gregmlucas
Well-Known Member
There was a thread on here a while back where MazzyH was asking for advice on Comp Crew or similar and I promised to report back when I'd completed mine.
I did mine with Four Winds out of Bucklers Hard near Beaulieu last week. Joined the boat on Friday evening and got back Wednesday - so the standard five day course.
The boat was a very clean and up together Bavaria 37 - which was fine for the five students plus skipper.
The other four students were doing their Day Skipper. At first I was worried that I might of got left behind teaching-wise but this was not the case. Although this was helped by the fact that this was not my first time on a yacht and the four DS's were already very competent. Our instructor managed to keep everyone occupied, learning and happy throughout the course.
We were lucky with the weather, we were able to sail every day, and on the night sail too. And it only rained at night when we weren't sailing. At the end of the course I felt that I'd learnt loads and had lots more confidence around the yacht.
Our skipper, Phil, was excellent, a good easy going instructor with lots of useful trivia to support his teaching and a very obvious wealth of sailing experience. The pace was relaxed enough that I felt I was on holiday but testing enough that I was learning as I went.
Big plus points for Four Winds, aside from the instruction itself, are that the price really is all-inclusive, no marina fees to share and all meals on the boat in the price. When you consider that this included evening meals Sat-Tue that could be a big saving over a school that only includes breakfast & lunch on board. On top of that the food was very good - lots of choice and plenty of it. Lunching on freshly made salad, Tesco Finest bread pate, three different cheeses etc. (I've known lunch with another school to be bread and a choice of cup-a-soup!) Also there's no boat spring clean at the end of the course (as I've heard of elsewhere) the school take care of that after we've finished. Also, the skipper does all the cooking (great spag bol Phil!) - you can see now why I felt that I was on holiday!
Overall, a great family run school with just three school boats on their fleet and what appears to be a hand-selected group of instructors. I would recommend Four Winds to anyone looking for a school on the south coast and will be going back next year to do my day skipper.
I should point out that I have no connection or affiliation with Four Winds, this is just my opinion and personal recommendation.
Hope this helps someone.
Regards,
. . Greg
I did mine with Four Winds out of Bucklers Hard near Beaulieu last week. Joined the boat on Friday evening and got back Wednesday - so the standard five day course.
The boat was a very clean and up together Bavaria 37 - which was fine for the five students plus skipper.
The other four students were doing their Day Skipper. At first I was worried that I might of got left behind teaching-wise but this was not the case. Although this was helped by the fact that this was not my first time on a yacht and the four DS's were already very competent. Our instructor managed to keep everyone occupied, learning and happy throughout the course.
We were lucky with the weather, we were able to sail every day, and on the night sail too. And it only rained at night when we weren't sailing. At the end of the course I felt that I'd learnt loads and had lots more confidence around the yacht.
Our skipper, Phil, was excellent, a good easy going instructor with lots of useful trivia to support his teaching and a very obvious wealth of sailing experience. The pace was relaxed enough that I felt I was on holiday but testing enough that I was learning as I went.
Big plus points for Four Winds, aside from the instruction itself, are that the price really is all-inclusive, no marina fees to share and all meals on the boat in the price. When you consider that this included evening meals Sat-Tue that could be a big saving over a school that only includes breakfast & lunch on board. On top of that the food was very good - lots of choice and plenty of it. Lunching on freshly made salad, Tesco Finest bread pate, three different cheeses etc. (I've known lunch with another school to be bread and a choice of cup-a-soup!) Also there's no boat spring clean at the end of the course (as I've heard of elsewhere) the school take care of that after we've finished. Also, the skipper does all the cooking (great spag bol Phil!) - you can see now why I felt that I was on holiday!
Overall, a great family run school with just three school boats on their fleet and what appears to be a hand-selected group of instructors. I would recommend Four Winds to anyone looking for a school on the south coast and will be going back next year to do my day skipper.
I should point out that I have no connection or affiliation with Four Winds, this is just my opinion and personal recommendation.
Hope this helps someone.
Regards,
. . Greg
