USFoil HUB

HUB Coach Guide

One relationship runs through everything here: coaches develop the athletes, and USFoil develops the coaches. We work together under USFoil guidance — one national standard, so a sailor gets the same quality of coaching at every HUB in the network.

The USFoil pathway

The USFoil Foiling Coach Curriculum v2.0 is the national standard for WASZP instruction, developed in partnership with FOILFAST and aligned with the WASZP Class development pathway. It rests on three foundational principles:

Connection before content

Establish trust, safety and group rapport before any technical instruction. Foiling is a vulnerable learning environment — psychological safety enables physical progress.

Intelligence of flight

Teach how foils work from first principles — hydrodynamics, apparent wind, three-variable control and body mechanics — so sailors understand rather than merely copy movements.

Body intelligence

Sailors learn to feel and control foils through their bodies, guided by structured on-water progressions: the Secure Position, the three variables and the foiling zones.

Part one — you coach the athletes

Athlete Development

Athletes progress through three sailor levels, each mapped to the WASZP on-water skill progression ladder. Every session should target one ladder step — name it at the start, debrief against it at the end.

Steps 1–3

Level 1 — Novice

Can get the boat on foil and land from foiling. Dry wings, take-off and landing, then foiling straight for one minute.

Steps 4–6

Level 2 — Intermediate

Can sustain foiling on a straight course in all directions. Foil upwind, steer and turn on the foil, foil downwind.

Steps 7–8 + Dry Lap

Level 3 — Advanced

In-depth knowledge; sustains foiling through tacks and gybes. Foiling gybe, foiling tack, and a full racing lap on foil.

Your coaching tools

Squad

Your landing page, with three tabs. Overview lists every athlete with days on the water, weekly fitness standard, certification percentage and last activity, and puts anything needing your action at the top under “Needs your attention”. Progress is the full side-by-side table. Standings is the leaderboard.

Athlete page

One page holds everything about a sailor: where they came from and every coach supporting them, their scorecard, skills logbook, certification and fitness, regattas, the day-by-day water log, imported activity files, contact and emergency details, boats sailed, and parent consent status.

Applications

Head Coaches approve new athletes here. Under-18 athletes must have parent/guardian consent granted before you can approve them — the consent status and parent contact are shown on the row. You can also approve an athlete onto a different race team than the one they applied for.

Coaches

Head Coaches add assistant coaches to the HUB so sign-offs scale as the programme grows. Open any coach's profile to see their contact details, endorsement progress, the sailors they coach, and private staff notes.

Messages

Email the whole HUB, only the athletes, or only the coaches — and message a race team (North American Race Team, Youth Development, Podium Team) as a group or individually. Sailors have their own messaging too, and can search each other by name or sail number; parents of under-18 sailors are always copied.

Standings & regattas

Standings are opt-in and consistency based — days on the water, fitness sessions and certification percentage — and can be viewed overall, by HUB or by race team. Sailors also log the regattas they attend with their finishing place and fleet size. Use it to celebrate effort, never to rank talent.

Race teams, events and guests

Race teams

Alongside HUB membership, sailors can be selected for the North American Race Team, Youth Development or the Podium Team. Team membership is managed by USFoil separately from HUB approval, and sailors can request a team change from their profile.

Event guest accounts

USFoil issues an event code for clinics and regattas so any sailor trying a WASZP can create a guest account and start tracking their journey. Guests log water time, fitness and skills themselves — guest skills are self-tracked only and cannot be signed off until they join a HUB, which preserves their whole history.

Guest coaches

An event's own coach can be invited to a restricted account so they can follow their sailors through the event without access to the wider network.

Coaching the data

01

Set the season targets

Each athlete sets days on the water for the season (1 Sept – 31 Aug) and gets weekly fitness targets across the five areas — Strength & Power, Aerobic Engine, Race Conditioning, Athletic Movement, Mobility & Durability. Targets follow youth/adult standards from date of birth; you can override an athlete's standard with a reason when needed.

02

Read the weekly rings

Green rings mean the weekly minimum is met in that area. A high-load sailing day counts towards race conditioning. Recovery does not earn fitness credit. Two amber weeks in a row is your cue to talk, not to wait.

