UK Sailing School

[Phil5764]

Hi everyone,
I wondered if anyone here could advise me. Like many people I’m often sat in my office wondering what it would be like to have a nice boat and just take off around the world like so many I watch on YouTube every night instead of the mundane daily job week in and week out. That said 1, I have no boat and 2, No sailing qualifications (yet).

I wanted to know if anyone here could recommend a good sailing school through experience in the South West (UK) or Europe. I want to do the Comp Crew and then my Dayskipper or do them combined.

Also, if there is anyone on here that lives Devon way and would like to show me the ropes as it were and wants someone to assist them, I am happy to oblige and pay for the experience.
Thanks for any replies.

[boatman61]

If you live in the Devon area may I suggest Salcombe and Sail Training-Island Cruising Club, Salcombe, South Devon
They do open keel boat sailing and also have cruisers, with the open boats you sleep on Egremont, a converted Liverpool Ferry moored in the scenic estuary and sail daily from that base.. or there's the live aboard course on their sail cruisers where you head out to sea and along the coast.
A beautiful location and some great sailing.
It is also a great Charity cause, as the funds they raise go towards giving disadvantaged and disabled kids from all round the country week long introduction experience's sailing in their dinghy fleet throughout the season.. bar two weeks during summer holidays when they become child minders for the privileged to boost their funds.
I had the honour of working as Boat Master there for two seasons and the faces of those kids and their pride in what they found they could achieve ranks highly amongst my best ever memories.

[Phil5764]

Aww, thank you for the prompt reply. I will take a look at them. There seems to be so many down this way, so making a choice is really difficult.
Thanks again. Phil

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Phil5764

Aww, thank you for the prompt reply. I will take a look at them. There seems to be so many down this way, so making a choice is really difficult.
Thanks again. Phil

Don't tell them I sent you.. got on great with the kids and the young instructors.. but the stick up the ar$e old authority stiffs not so well..

[Phil5764]

Lol, I promise I won’t. 😉

[TomNH]

I'm a RYA Yachtmaster Instructor & Dinghy Senior Instructor. I've no specific recommendations for the SW (aside from saying it's a lovely place to sail) but I would also encourage you to do some dayboat or dinghy sailing, alongside the cruising courses. It's much harder to learn how to really sail well in a cruising boat than a dayboat/dinghy. The loads are greater and there is much more momentum in the system which both reduce the instructor's opportunity to allow you to make mistakes (from which you learn) and the boat's responses to your actions are less immediate, and thus harder to recognise. There are plenty of things you can only learn on a cruising boat, but small boat time will really help.

If you get some experience, and manage to get out for a few weekends on other boats, there maybe little need to do a formal comp. crew course, as long as you go into the dayskipper with the right attitude (i.e. that there's lot to learn!).

Final advice, is for cruising courses the instructor is more important than the school. Find out what the school looks for in instructors, and what their attitude is. The RYA allow 5 students on a boat but most of the better schools choose to operate with 4. Perfect shiny boats may look good, but how many (minor) berthing mistakes will they let you make? I'd even argue against furling sails on a training boat - everyone should know how to get a headsail up and down. Needless to say I have a furling headsail on my boat!

[Phil5764]

Thank you for the sound advice. I have actually done some dinghy sailing and been out several times on a friends yacht. I know totally different thing altogether but have kite Surfed and wind surfed so do have some experience of wind, but certainly not experienced at all. I also get the Comp Crew thing, many others have said this isn’t important and go straight into Dayskipper. However for me, I want to start from scratch. If I had someone I could go out with regularly, then I don’t doubt I would jump straight into the Dayskipper.