If you’re an elite sailing geek like me you may want to check out Thomas Colville’s solo round the world record attempt that’s happening right now on the trimaran Sodebo. After 20 days at sea he is only 5300 nautical miles from the finish and is a whopping 1600 nautical miles ahead of the […]
With the Grand Depart of the Vendee Globe singlehanded round the world yacht race just eight days ago, some people will be thinking of what it would be like to sail solo, and what qualifications there are out there to sail alone? The fact is, most people will sail singlehanded at some point in their […]
So, the Olympic sailing circus has left Rio. Has it improved opportunities to learn to sail there? While Brazil came away with a Gold medal at the sailing events, and the waters are some of the most beautiful on the world (at least on the surface) there isn’t much for those inspired to learn to […]
So, the Olympics is over again. More smiles on the podium, and hundreds of young sailors who can move on with their lives with ‘Competed in the Rio Olympics for my country’s team’ on their CVs yet who confidently could say they had no hope at a medal from the start. This isn’t to slag […]
Every year the RNLI and other rescue authorities end up rescuing hundreds of people who on impulse have bought a lilo or inflatable dinghy with the idea of having a paddle off the beach. Where normally I focus on various ways of learning to sail and the qualifications you may need for your leisure or […]
As I grew up, I had a habit of getting wet when I was staying anywhere near the sea, and if it floated I would try to have a go on it – be it canoes (surf or inland water), surf boards, a range of dinghies and even tall ships. Behaving badly on the water […]
Through my work with The Boating Hub I have come to the understanding that there are two types of sailing nation – the developed sailing nation with a good, structured sail training scheme and the underdeveloped sailing nation that either has none at all or relies upon its elite sailing clubs to get people sailing. […]
If you want to learn to sail a yacht in the USA it is fairly easy. There are a large number of yachting courses that are approved by authorities ranging from the American Sailing Association (ASA) via the US Coastguard to state approved boating safety courses. Through The Boating Hub we have focused almost exclusively […]
Looking at single hulled boats (monohulls) and two or three hulled boats (multihulls) there is the obvious difference of the number of hulls (nah, really?!) but there are also a number of differences in the way they sail. The differences are great enough that it is advisable to do either a Multihull Conversion Course or […]
All clubs thrive or die by the input of their membership. Last week, for the first family fun race of the season, no one had volunteered as a race official at my club. With 15 sailors turning up, the perfect mix of sun and winds, there could have been some very disappointed sailors until the […]