The Junior Sailing Travel Expense Scholarship is designed to assist with travel and related costs for eligible long-distance away events for eligible HYC Junior Sailors. This includes Travel Expenses for RWB Opti Racing Team racers attending major long-distance events, for eligible Green Fleet Opti racers described below and for non-Opti-platform racers attending long distance events (without the need for the event to be a "major" event).

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We have a limited amount of these Scholarships.

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Scholarships range from $50 to $250.

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Qualification Requirements

For All Scholarships

• The Applicant must either be a Junior Member of HYC or his/her parent must be a Member or an employee of HYC.

• The Applicant must be ages 7 to 18 years of age and live in Hampton Roads.

• The Applicant must already be registered for a Regatta in order to apply and the Applicant must register as a HYC sailor for the event.

• Costs may only include travel, lodging, meals and boat rental.

For RWB Opti Racing Team Scholarships

• The Regatta must be a “major” sanctioned race (National or International Championship for Opti or immediately lower-level qualifier).

• The Regatta must be an officially "sponsored" HYC Opti Race Team Regatta, i.e., it must be on the HYC Race Team schedule of Regattas.

• The event for which a Scholarship is being sought must be a Regatta at least 350 miles distant from HYC (south of Myrtle Beach, west of Pittsburgh and North of NYC).

For Green Fleet Opti Race Team Scholarships

• The racer must have participated in an HYC Summer Camp through a Bumps or Foundation Scholarship.
• The distance requirements applicable to other Travel Expense Scholarships do not apply to Green Fleet Opti Race Team Scholarships.

For Non-Opti Race Team Scholarships

• Travel Expense Scholarships are also available to eligible racers on non-Opti sailboat platforms (e.g., c420, Laser, FJ, etc.) who otherwise meet the Requirements applicable to "All Scholarships" above. The "major" Regatta and prior race placement Requirements applicable to Opti Racing Team Scholarships do not apply to Non-Opti Team Racing Scholarships.

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How to Apply

For RWB Opti Racing Team Scholarships.  For 2026, RWB Opti Race Team Scholarships will be applied for by the Sailing Director based upon criteria established by the Junior Advisory Board. The Sailing Director and Junior Advisory  Board have been given a $6,500 Scholarship budget for 2026 and will initially determine how much to request for a given Regatta. The Sailing Director will apply directly to the Foundation and the Foundation shall determine how much to actually award to a particular Regatta. The total Scholarship amount awarded by the Foundation to a Regatta will be divided equally among all of the eligible Applicants/racers actually participating in the Regatta. Since the Sailing Director might not attend the Regatta, it is the responsibility of the Applicant/racer parent to ensure that the Sailing Director is aware of the racer's participation and compliance with Scholarship requirements. Actual Scholarship awards will be paid to the racer following the Regatta.

For Green Fleet Opti Race Team and Non-Opti Race Team Scholarships. The eligible Applicant/racer parent must complete and submit the Non-RWB Opti Race Team Scholarship here. Actual Scholarship awards will be paid to the racer following the Regatta.

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The Travel Expense Scholarship application process is open.

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