Sailing Course Review

After the Youth Sailing Programme, this summer at Aquarius, Edmund and I thought we'd like to learn more about sailing. So, this August, we went on an RYA Stage 3 course at Thames Young Mariners.

The course was done in Magnos, two person dinghies made by Topper.

On the first day we learned how to rig a Magno and sail it. The wind was about force 3 on the Beaufort scale so we had quite good conditions. Over the next few days we learnt about stopping at buoys, pontoons and how to pick up a man overboard. We also did capsize drills and were taught basic knots. The wind was much less on these days and the sailing slower.

On the fourth day it was forces 1 and 2. We were told how to get the boat moving in low wind then left alone for the rest of the morning. In the afternoon, we were taught about tides and buoys. Later, we were moved into single handers and did fun and games with the stage 1 and 2 children.

The last day's highlight was two races. The wind had picked up again and one boat capsized. After the races there was cake and then the Magnos were put away. Everyone received a certificate, which our instructor said did not happen often.

Edmund and I enjoyed this course very much. We were surprised to find we had already been taught quite a bit of it by Mike, Richard, Roger, Bryan and others at Aquarius. I would recommend this course to any novices wishing to learn more about basic sailing.

Imogen Morris