Dinghy Sailing Beginners
There are two main avenues to learning to sail a dinghy at the Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club; we run a series of Saturday morning training sessions throughout the year either for beginners or the RYA Youth Scheme (which is booked in blocks of dates), and we also run a series of intensive RYA courses. RYA qualifications can be gained by either option.
For RYA Youth Scheme details are here and for RYA Courses details are here.
Saturday Mornings
If you are new to sailing and to Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club the way to start is to attend our free ‘Discover Sailing’ taster day on Saturday 13th April 2024 and/or to join one of our 2 hour introductory sailing sessions. In these sessions you will be given an introduction to sailing by a qualified instructor in a large dinghy with up to 4 other participants. These sessions are open to both adults and children or to family groups. You do not need to be a member to do your first session but we ask you to join the club to do further sessions, and after one or two sessions, we will encourage you to join one of our RYA beginners courses (see below). We ask for a £10 per person donation to attend the introductory sessions. The sessions will run from 10am until 12 noon, please arrive at 9.30am to register and get kitted up. The club can provide you with a wetsuit, buoyancy aid and helmet, you will need to bring your own footwear (wetsuit boots or trainers) a waterproof top and gloves. Places must be booked in advance, numbers are limited.
Dates:
Dates for 2025 will be posted by the end of the year.
These beginner sessions can also be booked by beginner / novice members who want an ad hoc lesson or a bit of extra tuition.
RYA Courses
Once you have decided you enjoy sailing you can fast track your learning by joining an RYA course. We run courses for children (minimum age 9, maximum 16) following the RYA Youth Sailing Scheme, Stages 1-3 and courses for adults and teenagers (minimum age 13) following the RYA National Sailing Scheme Levels 1 & 2. See here for details.