the Extreme Sailing Series™ Race Village. Those who complete the challenge will receive their very own ‘simple machine’ to take home, a block key chain from Harken. Thanks to Harken, kids will explore a winch (wheel and axel), winch handle (lever), blocks with various purchase systems (pulleys) and a vang system (pulley).

US Sailing’s “GPS Navigation Challenge” will feature a list of items with clues for students to locate using a compass. Students will navigate their way throughout the Education Zone and Race Village to various locations for a final prize.

Mission Bay Aquatic Center, a US Sailing STEM Center of Excellence for the Southern California area will be organizing a “Design your Own Sail Gutter Race” activity as well as a unique demonstration for kids to investigate how wind is generated around the globe making sailing possible for all of us.

Sailors for the Sea will feature three different activities from their KELP (Kids Environmental Lesson Plans) program. All of these activities are focused on how humans impact the ocean and sea life with a specific focus on plastic pollution and marine debris. Participating youth will learn how they can make a difference and become stewards of our waterways and ocean.

Cox will provide a live stream of racing action on Saturday, Oct. 21 and Sunday, Oct. 22 through yurview.com and US Sailing will post the live feed on its Facebook page Saturday and Sunday.

For more event, free-to-entry Race Village and parking information, visit sandiegoextremesailing.com.