From Students to Sailors: Elena and Jan sail the Mediterranean

Elena and Jan are two former First Class Sailing students who have used their newly acquired sailing knowledge to enjoy wonderful sailing holidays in the Mediterranean. Here Jan shares some thoughts about their experience…

Our taste for the open seas developed after sailing with Elena’s brother. The two of us really enjoyed the experience and decided that sailing would be something we would like to learn and hopefully make our long-term hobby.

Neither of us are really ‘beach people’ and the idea of spending summer holidays on the boat, always running around and doing something, was really appealing.

We signed up for RYA courses at First Class Sailing in preparation for a Mediterranean sailing holiday later in the year.

Training with First Class Sailing

I completed the Day Skipper Course and Elena did the Competent Crew course (as well as the RYA First Aid Course a year later). We finished our training with FCS in May and about three months later we were renting a small 32ft yacht in Croatia!

The first sailing trip was just the two of us, to make sure we could do it by ourselves first before taking any friends or family with us.

Even though I grew up on a German coast spending a lot of time on my parents’ motor boat, and Elena did a few sailing trips with her brother before, we still felt nervous but quite confident that we would be able to cope.

A year later we came back to Croatia with 2 friends and rented a boat from Split. In 2013 we went to Greece and had an amazing week of sailing in the Cyclades.

In total, we now have done 4 week-long holiday sailing trips and every single one has been very enjoyable.

What Makes Sailing Holidays Such a Thrill?

Every day, every hour and every minute is different and you are always busy doing something. We also love spending time outside and swimming loads.

We had some of the best evenings having dinners on the boat or visiting tiny restaurants / tavernas in the bays where we anchor overnight…and of course, there is no better way to wake up in the morning than jumping into refreshing water from the boat!

As we don’t have much sailing experience, we always feel a bit short-handed on the boat, so it is all about safety and planning ahead. It is really important to think ahead and go through “what if” scenarios to make sure we both know what to do if something happens. It is all about teamwork, but also about leaving a bit of space for each other.

We would not be able to do any of this without our practice weekends in the Solent with FCS. We learned all the basics of safety, boat handling and sailing during our training courses, and with this knowledge we’ve been able to enjoy some fantastic sailing experiences.

If you’re interested in taking a Mediterranean sailing holiday, First Class Sailing provide a range of RYA courses to give you all the preparation you need. For more information, please contact First Class Sailing on 0203 006 3717.

Posted by: First Class Sailing