Course to learn sailing as an existing motorboater

[Nick2]

We are thinking of changing from power to sail and would like any recomendations as to which course may be suitable for us.

We both have power dayskipper theory and practical and two years solent experience on our motor cruiser.

Thanks

Nick

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2>http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2</A>

 

[[2574]]

Re: Course to learn sailing as an existing motorbo

Nick,

Is this change of code being driven by the concerns regarding untaxed diesel?

Rob

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Nick2]

Re: Course to learn sailing as an existing motorbo

No not really as I have always been a "closet" sailing boat mag reader and always enjoyed my all too few sailing trips. We would like a bigger boat anyway now and this seems a good chance to fully review all options - including buying a sailing boat.

We are due to spend a couple of weekends sailing with freinds on their boats but felt that a course would be good to help give us the full picture - thats all.

Nick

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2>http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2</A>

 

[Stevie_T]

Re: Course to learn sailing as an existing motorbo

As an ex instructor I wouldn't necessarily recommend a specific course at this stage, you have your day skipper powerboat but there are so many differences between power and sail.

Course to steer, EP's and general navigation, particularly to windward will take some getting used to if you wish to be reasonably proficient at it. Also practical stuff like Man overboard, mooring under sail etc will require a lot of work.

You could always go with a school and just tell them your position and that you wish to spend a week learning sailing skills with a view to doing your day skipper at a later stage. This way you could relax more and not have the pressure of cramming a whole course into the (say) 5 days.

Most schools should cater for you and if they don't then don't use them.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Nick2]

Re: Course to learn sailing as an existing motorbo

Thanks - that sounds excellent advice

Nick

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2>http://arweb.co.uk/argallery/Nick2</A>

 

[beachbum]

Re: Course to learn sailing as an existing motorbo

Another option you may want to consider, purely for the practical side, is to do some dinghy sailing.

<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1>Nobody is perfect.
I am nobody.
Therefore I am perfect.</font size=1> /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

 

[boatone]

Letter from Aunty ........

Dear Nick,
When I first saw this cry for help I was really quite concerned that we over on MoBoChat had finally pushed you too far. I would hate to think that our mild ribaldry has finally proved too much for you to bear. You are genuinely loved and respected amongst your iron tropsail colleagues but we do understand how difficult you have found many of the mechanical issues involved.

On reflection, however, I cannot help but feel that you may be taking a very sensible decision which may well help to overcome some of the very real concerns that have plagued your enjoyment of MoBo-ing:

1. You rarely if ever see a raggie boat with a sooty bum
2. Seldom, if ever, have I seen a raggie boat with a generator
3. Holding tanks are also rarely part of their inventory
4. Passage times are long and usually peaceful lying on one side. Strange noises causing symptoms of immediate panic are rarely experienced
5. There are no worries abut canopy construction or the choice between Flying Bridge or Sportsboat configurations

I could go on but I am sure you are beginning to see some of the many advantages to raggie sailing which you may not have immediately identified/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

We on MoBoChat will of course miss you but our loss will undoubtedly be scuttlebuts gain and you can probably do much to awaken them from their somnambulent state and force them to come face to face with many of the issues of raggie boat ownership that they have not yet realised they should be concerned about.

Do please visit us from time to time and let us know how you are getting on.
yours with admiration
Aunty

PS....if you want to talk to raggie owners about the pros and cons pop over to Cowes this week in your Corniche and toodle around....a few of them are having a little get together and I'm sure they'll make you most welcome../forums/images/icons/smile.gif




<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.boatsontheweb.com/> Website, Photo Gallery, Chat Room, Burgees</A>

 

[bedouin]

Re: Course to learn sailing as an existing motorbo

Assuming that you're already an experienced power boat skipper then I think you would find the DS level sailing courses a waste of time - you will find yourself covering a lot of the stuff you already know.

One my criticisms of the RYA cruising courses (CC, DS, CS and even YM) is that they don't really care about the finer points of sailing. They concentrate on safety and navigation (both very important) but they don't teach you how to trim the sails.

The best introduction you can get to sail handling would be to do an RYA "keelboat" type course (or failing that a dinghy course). Those courses concentrate on teaching sailing skills (i.e. what to do with all those bits of string).

Once you've done those if you want to hone your sailing skills then look for sailing courses that concentrate on sailing skills - e.g. sail trim courses or race training.


<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[milltech]

Re: Course to learn sailing as an existing motorbo

I'm not sure how big a Fairline Corniche is, but I suspect that if you want a bigger boat she is going to have to be MUCH BIGGER to both move to sail AND have more room.

Yacht shapes are much more dictated by necessities of hull design than fast motor boats, and that makes them incompatible with large living spaces, (unless you had in mind a Choy Lee 63 or similar).