03

Check imports and videos

Athletes can upload Garmin/Vakaros files (.fit, .gpx, .tcx, .vkx) on the Fitness page and must confirm each one, so logs stay honest. Skill videos are self-paced — chase the ones sitting unwatched before the next on-water session.

04

Sign off skills promptly

Athletes can send a single skill or a whole level for review. When one lands you get an email and a notification with a direct link. Approve individually, or use Approve all with the confirmation step. Athletes are emailed exactly which skills you signed off — it is the single biggest motivator in the system.

05

Comment and encourage

Leave short, specific notes on the Squad Progress tab or an athlete's page. Coach-only notes stay between coaches; shared comments appear on the athlete's own page and can carry a photo, video or voice note. Name the behaviour you want repeated, not just the outcome.

06

Reset and raise the bar

Review the squad monthly: promote athletes who are ready to the next certification level, adjust targets for athletes who are consistently over or under, and reset goals at the start of each season block.

Teaching resources

Sailor assessment checklists

Athlete certification checklists mirror the three levels exactly, from first flights and capsize recovery through foiling tacks and gybes. Assess against the ladder step you coached that session.

Safety first, always

Correct unsafe falling technique immediately, never foil alone, and keep the coach boat equipped to the national standard. Safety is the first competency at every level.

Session debrief

After each session, note what the sailors achieved, what limited them, and the one change you will make next time. These notes feed straight into your own coach development.

Video library

Skill videos are shared with athletes and tracked on their Progress page. Assign a video that matches the ladder step you are coaching that week.

Part two — USFoil develops you

Coach Development

The USFoil Dinghy Foiling Coach Endorsement runs in levels, each reviewed by USFoil directly. Work through the requirements on the My Endorsement page, submit for review, and receive an endorsement record with a unique credential ID you can share with employers.

Sport-specific USFoil endorsement. Not a professional license or safety certification. Current underlying credentials and endorsement status should be independently verified.

  1. Tier 01

    18 hrs · 3 days

    Foiling Instructor Level 1

    Prerequisite
    US Sailing Instructor Level 1 + First Aid
    Eligible to deliver
    Level 1 (Novice) sailor programs
  2. Tier 02

    24 hrs · 4 days

    Foiling Instructor Level 2

    Prerequisite
    Level 1 endorsement + sustained flight upwind/downwind
    Eligible to deliver
    Level 1 & 2 (Novice + Intermediate) sailor programs
  3. Tier 03

    Ongoing CPD

    Advanced Coach (USFoil Foiling 3/4)

    Prerequisite
    Level 2 endorsement + racing experience
    Eligible to deliver
    All levels, including Race Team integration
  4. Tier 04

    By application

    Subject Matter Expert (SME)

    Prerequisite
    5+ years of foiling coaching experience
    Eligible to deliver
    Co-delivery of coach endorsement clinics

How sign-off works

  1. Self-assess every requirement honestly on the My Endorsement page — in training, demonstrated, or demonstrated consistently. You can submit a single competency or a whole level.
  2. Submit when you are ready. USFoil sees it in the review queue and in a daily summary email — we do not send an alert for every tick.
  3. USFoil reviews each competency, confirms it, or sends it back with feedback you can reply to and resubmit.
  4. On approval your endorsement is issued with a unique credential ID, an issue date and a Valid Through date, plus a printable copy in the app and a public verification page for that credential ID.

My Endorsement

Your four-level coach pathway lives here. Complete the detailed Level 1 and Level 2 requirements, then progress through Advanced Coach and Subject Matter Expert with USFoil. Issued endorsements carry a credential ID and a Valid Through date you can share with employers.

Coach self-assessment & debrief

Complete an honest reflection after each clinic or development session — what worked, what didn't, and what you'll change. Honest reflection builds better coaches and stronger HUBs, and it's the fastest route through your endorsement.

Coaches without a HUB

Coaches whose club is not yet a HUB can be invited to an endorsement-only account: the same USFoil Dinghy Foiling Coach Endorsement pathway, the Coach Guide and the skill video library, with a direct line to USFoil — and a clear route to bringing their club on as a HUB.

Sponsors

USFoil's sponsors have their own private page and can message coaches directly about webinars, product updates and support. Sponsors never see sailor information.

Ready to coach?

Interested in coaching under the USFoil pathway? Tell us about yourself and your club, and we'll schedule a time to connect about your coach endorsement and your group joining the USFoil HUB network.