Rigged for Relaxing : Sailing classes offered for kids and adults at Castaic and Westlake lakes promise to be instructional and tension-free.

Got that landlocked feeling?

Try taking up sailing--and you don’t have to travel to Marina del Rey to do it. Accessible, affordable sailing class es for adults and children are given at Castaic Lake (through the CSUN Aquatics Center) and at Westlake Lake.

For children, sailing can be a rare opportunity to enjoy the freedom of driving--without wheels--and to test their individual skill against wind and current.

For adults, sailing can be remarkably relaxing. The sport requires skill and concentration, but offers a calm that often seems novel to commuters and others accustomed to congestion and traffic lights, phones and fax machines.

“It’s a simple, peaceful, quiet, focused form of primitive transport,” says Susan Artof, community sailing liaison for the Westlake Yacht Club in Westlake Village.

CSUN’s program, given on the 8,000-acre Castaic Lake five miles north of Magic Mountain, offers classes on two consecutive Saturdays. The $65 course includes everything from terminology and boating rules to setting up and taking down down a boat, and the basics of wind direction and currents.

Graduates of the eight-hour course earn a California Boating Safety Certificate and a California Sailing Card, which are sometimes required to rent a sailboat, said John Van Arsdale, director of the Aquatics Center.

The course is well suited to families--ideally with children at least 8 years old--as well as college students, singles and seniors, Arsdale said.

“By the time the class is finished, participants are good sailors,” he said.

This summer, the Westlake Yacht Club is offering a sailing program open to the public and geared specifically to children ages 8 to 17. Participants can take classes for up to three weeks from noon to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday, for $125 a week, with discounts for those who take more than one week of instruction.

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The curriculum covers the nuts and bolts of sailing, including water safety and boat rigging. Participants also are given a complimentary junior membership in the Westlake Yacht Club through Sept. 30 that allows them continued access to sailing and to junior member activities, including picnics in the park and pizza sailing parties.

The Westlake Yacht Club also occasionally offers three-hour Saturday classes for adults, for about $20 a session.

Any sailing student should bring a few basics to class: sunscreen, a hat or visor, rough-soled water shoes (anything from deck shoes to waterproof sandals with rugged soles), a water bottle, and--yes--a change of clothes. It’s not hard for beginners to capsize a boat, and most classes require students to show they know what to do if it should happen.

For Artof, even sailing a small boat on a man-made lake offers a thrill. “You focus on the moment, and you really leave all your other thoughts behind,” she said.

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WHERE AND WHEN

What: Sailing lessons for all ages.

Location: CSUN Aquatics Center at Castaic Lake.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on two consecutive Saturdays, year-round.

Price: $65.

Call: John Van Arsdale, director, (805) 257-0571.

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What: Sailing lessons for children 8 to 17.

Location: Westlake Yacht Club, 32123 Lindero Canyon Road, Westlake Village.

Hours: Noon to 4 p.m. for one, two or three weeks, July 10 to Aug. 18.

Price: $125 a week, discounts for more than one week’s instruction.

Also: Three-hour Saturday classes for adults are offered occasionally, for about $20.

Price: (818) 889-4820.