Dinghy Taster Weekend 2015

This year’s Taster Weekend saw a total of 50 new sailors over two days come along to experience their first sail in a Firefly dinghy.

Starting early in the morning we headed over to the sailing venue, Linlithgow Loch, eager to get on the water. Once changed into wetsuits (an awkward experience for those who had never done it before), we set out how to rig a Firefly and some on-shore demonstrations on how to adjust the sails and steer the boat effectively.

The boats were soon launched on the loch and everyone headed off for some fun sailing. With so many participants it was a busy day swapping in and out of the dinghies ensuring everyone had their share of coaching from our experienced instructors. We got as much one on one coaching in as we could which was noticeably beneficial for improving the beginner sailors’ understanding and practical skills.

The weekend was very relaxed and impressively there were no capsizes the whole weekend by anyone. While the wind had started off a little light at first each morning, it increased gradually throughout the afternoon giving the new sailors an ideal gentle introduction to dinghy sailing.

We look forward to welcoming those who came along to the taster weekend back for our regular Sunday coaching sessions and to anyone else keen to learn how to sail a dinghy!