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Sailing

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'Beginner's Guide to Sailing in the South West'.
Sailing Safety
Sailability Buying a Dinghy Getting on the Water RYA Training Scheme	Further Information Sailing on a Shoe String Where to Look Join in the Racing

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Cornwall offers the best mix of sailing conditions anywhere in Britain. These opportunities break down into - estuary, river, sea and lake; if you haven't read it somewhere else, Cornwall has the largest regional coastline in England, about 300 miles of it. We also have nine river estuaries and four sailing lakes - water all around us and in the heart of us. The sea is Cornwall, it runs a large part of our lives, we live with it and depend on it and learn from it. Much of that learning is passed on through the many excellent training and learning facilities around the coast.

That coastline is also very diverse in conditions. The North Coast can be very challenging, the South more forgiving perhaps and these conditions will change with the season and weather to give a multitudinous range of experiences. If you were to start at the Devon border near Bude on the North Coast and sail all the coast to Torpoint and the Tamar estuary you would see the vastness of the differences, you would also need to be a proficient sailor. There is no short cut to reaching proficiency and we highly recommend that if you are a novice, or need to brush up on your skills, that you take advantage of the teaching establishments we have listed.

We have also listed many of the Cornish Sailing Clubs and can only recommend that you join one of these clubs to enhance your sailing enjoyment. These clubs are friendly, approachable and offer many facilities as part of membership. They range in membership fees from about £12 upwards and the scope of sailing water they offer is as diverse, from a couple of square miles to 'infinite'! The clubs' waters range from estuary and river (hidden inlets and creeks) to the open Atlantic Ocean. You have a choice whether your interests lie with family sailing or more serious 'social' sailing, there is a club to suit you in Cornwall and they all offer in depth knowledge of their local waters and conditions.

One of the best sources of information on Sailing and Windsurfing is the Royal Yachting Association, we detail below some information from their booklet -

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'A Beginner's Guide to Sailing in the South West'.

Sailing is often thought of as the pastime of only the wealthy. However, this is not the case. In the past sixteen years the demand for affordable dinghies has resulted in advances in both manufacturing techniques and materials. As a result there is an abundance of good quality, affordable new and second-hand equipment available. Prices start from as little as £350 for a second-hand dinghy.

The most important factor is safety, and training for that starts with a RYA Level 1 course.

There are many sailing clubs in Cornwall and the advantages of joining one are numerous:-

You can get out onto the water without owning a boat through adopt a crew with some clubs: find out through the club if they run this facility, often the club will have a directory or notice board with details. Simply put, you are looking for an opportunity and the boat owner needs crew. You'll get out onto the water and get advice on many things you need to know.

Sailing in numbers is much safer than venturing out on your own. Many clubs have a safety boat.

Clubs run races and events both on the water and in the club house, you will find a ready made social scene.

Most clubs offer dinghy storage, have showers and changing facilities.

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Sailing for people with disabilities.

With well designed craft or small alterations to certain dinghies, sailing is one sport in which levels of disability are almost irrelevant. Disabled people can freely participate alongside able bodied friends, which includes taking on able bodied competitors and winning. The RYA has recognised this potential. When it comes to disabled sailing, Britain truly does rule the waves. Our sailors regularly sweep the board in international competition.

RYA Sailability is solely devoted to promoting sailing for people with disabilities. This includes integrating people with disabilities at club level. If you would like to know more about RYA Sailability please contact the RYA Sailability Regional Co-ordinator.

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RYA National Training Scheme. Details of Training Scheme

The RYA National Training scheme has been developed over many years to help you get the most from your sailing, whatever your level of ability. Like any activity, greater enjoyment comes from greater competence. Good tuition and sound advice mean that you will learn quickly and get greater enjoyment from the sport.

The scheme is progressive. You cannot learn the more advanced skills unless the basic techniques have been mastered. The five different stages between them cover all the skills needed by the fully competent sailor.

How far you progress is dependent upon you. By following the set stages you can measure your progress and proceed along a well defined path. Level 3 builds on the basic skills and adds new ones, whilst level 4 provides an introduction to club racing. You do not have to complete one before the other. Finally Level 5 provides the advanced skills needed if you wish to become an instructor.

You have most probably just completed a Taster or Level 1 course. Please do not think that you are ready to conquer the channel! This course should have wetted your appetite. The centre at which you have just completed this course should be able to provide you with further higher level courses to help you progress. Or alternatively you can contact one of the Cornish recognised centres listed in Destination Data.

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Buying a Sailing Dinghy.

Charles Smith has been involved in dinghy sailing and racing for many years. As a result he has produced a number of interesting and detailed dinghy books, available at many chandlers. In the following section Charles lists the factors you should take into account when purchasing your first dinghy.

