Adelaide Sailers

Hi All,

I'm after some advice on sailing clubs in Adelaide.

I'm new to sailing and am looking at joining a sailing club to learn to sail and hopefully get to crew for some others. Looking online at the clubs between Glenelg and North Arm there looks to be quite a few clubs and they all look inviting.

The sort of club I'm after is one that will be willing to teach me to sail, I'm also thinking in the future if I get a boat of my own which ones may offer the best facilities. I'm sure there's good people at them all so I probably wont want to change clubs once I'm settled.

So at the risk of hearing proud clubbies spruiking their own (fair enough too) any advice on clubs is welcome.

Thanks
Kym

Hi dralyagmas, ideally I would like to get a trailer sailer and cruise around the Yorke and Eyre peninsulas. But being completely new to it all who knows what I'll get into once I start.

I'm ideally looking at clubs north of the bay.

One thing I may add is to do plenty of reading or watching vids. Many clubs are very happy to teach people, but most instructors are volunteers. If someone is going to donate days on end to teaching people, it's only fair and polite for those people to do some study on their own to lighten the load. So run down to your local library to grab a beginner's book or just look stuff up on the web so that you know your tack from your tiller.

There's a huge amount of good info (and a fair bit of BAD info) on the web. I'd stick, in general, to the stuff produced by coaches, professional instructors, sailmakers etc rather than the occasional piece by a well-intentioned person who may be low on skills and experience themselves. For example, if you want to go on a big boat and you haven't bothered to read or watch a video about how to use a winch, you can be a dangerous liability instead of a valuable crewperson. I've stopped inviting some experienced (but inexpert) dinghy sailors to race the J/36 because if they can't be bothered to learn how to use a winch properly, then they will just take too much work to bring up to speed. Carpe Diem Sailing's vids look good for yacht stuff.

I was a professional instructor eons ago, and now that we're getting lots of kids into dinghies I'm amazed at how quickly they are picking things up even when compared to the situation a few years ago. That's because the keen kids are spending their time on Youtube learning. It's a game changer for instructors and yacht owners, IMHO, particularly because from now on I'll often spend all my time helping those who do their research rather than those who demand to be spoon fed.

Thanks for the Carpe Diem Sailing tip Chris249. I've spent plenty of time on the net and Youtube so far, they really are a tease.

I'll also check out CYCSA who look to have some good courses over the next few months but unfortunately the majority of them are booked out.

I might also check out PASC. I was always looking at the coast side clubs purely on the beer with a view front but PASC has been recommended by others also.