Getting Started - Part 3

What those four years taught me is that it is very hard to decide about boats and clubs, once you have been bitten by this sailing bug. Many guests had been on a number of sailing and windsurfing holidays (see the madforsailing holiday section) and suitably enthused decided it was time to take this sport up as a hobby rather than just a holiday activity. It was at this stage that they decided to sail in the UK as well as on the summer holidays.

A classic case was a family from Bristol who had been sailing on holiday for two or three years. For some reason, be it the safe warm waters of the Mar Menor or the enthusiasm of the instructors, by the end of the two week holiday they were full of questions about how they could keep learning about sailing. They were already progressing through the RYA teaching system and nearly all the family were up to Level 2 and looking to progress onto the Level 3 or start thinking about getting into racing.

The questions facing them, was where to sail - and in what? They wanted to buy a boat and have the option to go sailing most weekends. As the children were a key factor, the first boat that was bought was a Laser Pico plus, complete with jib and the option of two people sailing together. As they progressed it was no surprise to find an email from the family saying that the father had bought himself a standard Laser. After another holiday they had moved onto spinnakers and the further addition to the growing fleet was a Laser 2000, used by all the family at their local sailing club Chew Valley (see the madforsailing directory to check for a list of clubs in your area).

This family checked the local club options first, to make sure that the boats that they wanted to buy would be accepted by the club, or more importantly raced as they progressed in the sport. Racing is not for everyone but does form the backbone of the club structure within the UK. So check out the list of local clubs and ask these questions:

* Do they have an RYA school as part of the club?
* Are they a RYA / Volvo Champion Club with great facilities for youth sailors?
* Do they race, cruise, or simply sail and provide rescue cover on certain days?

At this stage of your sailing the club is more important than the boats; they may even have their own fleet that you can rent. So check out via madforsailing and the RYA websites the local clubs near you and then visit their websites before you nip down the road and have a chat with the sailor in the club.

In the next few articles I will be looking at what boats to look at buying and what personal equipment you will need.