Ahoy, Polloi : Yacht club hopes scholarships will help get rid of some of sailing’s elitist reputation.

A few weeks ago, Huntington Beach students Robby Kuchinski and Joana Emhof found out they had won scholarships for a series of classes that would keep them busy for most of the summer. But Kuchinski, 9, and Emhof, 10, aren’t going to school. They’re going sailing.

The two youngsters beat out 50 others in an essay contest awarding full scholarships to Huntington Harbour Yacht Club’s summer sailing classes. The contest, sponsored by the club, is in its third year and is designed to help rid sailing of some of its elitist reputation, according to Marilyn Frick, who along with Jessica Uniack runs the program.

“We want kids, not just yacht club kids to take sailing, because it is a marvelous sport. And we wanted kids who otherwise might not get involved to get involved,” Frick says.

The classes, which begin June 25, are open to the public and include four-week and seven-week sessions designed for beginning and advanced sailors. Uniack, whose sons, Alex, 11, and Billy, 14, have both been involved in the program, says the classes teach a lot more than boat handling and sail trimming.

“The kids learn sportsmanship, teamwork, responsibility. It’s a real hands-on experience, and it’s a good clean sport. A lot of people just need to realize that for years it has had the stigma of being a rich man’s sport. But any parent who has ever been to a regatta dragging around a Sabot can tell you it’s not.”

The Huntington Harbour program, which is expected to attract about 70 young sailors this summer, is one of a variety of children’s sailing classes offered by nearly a dozen county yacht clubs. And it is the only yacht club program that offers scholarships.

Other sailing classes are sponsored by the Newport Beach Parks, Beaches and Recreation Department, UC Irvine, the Orange County Sea Scouts, the Girl Scouts and the Dana Point Harbor Youth and Group Facility, which offers week-long sailing camps in addition to shorter classes. Minimum age for most classes is 8 or 9, and all children must be able to pass a swim test.

With so many classes to choose from in Orange County, most children can find sailing lessons to match their age, ability and budget. Prices range from $10 for a one-day class at the Youth and Group Facility in Dana Point to more than $200 for some yacht club programs. A few yacht club classes, like Huntington Harbour’s, are open to the public, but charge more for children of non-members. (The four-week Huntington Harbour program is $150 for members and $200 for non-members; the seven-week program is $225 for members and $275 for non-members.)

Most yacht club programs require children to provide their own boats. For kids without boats, there are classes at the Sea Scouts, Youth and Group Facility or Newport Beach recreation department, where boats are provided.

Boats will also be provided for the two young scholarship winners in Huntington Harbour, according to Frick. “The only thing their parents have to provide is a life jacket and transportation,” says Jessica Uniack, who has worked with the club’s youth program for the past four years.

Like dozens of other adult volunteers throughout the county, Frick and Uniack will be on hand every day during the sailing classes to help out. “We have four instructors and two or three younger kids helping get the boats into the water. And we have a parent of the day,” says Uniack, who admits that even with that much help it isn’t always smooth sailing.

“The first day when you see all these kids handling those boats, you think there’s no way they are ever going to make it. That they just aren’t going to survive,” she says.

With 70 kids and 70 boats on the water--most of them at the same time--close calls, collisions and capsized boats are all part of a day’s work for Uniack and Frick. In recognition for their work in children’s sailing, last year the two women were named Yachtswomen of the Year by the Yacht Club Assn. of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Even when the summer sailing program is over, Frick and Uniack continue to hone their skills by attending the annual Junior Sailing Symposium sponsored by the United States Yacht Racing Union. Last year’s meeting was held in New Orleans, and although the site has not been chosen for this year’s session, the two women are already making plans to attend.

In addition, this year Frick and Uniack will also help stage the annual Sabot championship regatta for sailors under 12.

Nearly 100 young sailors from Dana Point, Newport Harbor, Huntington Harbour and Long Beach are expected to compete in the event, which will be held in Huntington Harbour on July 22. And although beginning sailors Kuchinski and Emhof probably won’t be ready to race after only a month’s worth of lessons, Frick points out that there’s always next year.

Kayaking: An introductory kayaking class will be held from 10:30 a.m. to noon July 2, July 27 and Aug. 21 at the Dana Point Harbor Youth and Group Facility, 34451 Ensenada Place, Dana Point. The class is open to students age 16 and up. Cost is $30. For information call (714) 661-7122.

Cruising Seminar: Dana Point Yacht Club will hold a free seminar called “What to Expect Cruising Mexico” at 10 a.m. July 13. The program will be presented by Doug and Karen Danielson, who have sailed together for many years. The seminar is open to the public, but because of limited seating, reservations are required. Call (714) 496-2900.

Also on July 13, the club will hold an Olympian Support Regatta to be sailed on an Olympic style course. Entry fee is $25, and proceeds will be matched by the club and will be used to support Dana Point Yacht Club member Lanee Butler in her campaign for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. For information call regatta chairman Bob Sherwood Jr. at (714) 240-3519.

Tall Ship: The tall ship Californian set sail in May for its second annual Coastal Awareness Program, an educational program to link environmental, community and youth groups. The boat, which is the state’s official tall ship, will travel 4,000 miles this year, visiting 22 ports along the California coast. For further information, call the society at (714) 661-1001.

SeaFest Dates: Sponsors of the third annual SeaFest in Newport Beach have announced that this year’s event will be held Sept. 12 through Sept. 22. Hosted by the Newport Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce, SeaFest includes a variety of activities, many of them nautical. For information, call (714) 644- 8211.