oneoone
New member
I am looking to get some lessons with the RYA, but due to covid-19 its going to awhile. Is there any good on-line resources/sims/videos that could help ?
Thank you
Thank you
Sorry about that, I guess you knowing what I want to learn would help My end goal is to sail a cruising yacht ( about 40ft ) but start off small. As I am totally new to all of this, I know I will have to start off small. As I said I have contacted the RYA and am looking into VHF and powerboat classes.What exactly do you want to learn?
Get a dinghy and have some fun, it’s looking like a hot summer. It’s cheap and you’ll learn fast.
I third the dinghy advice. I can't see why people always object to it.
Sailing is a compendium of skills, not all of which overlap. Dinghy sailing won't help you with anchoring, victualling, winch servicing, liferaft usage, crew management or diesel maintenance. To be a yacht master, in practice as well as in paper, you need to address those skills and many others.
Dinghy sailing will encourage you, much more quickly than bigger boats, to develop an intuitive feel for the wind, being overpowered, how to keep balance upwind and downwind, how to gybe smoothly in strong winds, how to stop and turn on a sixpence. Those skills are essential, and harder-won on a yacht where you also have to worry about all the complexities above in a less responsive platform.
There's a reason all successful big boat racers cut their teeth on dinghies. Dinghy sailing makes the actual sailing bit harder (and cheaper, wetter and more physical; fun in a different way) such that when you move onto bigger boats the actual sailing is easy.
Having done a Powerboat Level 2 Course as a requirement for qualification as a Keelboat Instructor (with the Irish Sailing Association), I can say that there are learnings there that can be applied to your handling of a yacht under power, e.g. powergliding, also your handling of a tender will be better informed and you will be instilled with some discipline regarding occasions when it is vital not to have your motor in gear.No point doing rya powerboat courses if your aim is a sailing boat. I wouldn't advise starting with a dinghy unless dinghy sailing is what you want to do. Yes it will tell you the basics of sail setting and pointing it in the direction you want to go. You might get cold and soaking wet and the dinghy upside down and
You'll have to learn to right it etc. Hopefully that won't happen on a cruising boat. Quickest way to learn is get on a yacht with an experienced skipper who is also a good teacher. Some people are quicker learners and have a natural aptitude for it others will never get it. Good luck.
+1. Doing organised courses and classroom theory courses is the most efficient way of learning and having your own boat is the best way of practicing what you have learned.I would 5th the Dinghy Sailing.
I would also add that many dinghy schools are now open but only for people to sail single handers so you should be able to get an RYA Dinghy Level 1 in a weekend or L2 in 2 weekends which will give you the basics to go and sail on a lake with rescue cover. Do that - Read the Day skipper books / online material and wait for social distancing to be relaxed enough for you to do a Day Skipper Practical. In the meantime go find a cheap dinghy - (tippy or not) and get used to feeling the boat sailing
You could do what John Caldwell did!
In May 1946 John Caldwell set out to sail from Panama to Sydney to reunite with his wife who he hadn't seen for more than a year. Eager to reach his destination and unable to secure any other form of transport, he had to resort to singlehanded seamanship. After an ignominious scene in the harbor, where a tangled anchor led him to take an early dip, he spent ten days learning the rudiments of navigation and sailing from a book, before embarking on the 9,000 mile journey aboard the 20-foot Pagan. Ahead lay a mission that was to reveal in him elements not only of astounding courage and determination, but also of incredible foolhardiness. Within 500 miles of Panama John Caldwell had already been shipwrecked once and had his boat's engine and cockpit destroyed by an angry shark. Indefatigable, he decided to press on towards his goal.He endured the terrors and discomforts of life on the high seas and enjoyed the triumphs of fighting and winning against the elements. This is more than an exciting tale of sea-adventure. It is as compelling and unpredictable as a thriller. It is the story, witty and moving, of a man, motivated initially by love, and ultimately by his own fierce determination to survive.
Desperate Voyage
Farewell, Johnny Coconut
+1. Doing organised courses and classroom theory courses is the most efficient way of learning and having your own boat is the best way of practicing what you have learned.
The best way to start with your own dinghy is to sail quickly on a figure-of-eight course with the wind abeam (from the side), tacking (turning into the wind) through 180deg to change direction. This will work best if you are sailing fast. When you have mastered this, sail on the same course but in the opposite direction, turning down-wind, this is called gybeing.
You can gradually broaden the figure of eight so that instead of tacking or gybeing from reach to reach you are beginning to sail close-hauled before you tack, and to run before you gybe.