Are we letting our children down?

[Twister_Ken]

Re the French - we see their kids sailing because we visit coastal locations. Inland, frog sprogs don't go sailing. In the mountains they go skiing, in the middle they pick grapes, and in the big cities they vandalise cars.

My own ex-school seems to sail, judging by the annual begging magazine it sends me.

 

[Topcat47]

Sailing in the UK is priced out of the market for a lot of people. I've seen french kiddies of 6 and above out and about on topper equivalents since the 80's doing great things. It'd cheaper in France, of course.

My club (now defunct) had training on wednesday evenings but my kids couldn't start until they were 13. All four can sail pretty well. The boys all went to sea with the LSP (now the rona sailing trust) but my daughter couldn't as it was boys only back then. They're more enlightened now. I still think they started too late.

 

[Moonshining]

So we have been in France for a good while now.

One thing we have noticed everywhere we have been is that very young children are always on the water in every conceivable type of boat.

They are given sailing lessons almost before they can walk and it appears to be part of the school curriculum.

They are always out there doing it and often with just one instructor. (Health and safety only applies to the UK and is ignored in France).

It is fantastic to see the kids out there and they all appear to love it. I even saw a 10 year old bring a 30 odd foot yacht into the marina better than most adults.

Why didn’t I see the same in the UK and are we letting our kids down?

You can't move in Chichester Harbour at weekends without seeing children out on the water. There are hundreds of em. There also seem to be plenty of kids sailing on the reservoirs and lakes around London as well as on the Thames itself.

Perhaps you're looking in the wrong place. If there are so few kids out on the water, why are we so good at olympic sailing and rowing?

 

[snowleopard]

So we have been in France for a good while now.

One thing we have noticed everywhere we have been is that very young children are always on the water in every conceivable type of boat.

It's the same in Spain & Portugal. We loved to see the fleets of Oppies coming home, a dozen or more towed behind a rib.

In Britain we tend to keep the kids out of the way so adults can enjoy their sport in peace. One club I sailed with had a big debate over whether to adopt Wayfarers as a class. Several of the old stagers were opposed as they thought a family boat would encourage parents to bring their brats to the club.

 

[davo99]

The state comp I went to 40 yrs ago used to have sailing lessons at a local inland sailing club (Pilks, St Helens). Only lasted a year or two before it was stopped but loved it while it was there.

Same club used to run free intro classes for 50+ through the local Age Concern but budget cuts have put paid to that :-(

 

[GrahamM376]

My (23yr old) son started in Mirrors in Faro when he was five, learned to respect the sea and still loves sailing. My 49 year old is an RNLI volunteer crew as well as sailing for pleasure. If you have any influence over any youngsters get them sailing as soon as possible.

They're still at it, Oppos out with kids 4-5 years old. One instructor in rib with maybe 12 kids milling around the moorings, they seem to enjoy it more when they capsize.

 

[DanTribe]

Kids eh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMAC47VarjQ&feature=player_detailpage

I bet they don't even know what the best anchor is

 

[bromleybysea]

It has nothing to do with long working hours, the kids here are learning in and out of school and during holidys.
In school our kids learn th value of the cod Piece in Shakespearian times or quadratic equasions.
Teach the kids something they will enjoy and it will be with them for life. They sail after school, our kids say they are bored, wear hoodies, stab grandma's and talk with a Jamacian twang.
Who is getting it right?

Complete boll*ox! Have you ever been to the poorer parts of a large French city? My kids, who have been educated in the state system in south London are not bored, don't stab "grandma's" (and know the correct use of the apostrophe) and speak properly. My son recently helped me sail back from Spain two-up and my daughter is about to go to Cambridge to read classics. Our children are largely what we make of them.

 

[maby]

Re the French - we see their kids sailing because we visit coastal locations. Inland, frog sprogs don't go sailing. In the mountains they go skiing, in the middle they pick grapes, and in the big cities they vandalise cars.

My own ex-school seems to sail, judging by the annual begging magazine it sends me.

Exactly - it's all down to location - every weekend afternoon on the Medway it's close to impossible to pass Upnor for kids in Oppies! It's been a cause of some considereable regret to my wife and I that we were not sailing when our son was young - the tiny kids coming in off their Oppies look so self-assured!

 

[ProDave]

So what's the secret to keeping kids interested?

My 5 year old daughter comes sailing with us occasionally, but she doesn't enjoy it.

She's too young to really understand what we are doing and complains it's "boring" We do try and tell her what we are doing and why.

Offer her a trip at high speed on the club's RIB and she thinks that's great fun, but I'll bet even that would become boring after a short while (and no I'm not buying a mobo, I like nice quiet sailing)

Ideas please, or are we limited for the time being to just day sailing during school hours?

She can't start learning dinghy sailing at our club until she's 8

 

[gibo993]

Go down to Lymington and see the Ribs towing out long snakes of kids in Oppos, I remember thinking once, they can't take them out in this?? but they did and it was blowing a hooley, right out past the starting platform then let them get on with it.

 

[DanTribe]

So what's the secret to keeping kids interested?

My 5 year old daughter comes sailing with us occasionally, but she doesn't enjoy it.

She's too young to really understand what we are doing and complains it's "boring" We do try and tell her what we are doing and why.

Offer her a trip at high speed on the club's RIB and she thinks that's great fun, but I'll bet even that would become boring after a short while (and no I'm not buying a mobo, I like nice quiet sailing)

Ideas please, or are we limited for the time being to just day sailing during school hours?

