Skills Development and Mile Builders

Skills Development and Mile Builders.

We want to give people the opportunity to get out and do some more miles over a weekend. To escape the Solent but still have the comfort of having an instructor on board.

The events will start from the River Hamble and will be Friday eve -Sunday events (or Friday eve - Monday for the bank holidays).

Where we go will ultimately depend on the weather and tide but the aim is to do some longer passages; taking the boats along the coast East or West and potentially across the Channel to France. weather permitting.

It will be the opportunity to go to ports outside our usual cruising area. There will more than likely be some night hours along the way. We are expecting mixed ability crews; so there should be something for everyone to learn. Whether that is Day Skippers wanting to put there Navigation theory into practice or Competent Crews who want to spend more time on the helm. We will also sometimes offer a weekend focusing on a specific area e.g. Boat Mooring, Spinnaker Handling or actual Skipper Development. Additional details on these can be seen below.

We want to offer more variety so these will be events run by a variety of instructors on a variety of boats throughout the season. If we get a lot of interest there is also the possibility of running a mini flotilla with an instructor on one boat and an experienced skipper on another all heading to the same destination.

Emphasis on Boat Mooring Weekend

A weekend course to learn and practice boat mooring.

Mooring up is something every skipper has to do and it's something you often don't get a chance to practice. Over the weekend we cover as many different techniques and scenarios as possible:

• Handling characteristics of different types of boat
• Prop walk - shaft drives. sail drives
• Preparation and use of mooring lines and fenders
• Coming alongside a pontoon in different tide and wind combinations
• Use of tide - ferry-gliding
• Springing off
• Sailing on to mooring buoys

And more...

Emphasis on Skipper Development Weekend

This is in essence a weekend of practising being a Skipper; ideal for anyone contemplating doing the Day Skipper Practical Course but also for a qualified Day Skipper who wants a bit of a refresher.

The syllabus is loosely based on the Day Skipper Practical but obviously we can't cover all of it in a weekend.

We particularly try to cover:

• Pontoon/marina mooring as in the Boat Mooring Course
• Man Overboard
• Taking Command - role and responsibilities of the Skipper
• - crew well-being and involvement
• - victualling
• Choice of Destination
• Sail selection
• Practical Navigation exercises.

Emphasis on Spinnaker Handling Weekend

The Spinnaker is a fantastic sail good fun and a real speed-enhancer; but it's sometimes difficult to control and a lot of people are reluctant to use it. This course de-mystifies the whole thing and gives everyone a chance to do all the different jobs involved in working the spinnaker. The topics covered include:

What is a spinnaker and when to use it

Different types of spinnaker

Use of sheets and guys

• Use of spinnaker pole different types
• Preparation and hoisting
• Gybing dip pole and end-for-end (if possible)
• Dropping inc different options
• Packing
• Peeling

2020 Dates:

Pricing £330 per weekend, provisions and fuel included. Moorings will be shared amongst crew.

GENERAL SKILL BUILDERS

• * eve Fri 29 Nov - Sunday 1 Dec with Instructor Mike Parr
• * eve Fri 20 - Sun 22 March with Instructor Mike Parr

BOAT MOORING

• * eve Fri 29 Nov - Sunday 1 Dec with Instructor Gareth Llewellyn

SKIPPER DEVELOPMENT

Dates TBC

SPINNAKER HANDLING

Dates TBC

Please email the admin office for booking and further details

Last updated 16:22 on 29 October 2019