Teenage competent crew course up North?

[agmsort]

My son is 16 years old and is an assistant dinghy instructor at a local adventure center and is sailing mad!

He has told me that he doesn't want to go on summer holiday with us this year because he misses too much sailing when the center is at its busiest. We then had a discussion & I suggested that he could do a 5 day live aboard competent crew course which he liked the sound of as he has never sailed on a yacht.

I have had a look online and all I can find are companies in the Southampton, Portsmouth, Hamble area. As we live in Yorkshire that is quite a drive to drop him off & pick him up!

So, I am looking for recommendations of any companies that do 5 day Teenage competent crew courses North of Watford Gap!!!!!!
Many Thanks,
Bue.

 

[1114C]

if you do not want to go south then why not go north to the clyde - some great courses at Cumbrae - he could even get the train to Glasgow then down to Largs to make it more of an experience

i remember going there as a 16 year old and it was brilliant

http://www.nationalcentrecumbrae.org.uk/courses/cruising

 

[monkfish24]

Forget the "teenage course" part.

He will thrive on a course with people of all ages and shouldn't be treated any differently. He will probably be able to show older people a thing or two from his dinghy sailing experience.

I'm 25 now and have been sailing since I was 13, so as you can imagine, all my learning has been done throughout my teenage years and I never felt it set me back.

 

[prv]

Forget the "teenage course" part.

He will thrive on a course with people of all ages and shouldn't be treated any differently.

I certainly agree with that; the problem is that with all the "child protection" *******s around these days, schools may be reluctant to take unaccompanied under-18s if it's not something they routinely do and have the appropriate bureaucracy for . It's a point to be aware of, anyway.

Pete

 

[onesea]

I am sure there will be one some where in N Wales, which is a bit closer. If not stick him on a coach and let him travel up north or down south...

 

[scottie]

Have a look at cumbrae centre they are excellent and are well set set up
They offer a range of courses and are reasonably flexible most times I have been there they have been full of kids of all ages

 

[BlackwaterLad]

Largs on the Firth of Clyde

My son did his CC while I did some mile building out of Largs. Plenty of schools to choose from and the prices are much lower than down South (circa £400 instead of £600) so even if you fly you are still quids in.
Loved the sailing area, saw porpoise but did not see any submarines despite what the chart said!

 

[KenMcCulloch]

He might enjoy sailing with Ocean Youth Trust Scotland. Far more than just a sailing course.

 

[TimBennet]

http://www.plasmenai.co.uk/courses/cruising/

Age limit is 16 for cruising courses.

 

[pagoda]

He might enjoy sailing with Ocean Youth Trust Scotland. Far more than just a sailing course.

Three of the younger "lads" in our Dinghy sailing club went and did some OYT sailing, both form Oban and the Clyde. They all reported a good experience in general. (Though balked at the 3 - tier bunks!!!)
I did Coastal at Cumbrae, and we had a good mix of ages on board - and wide experience levels.
One of the 3 lads from the club is 16 - and did DS from Cumbrae last August, not having bothered with CC. (He did some OYT & crewed with us on the west coast a few times)
If your son is competent & comfortable with dinghies, he will pick up what is involved in CC very rapidly. If you can find him some crewing spots this season, it might be better to aim for DS, since you won't really pick up much theory in CC level courses. The physical sailing basics he really knows anyway.

Graeme

 

[Gothik29]

Ocean Youth Trust NE might be the answer -

http://www.sailjamescook.com/

They don't advertise competent crew courses, but I know the skipper can run the course if requested.

 

[maxi77]

Can recommend http://www.forthsail.co.uk/ Reasonably close for Yorkshire

 

[fireball]

TBH - if he's an assistant dinghy instructor and any good at sailing then forget comp crew and go straight for dazed kipper ... although I think he'll have to do the theory first ... so perhaps not ... but comp crew is entry level and he could probably do with pushing a bit further

 

[prv]

go straight for dazed kipper ... although I think he'll have to do the theory first ... so perhaps not ... but comp crew is entry level and he could probably do with pushing a bit further

It's not compulsory to do the theory before the practical - I didn't.

