Advice for dinghy sail training holiday abroad

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Hambler Rambler

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Firstly, hello everyone - I have decided it is time to de-lurk and consult the forumites!

I am looking for a good quality dinghy sailing holiday (doesn't necessarily need to be a package) for a fun holiday for me & gf and also to hone our sailing skills (I have lots of large keelboat sailing/racing experience but virtually none in dinghys and she did quite a bit of dinghy sailing many years ago but in quite old fashioned boats)

I don't think either of us are particularly desperate to get RYA certification, and in fact I am not sure I would want to pidgeon-hole myself into an RYA course to learn some particular skill... we are more interested in some general open-ended tuition, if there is such a thing?

Looking for opinions on Nielsen and Minorca Sailing Holidays or any other ideas?

Thanks
 
Hambler Rambler said:
Looking for opinions on Nielsen and Minorca Sailing Holidays or any other ideas?

Thanks
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I learnt to sail at Minorca Holidays, I did 1 wk for Level 1 &2 for windsurfers then on 2nd week realised that Level 3 was mostly getting experience and that with such great equipment and tuition available I would get maximum value by doing Level 1 & 2 Dinghy sailing. Great and v enjoyable 2 wk holiday in the Sun.

Later did a similar 2 week holiday (windsurfing and sail) with Sunsail near Bodrum Turkey (not sure its still there)

Took Son, 20, Daughter 16, Stepdaughter 13, then Girlfriend and her Mum(then 65!) . All thoroughly enjoyed it.
 
I spent a week at Minorca Holidays, after doing level 1 & 2 in the UK over the preceeding 12 months.

Had a great time, lots of sailing with plenty of tution. Really let me understand and practice the skills from RYA courses.

They have lots of kit and the best bit is you don't have to put set them up or put them away when you finish.
 
Going to Minorca Sailing in three weeks for the first time - my sailing club in London takes a group every year & everyone who's been says it's the absolute dogs, every boat you can think of & plenty of them, & really top notch tuition. Am hoping they're right!

Only one I can speak with authority on is Wildwind in Vassiliki - great spot & very nice set up (NOT the 18-30 atmosphere), but we thought not so good for learning - its big selling point is the cross-shore thermal wind that kicks in every afternoon, which is great for blasting around in a cat or a Laser if you're up to it, but can be a bit frustrating for beginners (HWMBO had a few toys out of pram incidents) - and in the morning there's barely any breeze at all. Very chilled place but a bit unstructured - which is why we're going to Minorca this time.
 
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Thanks all for the replies....

I hadn't quite realised that Minorca had such a reputation (altho certainly looks good from the website) as I only looked them up as I remembered their seeing their office in near Richmond from many a traffic jam when I was little!

Would I be correct in saying that Minorca is more of a premium product (price wise)? Also, it seems like it wouldn't make much sense to not use the packaged flights and accomodaton?
 
Minorca sailing is mind numbingly expensive. Have a look at the Sunsail clubs, Vounaki in Greece is a nice place. We wanted our son to learn to sail and it's pointless doing it on a big yacht so we went to Vounaki, we all had a fantastic time. See if you can run around the mast while tacking, it takes practice.
 
MissFitz said:
Only one I can speak with authority on is Wildwind in Vassiliki - great spot & very nice set up (NOT the 18-30 atmosphere), but we thought not so good for learning - its big selling point is the cross-shore thermal wind that kicks in every afternoon, which is great for blasting around in a cat or a Laser if you're up to it, but can be a bit frustrating for beginners
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What you state is usual but we went to Vassiliki for 2wks windsurfing - the same year that i went to Minorca Sailing and there was zero wind for about 8 days. I hired a trail bike and we found some deserted beaches instead!

When wind finally did kick in it very quickly rose to a F7 and I did my back in windsurfing so back to the motorcycle!

Went to Nidre and hired a wayfarer - then girlfriend (now wife!) loved it and bought first boat the next year
 
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