These “start sailing” courses we offer at the NCYC, are part of Australian Sailing’s “National Keelboat Program.”
This structured program is the flagship beginners keelboat training program delivered across Australia and provides an enjoyable and accessible entry into sailing, equipping you with the essential skills required to safely sail a small inshore keelboat.
You begin with Start Crewing to learn the basics of understanding how a boat moves, the wind’s affect on sails, the rope controls and crew-work. From there you can progress to Start Helming where you learn to steer the boat and coordinate your crew onboard. You might then be interested to progress to Start Skippering which begins to cover the more detailed seamanship skills required for sailing.
After some further sailing experience and time on water to develop your general sailing skills, you may be interested to progress to some specialized courses such as Spinnakers or Start Racing which are for those who are interested in either around-the-buoys or passage races.
Your instructor will sign off when you have reached the required hours on-water and the skill & knowledge competencies required within the syllabus of the specific course. Once completed, you will receive your “nationally recognised” certificate.
If you have some previous sailing experience & skill, you can enrol in whichever course will progress those skills. It’s a good idea to check your skills & knowledge against the syllabus of each course – each of which are available to download from the website.
The keelboats we sail for these courses are the NCYC’s fleet of “Force 24” inshore keelboats. A 24ft long, five-person boat – so you will sail with an Instructor and up to three other course participants.
So, if you are 16 years or older and want to try something new and exciting… come and join us on the water!
Check out our courses:
