Our beginners' course in dinghies on Spa Creek. $495 with the boat, the kit and three lunches.
The course
Three students to a dinghy, an instructor in the launch beside you, and by Sunday afternoon an hour on the water on your own.
First Sail runs most weekends from April to November. You need nothing but soft shoes and clothes that can get wet; the club lends the buoyancy aid, the waterproofs and the boat.
Length
3 days
Hours
9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Group
Up to 9 students
Ratio
1 instructor to 3
Boat
14 ft dinghy
Ages
16 and up
Next
Oct 23 to 25
Then
Nov 6 to 8
“Three days ago I could not tie a bowline. This afternoon I took a dinghy round the creek on my own.”
Mei L. · First Sail, September
From $495 a person
Choose Sailing lesson in the form
Boat, kit and three lunches included
Free to move to a later course
Three days
Day 1 · Friday
9:00
Welcome, kit and the safety briefing
10:00
Rigging a dinghy on the slip
11:00
First sail, an instructor aboard
1:00
Lunch on the clubhouse deck
2:00
Reaching back and forth across the creek
4:30
Knots on the dock, then home
Day 2 · Saturday
9:00
The points of sail, on the whiteboard
9:30
Tacking drills between two marks
11:30
A capsize on purpose, and righting it
1:00
Lunch
2:00
Gybing, then coming alongside the dock
4:30
Pairs race round the creek
Day 3 · Sunday
9:00
Reading the wind on the water
10:00
Man overboard drill
11:30
Your first solo hour
1:00
Lunch
2:00
Solo course round the marks
4:00
Certificates on the deck
By Sunday afternoon
01
Rig and launch a dinghy on your own
02
Tie the six knots without looking
03
Sail on every point of sail
04
Tack and gybe without losing way
05
Right a capsized dinghy
06
Pick up a man overboard
07
Come alongside the dock under sail
08
Read the wind from the water
Your lead instructor
“Nobody is a natural on the first morning. By the third afternoon, everybody is. That change is the best part of my job.”
Alex Ortiz
Head of the school, 12 seasons, 400 sunset sails
US Sailing instructor
First aid at sea
Taught 1,200 students
On the course
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