She can't start learning dinghy sailing at our club until she's 8

The secret is the social scene.
Big boats and grown ups are boring to kids. Once she finds a mate who sails [or even a rowing boat] I think you'll find that boats take over. Our club has a "sprats" group, too young to sail [officially] but are taken out in motor boats or as crew etc. it's all "boats" though. That's what happened with our kids, and now with grand kids.
The kids social round does rather put a stop to your own sailing plans because you have to be back for a regatta or squad trial etc. Wouldn't have it any other way though!

 

[maby]

Hmmm, I guess every child is different and we can't come up with magic solutions that work for everyone. I would think that finding things for them to do counts for a lot - let her steer - at least in wide open waters where there's no risk of collision. You may, of course, have to carry around a small box for her to stand on in order to be able to see over the coachroof! When you unfurl the genoa, it's always necessary to keep some tension up on the furling line to avoid tangles - who better to do it. Every ship needs a good lookout - small pair of binocculars - most important job on the boat - just remember what happened to the Titanic!

Of course, all of this is worth so much more when it's observed by someone else and translates into a "cool" status at school the next week - invite assorted friends along for a couple of hours sailing and let them get really jealous of your daughter's abilities at handling an enormous ocean going yacht!

 

[ProDave]

invite assorted friends along for a couple of hours sailing and let them get really jealous of your daughter's abilities at handling an enormous ocean going yacht!

You've not seen my boat then. "enormous ocean going yacht" is not the phrase I immediately think of.

but I like that idea of seeing if any of her friends mothers are brave enough to let us take their son or daughter out on the boat.

 

[maby]

You've not seen my boat then. "enormous ocean going yacht" is not the phrase I immediately think of.

but I like that idea of seeing if any of her friends mothers are brave enough to let us take their son or daughter out on the boat.

You're really not into this, are you? When you're five, anything is "an enormorous ocean going yacht"

A male friend would be even better - your "enormous ocean going yacht" will have real wow factor and your five year old daughter will have real coolness for being able to helm it.

And those little waves? They're massive Atlantic breakers! Weather's a bit cold this morning? Full offshore gear and keep a lookout for icebergs - demonstrate with an ice cube in your glass of scotch...

 

[MissIsle]

A couple I met from the UK have a son aged 12 who's a good sailor. On a recent holiday in Turkey the kid was bringing the boat into a restaurant mooring to join the rest of the flotilla. The guy from the lead crew bellowed at them to "remove that kid from the helm, now"

The couple left the "kid" where he was and he expertly brought the boat into the mooring, with no help whatsoever!

My son is 8 & regularly takes the helm when we are under engine. He isn't ready to enter or leave a berth yet, but is pefectly safe to bring the boat up from Gosport to Fareham while we make lines & fenders ready. He sometimes gets a few "double takes" as we go through through the pontoons at Wicormarine but he just gets a nice cheery wave' I trust him, & he'll be nicking the boat to go off with his mates in a few years no doubt.

 

[Babylon]

My 5 year old daughter [...] can't start learning dinghy sailing at our club until she's 8

That is precisely the problem! At about the time he turned 6 a few months ago, my son got the hang of a pedal-bike with no stabilisers, and now he's incredibly confident. By the same token, given a few weekends over much the same period, he should surely easily be able to learn to sail a small dinghy at a good basic level, but the local inland dinghy clubs also won't take them until they're 8. Maybe its an insurance or a RYA thing?

However, I've seen younger children (4-5) from a yacht club out in Opies on the Hamble, with parents in inflatables acting as safety-boats. The kids don't half learn fast!

 

[Bosun Higgs]

So we have been in France for a good while now.

One thing we have noticed everywhere we have been is that very young children are always on the water in every conceivable type of boat.

They are given sailing lessons almost before they can walk and it appears to be part of the school curriculum.

They are always out there doing it and often with just one instructor. (Health and safety only applies to the UK and is ignored in France).

It is fantastic to see the kids out there and they all appear to love it. I even saw a 10 year old bring a 30 odd foot yacht into the marina better than most adults.

Why didn’t I see the same in the UK and are we letting our kids down?

You look in the wrong places. My club has a horde of 6 year olds an up sailing oppies / lasers etc supervised by one adult (though personally |I think it should be three equipped with cattle prods ) and we have the welsh training squads here and regattas for the kids and piles of chips for the kids and a changing room floor swimming in water for the kids.

It's great. But there are a lot of old fuddy duddies who dont like them there because of noise and nuisance etc

My sons old school took the kids sailing.

 

[prv]

My sons old school took the kids sailing.

My school did sailing, although that was teenagers rather than the sort of ages we're talking about here. That was on an inland lake, it wasn't a school near the coast. I think it was down to a particular teacher's keenness to introduce it, together with the school's admirable willingness to allow new things.

Not sure when I started sailing my Mirror on my own (or rather, with my younger brother as crew) but there's photos of the boat outside the house that we moved out of when I was eight.

Pete

 

[johnalison]

You've not seen my boat then. "enormous ocean going yacht" is not the phrase I immediately think of.

but I like that idea of seeing if any of her friends mothers are brave enough to let us take their son or daughter out on the boat.

I don't know what the answer to your difficulty is. Our children started cruising when they were 2 & 5, but we are having more trouble getting the grandchildren interested, and like yours, they seem to find it boring however hard we try to involve them. On the other hand, the father of three of them has recently bought an Enterprise and they all love it.

My conclusion is that a cruiser is hard for children to adjust to unless they are immersed in it for weeks at a time, as ours were (22 & 26ft boats). Few children though fail to enjoy messing about in small craft and dinghies, even rowing around in an Avon (but please not motoring round marinas!).