Zero to holiday hero in 3 days!

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Jamesuk

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Edited due to - lack of support from most of the posters. I now realise this was to do with my appalling use of the English Language and method of phrasing I chose so, please forgive my ignorance.

The point of my post initially was to find out the best approach of teaching someone how to sail a yacht safely in the three days I will have with them,
so that they feel confident to set sail the following week as part of a flotilla when they are left to sail it themselves ("Flot" are something I have no experience of other than Luxury skippered charters )

So I was hoping for a simple training prgram like a proven diet intake or a training programme for a Rower, a checklist that Flottsey skippers usually run trhough that makes learning fun. Giving out the right amount of knowledge that is required for a flotilla holiday and then for me to personally be able to tweak and then add the 20% tip potential I give when in there shoes.
5% atmosphere, 5% speed of service, 5% quality, 5% The extra mile. (Something I made up. I was tired of being told "you must pay a 20% tip" while I was in America)

I can teach the RYA method sure but the "Flotilla holiday way" I was in doubt.

Please note I am not trying to get you to do my job, merely some experience of what works and what doesnt would be of great help, remember they are on holiday in non tidal waters. A secondary note you may get the gist that ones confidence is lacking somewhat as this is a new experience in the yachting world for me.
 
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Presumably this is a stay-sail type thing where they join a flot afterwards?

In which case you don't really mean DS level? You mean can get a yacht from A-B in the med in very light wind with a flot lead crew not more than 3 miles away and helping them to moor?
 
If I worked for Sunsail in the Hiring Dept and spotted this post I would be wondering if I had employed the right bloke!!.
 
I read the original post and thought you might get this sort of response. With a lot of things it's how you phrase what you want to say and I'm sure if you had phrased the original post differently you would have had a more positive response. Good luck with it...
 
djbreeze said:
I read the original post and thought you might get this sort of response. With a lot of things it's how you phrase what you want to say and I'm sure if you had phrased the original post differently you would have had a more positive response. Good luck with it...
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Yes, I totally agree.
 
Jamesuk said:
The point of my post initially was to find out the best approach to teaching someone how to sail a yacht safely and for them to get the most from it in just 3 days at a RYA accredited resort that can issue Certificates. I can teach the RYA method sure but the "Flotilla holiday way" I was in doubt.
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Respect to you for bothering to ask for some information from outside your organization to improve your performance at work.

Sorry nobody on YBW is able to help you but I suspect you've already got a fair idea how you're going to approach the job and will excell.

Best of luck and fair winds.
 
From your original post I did not realise that this was a job rather than going on holiday and simply trying to teach a family to sail.

A Sunsail stay and Sail was my first yachting experience. I had done some windsurfing and some dinghy sailing. My wife had done a bit less. When we booked with Sunsail for a week onshore and a week's flotilla, I thought the first week would all be tuition. Apparently not. We got 3 days so that the resort could get through everyone by having two groups! We were paired with a couple who had never sailed anything at all and had no idea about wind/tacking etc. In the end we spent 3 days learning how to steer, reverse, drop and raise the anchor, raise and drop the sails. Stern to mooring was the essential skill. We had just enough information to start, stop and steer. We got a certificate at the end! In retrospect it was the scariest sailing I have done. In the morning there was no wind, so that was fine. In the afternoons, the wind was overpowering, but I did not have the experience to know how to cope. On the final day we managed to join in the hotel's windsurf and dinghy regatta by being somewhat out of control.
Advice on how to teach? Assume no knowledge in your guests. Do not try to teach how to sail, but how to drive. The only exception is to teach how to dump the main when there is a gust, and to reef early

Tudorsailor
 
tudorsailor said:
Advice on how to teach? Assume no knowledge in your guests. Do not try to teach how to sail, but how to drive. The only exception is to teach how to dump the main when there is a gust, and to reef early
Tudorsailor
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Excellent that is exactly the kind of information I am interested in, because I will be instructing the "3 day" lessons amongst other things. Two per week in peak season; I agree on assumption.

A skipper once said to me; "never presume or expect anything this way you will never be disappointed." (Australian skipper, 15 years in professional yacht charter)

Lastly
From your experience with the skipper; what would have made your experience better in the short time you had with him? If anything.

James
 
The one and only time I went on a Flot holiday was in Greece.I was YM and my wife was a DS so we had no problems.One of the more competent crews on one of the other yachts were a group consisting of 3 young Irish couples.

It was only on the last night that they confessed that none of them had ever set foot on a yacht before but had been assured by the salesman at the Boat Show theywould be fine - and they were! :)
 
As you have already acknowledged, the last para. in tudorsailors response sums up a fair bit.

These folks are going to be in a state of information overload from morning tea time, on the first day anyway. For them, it will be about the experience and manner, you as a person, will provide.

The problem most instructors have in getting the message across to the student, is dealing with their own frustration, if and when points are not completely understood.

If you can provide a calm and positive environment (not always easy with flapping sails, lashing sheet lines and swinging booms on a windy day), they will go away with the feeling that they can achieve great things, albiet with a bit more work.
They will always look back with fond memories of a great instructor who inspired them, rather than the grumpy git that put them off boating, back in the early days!

Good luck with your trainees. :)
 
jellyellie said:
Agree with the general consensus above, and also:

Why do you assume it will be the men taking the skipper role?
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Because men are better at commanding!





































They have different vocal cords and can shout louder!












They are also not afraid to shout "You stupid effin cow" when things go wrong!








AND


they know better than to try to sell a s/hand copy of Reeds!!

Stu
 
somerset said:
The one and only time I went on a Flot holiday was in Greece.I was YM and my wife was a DS so we had no problems.One of the more competent crews on one of the other yachts were a group consisting of 3 young Irish couples.

It was only on the last night that they confessed that none of them had ever set foot on a yacht before but had been assured by the salesman at the Boat Show theywould be fine - and they were! :)
Click to expand...
Had the same experience, they were Irish as well! We had had a trying experience beating in to Euphemia (sic) against the prevailing catabatics with a stuck genoa on a BIG Bav46. Settled down with a beer when we noticed a lonely Sailing Holidays Bene struggling in, we went to help them tie up. It was a wonderful Irish family, they were lost! Same story, they had been told everything would be OK, they had never sailed before!
They were supposed to be in Fiscardo!
Hmm!
Stu
 
Jamesuk said:
From your experience with the skipper; what would have made your experience better in the short time you had with him? If anything.

James
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What sticks in both my wife and my memories (10 years later) is the poor personal hygiene of the skipper. He lived aboard the 30 foot yacht used for instruction and obviously never used a toothbrush. The little cabin in which he lived was a tip.

He should have spent a bit more time telling us how to deal with the very strong breeze that regularly occurred in the late afternoon.

If the marinas now use "lazy lines" instead of anchors for going stern to, then you should show your pupils how to get the tension right in both bow and stern lines by using the engine rather than brute strength. In other words have the stern lines loose while the bow line is made off. Then motor back and see if the stern is going to hit the quay. If it does loosen the stern lines maximally to allow easy taking in of bow line and reverse again. Once the bow line is correct, give blasts of reverse to make taking up the slack in the stern lines painless.
Finally make sure that pupils understand that the bow line should not be near the propeller when the motor is on, or conversely, do not pull the bow line up towards the yacht when it is motoring in reverse
Hope this helps

Tudorsailor
 
skipper_stu said:
They have different vocal cords and can shout louder!
Stu
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But women's voices are generally higher pitched and therefore, due to the response of the auditary system, require far lower sound pressure levels to attain the same perceptible loudness.
 
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