Learn to sail with us! Sailing a dinghy is fast, fun, and physical!
Duration: 12 hours (Four 3-hour sessions)
Our Beginner Dinghy Sailing course is designed to teach small boat sailing to people with little or no experience on the water. Our instructors provide a safe, controlled environment for you to discover the sport of sailing and gain confidence on our fleet of 14’ RS Quests. This class is taught with 2-3 students in each boat with instructor oversight from the safety boat. We will be running a capsize drill in this class — it is not required to participate in this but highly recommended. Capsizing is part of the Skills Test you will need to pass to rent the boats independently.
There is no better way to learn to sail than on a dinghy. These boats offer students a responsive platform with better feedback than bigger boats, allowing students to quickly feel and understand the forces at play.
Dinghies are lightweight sailboats that balance the force of the wind by moving around the weight of the crew, unlike keelboats which have a weighted keel, such as our J24's. The sailors in a dinghy actively move within the boat, using their skill and body to keep the boat upright. This makes for a responsive sailing experience that provides great feedback that will help you to quickly learn the basics of sailing. This class is great for beginning sailors that are willing to get wet and have a ton of FUN!
This dinghy class is taught with a 6:1 student-instructor ratio. We monitor the conditions, your comfort and skill level to create a challenging but comfortable space to learn. Come prepared to be out on the water for about half of each session. If you’d prefer to learn with an instructor onboard, consider scheduling a private lesson.
Our skills test may be administered during the course at the instructor's discretion. Sailing is very much a weather-conditional sport, and the wind will vary from class to class. We find that on average two-thirds of the students who complete this course are ready to pass a skills test.
Topics Include:
Cold water safety
Sailing theory
Tiller hand exchange
Setting up and launching the boat
Tacking and jibing
Upwind and downwind sailing techniques
Person overboard recovery/Safety position
Crew movements and weight placement
Sail trim
Approaching and leaving a dock or mooring
Capsize recovery
Prerequisites: None!
Next Step: Intermediate Dinghy Sailing!
If the program date you are interested in is full please join our waitlist here.
We do not want cost to be a barrier from participation, our scholarship program can be found here.