<hr width=100% size=1>John
http://www.on-line-marine.com

 

[tcm]

important conversion courses

1: Hardarse Level 1: Covers sitting on concrete, sleeping on a park bench and lying down in a small shed: beginners guide for just how uncomfortable it is on a sailing boat.

2. "No, we aren't nearly there yet". introduction for newbies to the amazing amount of time it takes to get anywhere, including the bizarre phenomenon of anchoring to avoid actually going backwards with the tide.

3. "Beat me Daddy, eight to a bar". Acclimatisation for getting overtaken by everthing else on the water, including dinghies, seabirds and fish.


<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

Re: important conversion courses

lol

Did you forget to include taking a cold salty shower while fully clothed and then staying in wet clothes all day.

<hr width=100% size=1>Julian

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>

</A>

 

[tcm]

Re: important conversion courses

yeah - tho he's already got a flybridge mobo so should be already at advanced level for being utterly freezing wet and cold.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Re: Course to learn sailing as an existing motorbo

Motor boat accomodation is also dictated by design as well. On a planing boat like the Corniche 31, the need to have a reasonably sharp forefoot means that the forward (usually owner's) cabin is normally quite poky and the fact that the engines on a shaftdrive boat have to be positioned roughly amidships (unless a V drive system is used) means that the saloon has to be placed on top of the engines which then squeezes the second cabin under the interior helm which makes it even pokier than the forward cabin
I would have thought that something like a Bavaria 37 (is it 38 now?) would give about the same interior space as the Corniche 31 which is really a 34 footer in new money. What you wont have, of course, is the light and airiness of a typical flybridge saloon but, for me, the biggest difference I always find between sailing boat and motor boat accomodation is the cockpit. I have to say I find sailing boat cockpits excruciatingly uncomfortable, cramped and with no proper cushioned seating. You lot must have iron butts!

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[tcm]

iron-arsed sailors

somehow, sailing boat manufacturers have managed to educate sailors into the idea that being on a sailing boat is an ordeal, a survival experience. Or, sailors are determined that it should be thus, on account of their tightwad approach to buying things.

The net result is no comfy floor covering anywhere, outside seating being part of the grp moulding, and foam mattresses modelled on the seating from a double decker bus.

There are some areas that there's no compromise - and for the moment the rule is that you cannae sell a new sailing 30-45' sailingboat unless it has a monster Southern Ocean Style wheel, preferably wiv leather cover on it.

Anything else on the boat can be ditched or made optional, provided that the mast can vaguely support the sail, the engine can just about propel the boat, and the gas cooker can make a cup of tea.

Currently, the lowest absolute comfort level at which a powerboaty type would not bash their head and complain a lot would be a beneteau 57 or jenneau fiftysummink which looks reasonable, loaded with all the options of course. But this is just at the level at which sailors start to get alll sniffy.



<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[alpha]

...in an effort to lay off the unexpected amount of (thread) drift being experienced...

I would worry less about the type of course, and more about the school. I was in your position, Nick, and did a DS course with Southern Sailing, having never even set foot aboard a yot before. By chance, the other students were all doing CC courses, so I got lots of helm time and one-to-one on the 'skippery' bits.

The instructor soon got to grips with my level of knowledge, and tweaked the teaching, to leave me feeling very happy at the end of the five days that I could jump onto a similar boat and sail it with a crew in decent conditions.

I'd recommend the school and the course, but advise you to be wary of snoring instructors... (You know who you are!).

Successful completion will also give you a bit of paper that might help when others offer to take you for a trip, and with a few extra questions and answers, gets you a power and sail ICC for both inland and coastal. Altogether, well worthwhile. I would think doing anything below DS would be a waste of time, whilst CS would be too much to go for in one hit.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Re: iron-arsed sailors

I've always thought this hairshirt mentality is one of the biggest differences between yotties and stinkies. If it does'nt hurt, its not doing you any good.
We were once moored in Cowes one freezing winter's day when a sail training yacht pulled onto the next pontoon and the crew started squabbling about whether to connect the shorepower or not in order to fire up the electric heater they had on board because it might cost a bit extra. It was only after one of them had ascertained that the mooring charges included shorepower that they all agreed to plug it in!

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[cngarrod]

Re: Course to learn sailing as an existing motorbo

Hi Nick,

My local sea school offers a recreational weekend - like a try before you buy type scheme. My wife and I did this last year for a weekend and throughly enjoyed it!

You obviously get to ask a load of questions and learn as much as you want. The skipper liked these weekends as there isnt a set agenda - you do as much as you want and go as far as the weather will let you!

Good luck - we are looking to do the same!

Cheers,

Craig.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[nicho]

Nick, Sent you a PM

<hr width=100% size=1>