Hands on a Boat Handling Course

2,593 views  |   July 20th, 2013 

Last weekend was part work and part pleasure for one of First Class Sailings’ crew as Louise Petropoulos was an observer and pupil on board one of our new courses – the Boat Handling Course! Here is Louise’s report…

When it comes to sailing the vast expanses of the open sea is what we yearn for but eventually we have to dock and when it comes to the confines of a port, mooring a yacht is a skill of its own.

Louise Petropoulos

Louise Petropoulos

There were five candidates on this relatively new Boat Handling Course which gives sailors an opportunity to be taught how to berth and unberthing.

These techniques and then practised handling a yacht under power, on and off pontoons, in a variety of marinas. There are also lesson under sail should you need to pick up buoys or there is a man overboard.

Before I give you my observations I thought you might like to hear why the others were taking part.
Rob told me “It is great preparation for my Yachtmaster Coastal next month. Ordinarily you don’t get to practise much mooring under power as well as sail.”

When it came to Helen she was also there for a similar reason: “Confidence!! For when I take my Day Skipper in 2 weeks.” Another person who is going through our courses was Riaan: “Andy (Skipper) has taught me on other courses and I wanted to continue learning with him!”

Whereas ‘Squeak’ (not her real name) was preparing for a later voyage and: “Wanted to show the boys how to do it……”

There was also a more advanced sailor onboard, Seda, who said: “I’m chartering a boat in the Med and I want to improve my parking technique especially in Marinas at close quarters.”

And Andy the Skipper’s view on the course… “It keeps me on my toes, although the technique is the same, boat handling is always different under different conditions and it’s always a challenge to get it spot on!”

And my observation was that its a great course to practise what most Skippers dread, parking under the watchful eye of a marina audience, although after this course, not a problem any longer!

For the latest courses and more details please visit Boat Handling Master Classes or telephone the office on 0203 006 3717

Posted by: First Class Sailing

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