New to Sailing

Opsguy1979

Opsguy1979

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 Apr 2006
Messages
144
Location
Hertfordshire
Visit site
Hi Guys and Girls,

After 3 years boating on the River Ouse in a Princess32 it has wet my appetite to venture into sailing. Im booked next week on my competent crew course with Sunsail. After which what is a good way to start building up your hours/experience? I live in Hertfordshire so not to far from the south coast and also working for a airline I have excess to flights into europe.

Any suggestions,pointers etc?

Cheers

Opsguy
 
Welcome to the forum. Get yourself onto your Comp Crew course and start to "tart" yourself about for a bit of crewing. There are often oportunities on here, but there are also several crew seeking fora. The RYA courses are good places to meet folk and charter groups often spring up from these events. Obvious one, but has your airline got a sailing club? BA and some of the other big boys have.

Good luck with your sailing career, and stay away from the mobos!
 
After your CC bash, might be worth considering a "pot luck" berth on a Med flotilla where the skipper will provide some tuition.

BTW, you're not from Kelvinside are you?

Good luck!
 
Cheers Steve!

Ive got to ask and sorry if I sound stupid what is/are mobos?

Unfortunaly I work at the other end of the scale from BA put it this way the airlines fav colour is orange! So can only dream of them having a sailing club!! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
With cheap/free flights to European destinations and a Sunsail comp. crew ticket, book youself a flotilla holiday in Greece/Turkey/Croatia with self-same Sunsail. You can either book a whole boat and fill it with family/friends or take pot luck as a single crew on a mixed boat. Flotilla sailing can be as easy or demanding as you wish. There is a lead skipper to keep an eye on you and an engineer to fix things when you break them.

To be honest, I would get a few more hours behind the wheel in open waters before doing this, but Sunsail offer flotilla training weekends with this in mind.

Purists and traditionalists will now jump down by throat
 
If you have EXCESS (sic) to flights I would be pleased to take some off you.I assume you mean access.Hope you don't make the same mistake reading the manuals.
 
Mobo = Motor Boat; the only way to go.

I'm sure your employer has a yacht club: here's a picture of the Company Mobo /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

easycruise.jpg
 
I reckon that the East Coast is probably as good a training area as you'll find round the UK. I would recommend either East Anglian Sailing School or Britannia Sailing, both based on the River Orwell near Harwich.
 
Opsguy,

Interesting. I've tread the path you are about to tread. River crusier based at Ely for three years, then bought a sea boat which we took out through the Wash and round east anglia down to the solent. Bought bigger mobo and then went down to La Rochelle (Atlantic France) then became bored with noise and wanted a change so bought a rag and stick in 2004. So far I wouldn't go back to mobo (which I also now consider the dark side!) and I'm like a converted smoker - can't stand noisy/stinky mobo's anymore!

rob
 
A dinghy sailing club would be a good place to learn how to sail properly for little expense. Then just hang round marinas and saily places and try and get yourself crewing on someone elses boat. Night school course or a self teach book concentrating on basics of navigation, colregs, meteorology and seamanship would be useful too. The only real way to learn it is to do it and theres normally more skippers looking for potential crew with either a bit of experience or a willingness to learn than there are potential crew with the afore mentioned qualities.
 
Ah I thought if may well of meant that! Well I still own a Mobo(Princess 32) but if all goes well who knows!

As for the company Mobo suprised I forgot about it not as if you could miss it in that colour!
 
Once you have completed your cc try the local sailing clubs - I was pointed in this direction. You may find adverts for crew, or you could put your own one up offering. Take a walk around the rivers/marinas - I have seen yachts in Plymouth with signs hanging on them requiring crew. You could always ask around family/friends/colleagues - I got a whole summers sailing from someone else at work who I hadn't even met until trying to gain the experience.

Good luck.
 
I think a great way to learn how to sail is to do it on someone else's boat. If you hang around the pontoons when racers are going out, you will often find someone needs an extra body on the rail. If you don't completely embarrass yourself you are likely to be asked back, and once you start building up contacts you will be spoiled for choice.

Racing is a great (and inexpensive) way to build experience and confidence in sailing and sail handling. There are some who will complain that racers don't know the Colregs, don't know how to anchor properly etc. and there might be some truth in that. But you will certainly learn how to sail a boat. Which is a big part of "sailing".
 
Without a doubt .... Get yourself on a Sunsail Flotilla in the Ionion. Don't worry about your experience. Most struggle with the boat handling, which you will breeze through. Sunsail have a relaxed view of experience. I've seen skippers with limited sailing experience hardly use the sails on a one week flotilla ... and I am sure you will be way ahead of that at the end of your competant crew course. (with a bit of homework you may go home with a Day Skipper ticket anyway)
 
Hi Opsguy

I too work for the orange order, I Take it you are based in Luton, I`m out of STN, I have just booked my CC and the D/S after taking advice from some of the lads at STN. must GO !!

Stewart
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top