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Getting on the Water with a Sailing Club.

Sail your first dinghy at an RYA Club. By joining a club your first year of sailing will be under the watchful eye of the Officer of the Day, with a rescue boat on hand. Membership should include a place for your boat in the dinghy park and might cost altogether about £3 per week - just the price of a video!

Sailing clubs usually sail fleets chosen from four or five dinghy classes which include a family boat for two people, a faster boat for two, one or two single handers and a boat suitable for youngsters. They might also have a handicap class in which several boats sail together. There are advantages to starting out in a one class fleet; the Class Captain will advise and help you, there will be second hand boats available in the club, other owners are always willing to help out with bits and pieces and you are sure to find somebody in the class who sails to your standard. By buying into an established class you will soon find yourself working your way up through the fleet in friendly competition.

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One Design and Development -

Classes and Sailing on a Shoe-string.

As a rule of thumb, dinghy classes are divided into two groups, the One-Designs and the Development Classes.

In a one-design class all boats are theoretically identical, built from the same set of plans, and older boats are competitive with newer boats. Certainly new one-designs will be competitive 'straight out of the box' but in practice older boats are going to be slower because over the years they will have put on a little weight, their sails and rigging may not be to the best modern standards and the design may have had some modernisation. Nevertheless an older one-design provides an excellent starting point in club racing for the first year or two, and gives you a chance to see if you really like the boat, at a cost somewhere between £350 and £850.

One-designs include older classes such as the International Enterprise, the GP14 and the National Solo single hander. New one-design 'quickies' include boats such as Comet and Galaxy, the ISO and other boats from the Topper range, the Laser and RS ranges, all of them strict one-designs, fast and highly competitive.

We recommend that you avoid the development classes early in your sailing career. These include the National 12, the Merlin Rocket and the International 14, all of which are high performance boats developed over the years within certain design limits - the latest boats no longer resemble the early boats in the class. These are specialised boats for later on!

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Where to look for a Dinghy.

Second hand dinghies are always available for sale on the Club notice board, a useful way of buying because the owner will probably be on hand with the history of the boat. Class Associations usually have their own second hand lists and magazines such as Yachts and Yachting, Boats and Planes for Sale, and Practical Boat Owner always have a good range of advertisements.

Dinghies can be compared in Popular Sailing Dinghies which lists all the popular dinghy classes sailed within the U.K.

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Buying your First Boat.

When the boat was built it will have been measured an a certificate issued which confirms that it complied with the original plans. When you buy a class dinghy be sure that the Measurement Certificate comes with it. No Certificate - No sale!

Be sure that the boat has a cover, a launching trolley - these never seem to turn up second hand - and for preference - a road trailer. The cost of a road trailer can add substantially to the cost of the boat and you are sure to need one as soon as you go to an open meeting or start using your boat for holidays.

Concentrate on the State of the Hull.

Turn the boat over and look at the points at which it rests on the trailer or trolley. Older boats regularly suffer from being dropped onto their trolleys and have had [panels replaced. If the job has been done expertly and shows no signs of cracking at the edges, then the boat may be perfectly all right.

in glassfibre boats look for roughness on the hull, something like the blisters you had when you had measles. If there is lots of blistering don't buy the boat. Blisters spoil the under water surface and slow the boat down. Small cracks can be filled.

In wooden boats look at the point where the transom (back section) joins the bottom planks of the hull. If the boat has been left with its transom on the ground the water may have seeped into the plywood at this point causing the planks to delaminate. Good work can be done here using epoxies but if there is a choice of boats then avoid the problem. Rainwater may have accumulated inside the hull at the transom cross member - look for 'spongy' plywood at these points.

Next, get the boat into the water. Never buy a second hand dinghy 'dry'. Check for leaks, particularly at the base of the centre board case - a difficult repair job - and check that built in buoyancy tanks is such boats the Solo are dry. Check by taking out the drain plugs when you get the boat out of the water.

For the rest, wooden decks can be cleaned up and replaced fairly easily and the sheets and halyards renewed. You will probably need new sails as you come to grips with the racing fleet. Materials for sails have improved over the years and the cut of sails now owes much to advanced design. However a reasonable suit of sails should see through your first season.

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How Soon Can I Join in the Racing?

Most clubs have a racing programme which includes races for beginners. many sailing clubs have their own instructors and you can learn to sail on a weekly basis, or you might go to an RYA recognised sailing school for a condensed course. The RYA scheme of tuition will turn you into a competent boat handler in quick time. Learn the basic racing rules - they have been simplified - and you can be racing four weeks after joining the club. A new boat will help you be competitive, of course, but you can get started inexpensively in a second hand boat this summer. We look forward to seeing you on the water.

Charles Smith.

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