Sail Training

Training at Scaling Dam - From Beginner to Winner!

Sail Training is available at Scaling Dam to progress your skills whether you're trying sailing for the first time, or progressing into racing tactics or learning how to fly a spinnaker. Our courses are run by qualified instructors, using up to date, modern boats.

'Try Sailing' sessions, beginner sailing courses, and support clinic run regularly through the season to help you to get going. This page explains all about what courses are available, and our 'Fees Explained' page does exactly that - it describes how course fees and membership fees work with each other.

This flowchart helps to show where to start, and how you can progress to be able to join in with regular club activties.

If you're not sure what is the right thing for you to do, please get in touch and we can help you in the right direction.

Our training courses can be booked online. Click 'Book Online' in the menu above see our scheduled sailing training courses.

More Info? Here you go:

RYA Level 1 & 2 (14yrs+)

These are the introductory skills courses for adults to learn the theoretical and practical skills to effectively handle a dinghy. Predominantly practical courses, with some amount of supporting theory, achieving the Level 2 is an ideal standard to be able to rig and sail a dinghy by yourself. Both courses are 2 days each, so expect to complete 4 days of training to get to a point where you know enough to start sailing independently of an instructor ('Casual Sailing' with safety cover, for example).

RYA Stage 1-3 (under 16yrs)

The Stages are for younger sailors, with Youth Stage 3 being an equivalent standard to the adult Level 2. Broken down into lots of individual tasks to make for easy progression and tracking your skills, achieving Stage 3 is an ideal standard for independent sailing. Generally Stages 1-3 are completed in singlehanded dinghies. Stage 4 introduces doublehanded dinghy skills.

Personal Tuition

A session with an instructor is a great way to progress your personal skills, whether you're looking to try a new boat, gain confidence, overcome a plateau you can't seem to get past, or have a skills assessment to benchmark you for a certificate, for example. The session is entirely focussed on what you want to work on, learning at your own pace.

Personal Tuition is limited in availability and is best suited to people who have specific problems they're trying to fix. If you are new to sailing, booking onto a scheduled course will be better value for money - beginners have a lot to learn, needing to cover a breadth of content and spend time on the water practicing, which cannot be drastically reduced just by working on a one to one basis.

Club Boat Use

Members who have completed their RYA Level 2, or RYA Stage 3, can hire club boats to take onto the reservoir. With a range of boats available at very reasonable prices, this is an easy way to get onto the water. Assistance is available to help you get rigged and launched.

'Get Sailing' Clinics

The 'Get Sailing' clinics are exactly thatsessions aimed at helping you to get on the water. If you want some help to get rigged and launched, with hints and tips on the way, these sessions are for you. There may be a particular theme for the session, for example sailing the club's Wayfarers or Picos, or maybe to progress into the Laser.

Club Racing Series

Club Racing takes place on Sundays through the season and Wednesday Evenings during British Summer Time. On a Wednesday, everyone races together with one start in a handicap fleet. On Sundays, there are two or three races back to back each week, with several different series through the year.

With different courses each week set by the Race Officer, and a handicap results system so you can race fairly against faster and slower boats, race results add up to a series score over several weekends.

The RYA Start Racing course is great to cover all the necessary basics to get you started.