Flexible courses for sailing with confidence
Whilst Melvyn Cooper is a member of Hayling Island Sailing Club in Hampshire, we are more than happy to travel to your sailing club and coach you and/or your family in your own boat. Lessons are available during the week and weekends with full or half day options, at your convenience.
We work together with you to tailor a course specific to your own requirements, or to concentrate on particular areas that you wish to improve, and to agree your objectives.
Typical course topics include:
Rigging
• Clarify boat controls terminology
• Check the boat is set up correctly
• Understand jib tension and initial cunningham, outhaul and kicker settings
Beaufort scale and assessing the local weather
• Wind
• Currents
• Tides
• Waves
Launch and recovery techniques
• Practice leaving and returning ashore
Upwind and tacking skills
• Focus on developing these skills
• The different tacking techniques
• Hiking out
• Use of tell tails and the burgee
Implementing the five essentials
• Sail trim
• Balance
• Boat trim
• Centerboard/daggerboard
• Course sailed
Downwind and gybing skills
• Developing teamwork and communication skills
• The five essentials in practice and gybing safely
Spinnaker work
• Rigging the spinnaker
• Smooth and efficient hoists and drops
• Hoist/drop safety zone
• Communication skills
• Implement gybing with Asymmetric spinnaker
Man overboard (MOB)
• Focusing on boat handling skills for this situation
Capsize drill (on the shore)