Learn to Sail (Band 1) Coaching

Overview

Learn to Sail is a carefully structured program that introduces children from 8 – 12 years old and parents to sailing so that

They can determine if they like sailing
They can understand the key fundamental concept of sailing [[learn some of the introductory concepts]]
They can gain confidence and decide if they would like to go on to further sailing and coaching.
They can have fun!

It suits families who have a sailing background and those who don’t. It suits older children although talk to us first as there may be alternative options available depending upon their age and aptitude.

As a family you will be sailing on a normal Club Race Day and so will find yourself experiencing all aspects of our wonderful Club from day one. You are Members and so we’ll be welcoming you and helping you to learn the ropes of our busy and fun Club. So it is not drop and run: parents are expected to help retrieve boats from storage and rig the boats used for Learn to Sail – the reward being you can have some breakfast and coffee on the deck watching them. Then, later, parents are also expected to derig boats when they come back in and help to put them away back in to storage.

Sailors are on the water from the very first lesson – so come dressed and prepared.

LTS mornings start with 3-4 young sailors on a Puffin Pacer with a coach. We have 6 Puffin Pacers.

Then as the sailors become more confident they spend the remaining LTS mornings on PJs or club sabots by themselves or with a friend gaining confidence in the type of dinghy they will move on to. Again the focus is on gaining confidence and then learning how to right the boat after capsize.

At the end of the 7 weeks if you would like to continue to learn to sail you join our fleet start Red Ribbon sailing.

Key Information

Number of sessions: 7

Time: Sundays from 830 – 12pm, rain, hail or shine. The dates for Pre-Christmas Intake and for Post-Christmas Intake are on >>HERE<<.

Prerequisites: Can swim; have a PFD (life jacket); come dressed with sailing gear suited to the weather; have something to change in to after sailing, if you don’t want to go home in your sailing gear.

Parent involvement: helping to rig and derig; learning some of the basics so that you can help encourage your kids. No drop and run – you are part of our Club community so get involved and enjoy the fun, friendship and facilities.

Weather: come along sun, rail or hail; if the wind is too strong there will be plenty of activity in the club house

Dates: For more information about Learn to Sail including dates for the coming season then click >>HERE<<.

Curriculum

Whilst the focus of our LTS is on building confidence and ensuring kids have fun with their first sailing experiences we also very cunningly, based on several years of experience, introduce the following key concepts:

Wind direction
Balance
Steering
Capsizing and recovering from capsizing (the most fun part!)
Parts of the boat

As an outcome of the LTS course children will know if they have a real desire to do more sailing and continue their learning. Sometimes it may require some gentle extra persuasion by parents but whatever stage they are at they will have:

Confidence on the water
Knowledge of wind direction
Initial experiences controlling a dinghy by themselves or with a crew
And have laughed lots and have great fun

Questions?

Check out the information that is available >>HERE<<.

Don’t hesitate to contact our LTS Co-ordinator to discuss our Learn to Sail program, our Club or any other questions you may still have.