Ever thought of trying out dinghy sailing? Now is the time of year to get started. Sailing clubs often hold open days during the spring and early summer to attract new members. You may be able to enjoy a trial sail with an experienced club member to see whether sailing is for you.
In 2006, after a few years of crewing about twice a year for my husband who is a keen catamaran sailor, I finally took the plunge literally, and signed on for a RYA (Royal Yachting Association) sailing course. It was great fun, completely different and certainly an experience I am glad I had. The session I most remember was the capsize drill where we learnt to right the boat, which meant swimming around in a very large pond.
I had anticipated most participants would be younger than myself; in fact there were several other 'ladies of a certain age' on the course who had all wanted to try out sailing but hadn't had the time or money to do so before.
The following link should give you all the information you need to get started http://www.rya.org.uk/
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RYA Sailing Courses
Adult Courses
Level 1
This teaches you to sail in light winds under supervision. The course lasts a minimum of two days.
Level 2
Level 2 equips you to sail in good conditions. Rigging, launching, recovery, capsize drill, sailing in all directions and safety are covered.
Following my sailing course in 2006, I decided to follow it up with a repeat to update my skills in 2009. Due to an operation on my right hand, I had had to put sailing on hold for a couple of years. Feeling rusty, I signed up for a repeat of the level 2 dinghy sailing course with my local club.
Week One.
The course ran on Saturdays from 9.00am to 4.00pm. Yes, a whole seven hours, with just a short lunch break. For starters, I topped up my hay fever remedies. The training is held on a local pond/small lake surrounded by very, very tall reeds and grasses. Equipped with a nasal spray, an antihistamine tablet plus an homeopathic hay fever remedy, the runny nose, sneezing and swollen eyes were eliminated.
On arriving, I met my fellow would be sailors. We comprised four men and four women of varying ages. There is quite a bit of theory involved in the course, so first we had a safety briefing including advice on appropriate clothing. It’s invariably colder on the water than on-shore with breezes and the cooling of the water, so layers are called for and sun protection including inexpensive sun glasses (they may float away) is imperative.
We were then guided through rigging the training boats, Sport 14s. These allow up to four people to sail together, hence the instructors can sail with the trainees.
Sailing clubs are often excellent at training up teenagers into positions of responsibility and my club is particularly great at this. Several teens from aged 16 and upwards, had trained up as sailing instructors. Giving their services free of charge and under the guidance of senior instructors, they patiently taught us how to tack. The breeze on week one was thankfully quite gentle and no-one capsized. Tacking involves turning the boat with the wind coming from the front. After varying games with the tiller extension, which seemed to have a mind of its own, we had all managed to tack with varying degrees of skill. Finally, after a picnic lunch, further sailing practice and a debriefing week one was completed.
Week Two
This was a non-event for me. I was only able to attend the course for the morning but life, or rather road-works, conspired against me. As I drove to the course, I was met with a barrier across the whole road with diversion signs. On following these signs, I realised the diversion was around twenty minutes drive. To my horror, the road was then blocked from the other end as well. The diversion signs led me back to my starting point. The original access to the road had been re-opened and the other end was now shut. I gave up and went home.
Week Three
Several of us had missed Week Two, others were so keen they had walked there. Those who had attended week two graduated to sailing single handed boats. Those who had missed week two had to learn to gybe (turning the boat with the wind coming from behind) and to complete the dreaded capsize drill.
This involved deliberately capsizing a Sport 14 boat and righting it. Yes, I did have to swim around in the pond but only in controlled conditions in a shallow area with the rescue boat alongside. The capsize drill involved two people righting the boat. The helm takes the mainsheet (the long rope that controls the mainsail) and swims around the boat. The crew throws the jibsheet (rope to the smaller sail) over the boat to the helm then lays alongside the boat floating so that as the boat is righted they roll into the boat to take control. This is called the scoop method. The helm places their feet on the side of boat, rocks up and down to tip the water from the sail then pulls hard to pull the boat up. We took both roles so that we could hopefully upright the boat in a genuine capsize.
The kids in the club love capsizing, they do it for fun which gives them excellent practice.
Week Four
This was a lovely, calm day with the sun shining. We practised our developing skills in single handed boats called Picos. Some of us capsized but this is all part of dinghy sailing. We sailed a course which involved sailing the boat in various wind directions, then practised ‘Man Overboard’ learning how to effect a rescue. Tying knots is a skill which is important in sailing and wecontinued to practise these under the supervision of the excellent club teenagers.
Week Five
This was the final week. By now, we could all tack and gybe and sail a course after a fashion. Following a theory session on racing, we sailed to a start line then attempted to complete a course racing against each other. Unfortunately, the wind was gusty and definitely not gentle. This made it very difficult to sail upwind, where you need to follow a zig zag course because you cannot sail directly into the wind. After almost two hours attempting to get around the course, I finally made it, only to discover that some boats had just gone in for lunch without completing the race. As I was helped in to shore with the very patient instructors on the rescue boat yelling instructions, I finally capsized. This was my first unplanned capsize on the course but was a good thing as I hadn’t yet righted a single hander. The boat I was sailing was a Topper, which luckily is particularly easy to right and climb back on board. After a few heaves on the mainsheet rope, up came the boat. I managed to clamber back on board without tipping it over again and sail back to shore and lunch.
Following this, I felt too bruised and cold to sail again that day and helped to de-rig the boats as people came back to shore. We finished the course with a theory test, a final debriefing and the issuing of our certificates.
The course was exhausting, it was physically demanding and took up my Saturdays. My knees suffered and bruises are standard wear for those who sail. However, it was great fun and well worth while. It’s good to improve a skill and I feel much more confident for when I occasionally (in gentle winds and sunshine only) crew on our Hobie catamaran on the sea. There is also a great social life involved if you wish to be involved. We will hopefully be attending our club’s sailing week which involves racing, fun activities such as cocktail evenings and BBQs plus the opportunity to camp at the clubhouse. Now all I need is wonderful UK weather to enjoy sailing over the summer lol!
