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 Opti Racing Team racers attending major long-distance events 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 very 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 of HYC.

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

• 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) .

• 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 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 Applicant must have placed in the top half of the fleet in a multi-club race in prior 12 months.

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 Opti Racing Team Scholarships.  For 2025 and 2026, Opti Race Team Scholarships will be applied for by the Sailing Director. The Sailing Director will be given a Scholarship budget for 2025 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 Non-Opti Race Team Scholarships. The eligible Applicant/racer parent must complete and submit the Non-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 will open September 1, 2025.

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