Dinghy Sailing Courses

Fairlands Valley Park run sailing courses for all ages from 8 upwards. All candidates will be given tuition in suitable seaworthy dinghies by qualified instructors, using coaching ratios as laid down by the Royal Yachting Association, our governing body.

All beginners attending our RYA courses for the first time are presented with a log book in which courses attended and certificates achieved are recorded and in which the student can log any other sailing experience. All our courses follow the RYA syllabus as described in the National Sailing Scheme for adults and the Youth Sailing Scheme.

The RYA Youth Sailing Scheme has been designed to encourage young people to start sailing within a sound framework of safety and tuition. You can go through the scheme at your own pace and develop your skills as a dinghy sailor with plenty of practice between courses. No time limits are given for the different stages, as young people learn at very different rates according to age and enthusiasm. When instructors have initialled all the sections for a particular stage in the logbook, the appropriate certificate will be awarded. The aim of these awards is to provide an introduction to the sport of dinghy sailing and when you have completed all three stages, you will be safety conscious and able to sail a dinghy in light winds. We also offer further tuition for students who have completed the early stages.

The RYA National Sailing Scheme aims to offer high standards and good tuition in a flexible manner to suit all types of centres and students. It starts with two levels for the beginner sailor, and you can then, after some further practice, choose different aspects of dinghy sailing for further courses. The Level 1 course provides an introduction to sailing for novices. On completion of the Level 2 course the successful sailor will be safety conscious, have a basic knowledge of sailing and be capable of sailing without an instructor on board in light winds.

We run a full season of Level 1 and 2 courses and our programme also includes two of the follow on modules in the scheme, Seamanship Skills and Spinnaker Handling - dates for these last two to be arranged. You can also arrange tuition by private lessons.

Children may be photographed on our courses and these may be used in our literature.