I agree that comp crew may be a bit noddy as far as sailing skills are concerned, but apparently he's never set foot on a yacht before and I think doing so for the first time on a Dazed Kipper course may be a step too far. A long weekend's informal sailing with someone will probably bring him up to better than the average "did comp crew last year" standard, if it can be arranged.

Pete

 

[Doug_Stormforce]

My son is 16 years old and is an assistant dinghy instructor at a local adventure center and is sailing mad!

He has told me that he doesn't want to go on summer holiday with us this year because he misses too much sailing when the center is at its busiest. We then had a discussion & I suggested that he could do a 5 day live aboard competent crew course which he liked the sound of as he has never sailed on a yacht.

I have had a look online and all I can find are companies in the Southampton, Portsmouth, Hamble area. As we live in Yorkshire that is quite a drive to drop him off & pick him up!

So, I am looking for recommendations of any companies that do 5 day Teenage competent crew courses North of Watford Gap!!!!!!
Many Thanks,
Bue.

I am afraid there are not many RYA Training Centre that run teenage yachting courses, however there seems to be a few recommendations on this thread

Forget the "teenage course" part.

He will thrive on a course with people of all ages and shouldn't be treated any differently. He will probably be able to show older people a thing or two from his dinghy sailing experience.

I'm 25 now and have been sailing since I was 13, so as you can imagine, all my learning has been done throughout my teenage years and I never felt it set me back.

The majority of RYA training centre will not entertain an under 18 joining a course of adults unless at least accompanied by a parent

Age limit is 16 for cruising courses.

The Day Skipper has a 16 yrs minimum age on it but the Competent Crew and Start yachting do not.

TBH - if he's an assistant dinghy instructor and any good at sailing then forget comp crew and go straight for dazed kipper ... although I think he'll have to do the theory first ... so perhaps not ... but comp crew is entry level and he could probably do with pushing a bit further

I often hear this argument and I find it quite sad. He has not been yachting before- why not do the beginner yachting course. He should be streets ahead of the others on things like points of sail and knots but he will be totally new to power handling, crewing, winches, living on board and so on. The Day Skipper Course is about taking charge of a crew onboard a yacht, how is he supposed to take charge of a crew when he has never sailed a yacht before? The Instructor will soon suss him out and ensure he spend 5 days improving. Its not about the badge you get at the end and no good instructor will hold a good students back to a specific syllabus. On all courses there are strong and week candidates. On Day Skipper Sail Courses the week candidates are usually the ones who have skipped the course before and are unable to direct a crew as they are unaware of what the crew need to do!

 

[fireball]

I only suggested ds cos if he's competent at dinghy instruction then he may already be used to taking charge of a vessel.
I, like many with a strong dinghy background, started on ds.

 

[dunedin]

Another vote for the Cummbrae centre near Largs

And whilst the Ocean Youth Trust can be great, for a keen dinghy sailor it could be a bit frustrating sailing wise. In my limited experience of them their seamanship was great, but I was very frustrated by the disinterest in things like efficient sail set (many of the crew lacked dinghy or racing experience so didn't actually know how to trim sails - though much more knowledgable than me on dealing with problem kids)

 

[ean_p]

there are two or three school (boat)'s that operate and run out of Hull.
Usually up and down the coast and often across to Holland!
Contact Hull Marina for details.....

 

[trevorr]

there are two or three school (boat)'s that operate and run out of Hull.
Usually up and down the coast and often across to Holland!
Contact Hull Marina for details.....

Give Mark a call at www.fastack.co.uk

Trev

 

[Mark-1]

TBH - if he's an assistant dinghy instructor and any good at sailing then forget comp crew and go straight for dazed kipper ... although I think he'll have to do the theory first ... so perhaps not ... but comp crew is entry level and he could probably do with pushing a bit further

+1

Or even just charter inland with friends. That's what we did at his age and loved it far more than we would have enjoyed a course. Broads or Loch Ness are the obvious places in the UK.

Somewhere like this that requires "no previous experience whatsoever":
http://www.bluemoment.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7487

Alternatively might he be available to crew around for Cowes Week or similar? Boats are always on the hunt for crew and Dinghy sailors are highly regarded in the big boat world. Easy to find a boat South Coast Clubs have a mechanism for offering to crew or there's always the JOG Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/JOGyachtracing