Learning to Sail in Australia

[Herakleios]

hi,

I'm a complete sailing newbie at the moment who is looking forward to move to australia in a few months and learn sailing there. Could anyone give me some recommondations for that? The plan is to live in a big city (like Sydney, Perth, Brisbane or Melbourne) for a few months and learning at this time, then travel after.
Which of these cities is the best to learn sailing? Can you recommend any sailing schools or do you have any tips/links for me?

May the wind always be on your side (hope that qualifies as "best wishes" for sailers :-)

[PaulJack]

Hey there!

I'm an Australian, from Adelaide, but I just spent a year living in Western Australia. 6 months in Perth, 6 months in Margaret River, I've lived in Melbourne before as well.

Perth is really good for beaches and aquatic activities, it's a very prosperous city and there is a lot of money there, a lot of jobs. Rent can be quite expensive (about the same as syd or melb though)

I'd have to say that I can recommend no area more that South West Western Australia. I loved it there! great diving etc, and a great pace of life (not a big city though).

As far as sailing goes, I don't know much about it, but I would certainly say that Perth would be as good as any other city. Adelaide has a pretty big and active sailing community as well, and it's a great city. I can't tell you much about sailing there, because I wasn't into it when living there, but if you need any advice on cities or Australia in general, I'm happy to help.

Cheers,

Paul

[PaulJack]

Where are you from, by the way?

[Dragon Lady]

All the main cities in Australia have great sailing facilities, Sydney is the best of course but the others are good too.
Go to a sailing club and learn to sail in a dinghy or beach cat, it will be cheapest and the fastest way to learn.

[Johnathon123]

Heaps of sailing schools in Sydney.

On the harbour, pacific, simply sailing & Ausail are a few

Pittwater has Allsail, club sail etc.

Have a look at the web sites.

The other tradition is to turn up at yacht club on Wendesday afternoon, a case of beer under your arm and you will generally get a ride once daylight saving starts.

Wendesday afternoon races are very low key fun races, perfect for learning.



Enjoy

[SurferShane]

Just go to the local yacht racing clubs and express your interest. Most have notice boards.

[simonpickard]

I'm currently learning in Sydney with Pacific Sailing school. So far I've had a great experience with them. Nothing like sailing around on Sydney harbour! I'm loving the experience!

Regards,
Simon

[waikikin]

Originally Posted by simonpickard

I'm currently learning in Sydney with Pacific Sailing school. So far I've had a great experience with them. Nothing like sailing around on Sydney harbour! I'm loving the experience!

Regards,
Simon

A while back I was an instructor at Pacific, it was a pretty fun place to work & the "Apre" scene at CYC or at RANSA made it a great experience & intro for many students. Sailing Safety & Fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All the best from Jeff.

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by waikikin

A while back I was an instructor at Pacific, it was a pretty fun place to work & the "Apre" scene at CYC or at RANSA made it a great experience & intro for many students. Sailing Safety & Fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All the best from Jeff.

Yeah I worked for Pacific sailing school too. The boats were small (which is a good thing) and the atmosphere at the CYCA is pretty good with plenty of opportunities to get a ride on the race days.

Just wish we all got paid a decent rate lol.. but hey, thats the marine industry

[Jim Cate]

Really depends on what you like...

While the above posts rightly say that there is a lot of sailing activity on Sydney Harbour, the situation for early learning may be inhibited by the sorta frantic attitude (and traffic) expressed there. If that's your scene, well fine!

But if a more laid back attitude and much more room for a beginner sailor to fart around in suits better, sailing out of Manly on Moreton Bay is a good option. Lots of YC's ranging from posh to medium, a big WAGS scene with lots of rides available, and plenty of friendly sailors to yarn with... and it's warmer, too!

Cheers,

Jim

[swagman]

You'll quickly learn how parochial we Aussies are..........

No place better than Perth / Freo. You could drop into Freo Sailing Club or Perth Flying Squadron Yacht Club any time and explain you're keen to take on a race crew spot and I'm pretty sure you'd find yourself out on the water by the following weekend.

Both clubs have twilight racing / sailing Wednesday evenings also. Might be worth lobbing in before 6 pm and seeing if anyone has a space for you on the night.

Enjoy
JOHN

[Herakleios]

wow, thanks for all answers, they are very helpful with the tips for the cities and names of sailing schools.

@Paul: I'm german origin, have been living in the UK for the last 2 years

So Sydney is the choice of most of you but some recommend Perth strongly. These two were already my top in my list where to live first so you don't make my choice more easy

Does it make sense to book any courses in advance while I'm in UK or should i just wait and go for the direct approach when I'm in australia?

Are there any other things I should do before starting in a sailing school?


The idea just going to a sailing club and getting on a boat of a friendly sailor sounds very exciting, are they really so open to total newbies?

May the wind be on your side!

[Dragon Lady]

Originally Posted by Herakleios

wow, thanks for all answers, they are very helpful with the tips for the cities and names of sailing schools.

@Paul: I'm german origin, have been living in the UK for the last 2 years

So Sydney is the choice of most of you but some recommend Perth strongly. These two were already my top in my list where to live first so you don't make my choice more easy

Does it make sense to book any courses in advance while I'm in UK or should i just wait and go for the direct approach when I'm in australia?

Are there any other things I should do before starting in a sailing school?

The idea just going to a sailing club and getting on a boat of a friendly sailor sounds very exciting, are they really so open to total newbies?

May the wind be on your side!

Absolutely most clubs are crying out for crew, but if you want to really learn to sail it's a lot quicker and easier in a dinghy.
The clubs will be cheaper than the sailing schools as they generally subsidies the costs to build memebership.
Sydney has a good German school if you have kids, we have quite a few German friends here they seem to like the place.

[Johnathon123]

Have a look at this article and the issue identified by the clubs as the major problem.

You will not have any issue

Try Crewing Day a big success

[Mr B]

The whole length of the East side of Port Phillip Bay in Victoria is crawling with sailing clubs and off the beach sailing schools,

From little Sail boats and cats, right up to very large Mono's and Catarmarans,

You can be taught any thing here, all the way up to master mariner and all the radio and navigation certs as well.

My first mate and I both had a private full day VHF class yesterday, From scratch, I think we both passed our certificates, But wont know for sure till they have been checked by The Govt dept that runs it in 10 days time,

and we dont have big ships to worry about coming in and out like Sydney Harbour, Hahahahahahaa