HPYC has a fantastic team with many years of sailing experience at Club and National level, some are RYA
certified instructors, but all are volunteers - without them there would be no training!
Mostly our training is free to members, and we aim to cover the RYA Level 2 syllabus, however as we are
not an official RYA training centre we cannot issue certificates. We will do our very best to accommodate
your needs, but please be aware of what we “do“ and what we “don't do“.
Throughout the season we will also include shore based training on the Winch, Race Tower, and VHF Radio.
Additional training opportunities will be advertised, so keep your eye on the eNewsletter and the Club
noticeboards.
The Club has Toppers, 1 RS Vision, and RS Fusions & Qubas, so don’t worry if you do not have
your own boat, for training purposes they are free of charge.
Our objective is to encourage and develop Club members to allow them to participate in the Club
activities of dinghy sailing and power boating (for the safety boats). Training is primarily aimed at
newer Club members and will cover
basic skills such as rigging, launching, sailing in all directions, capsize recovery and essential
safety knowledge.
Many of our training sessions and workshops are free. Some may incur a small charge to cover basic costs.
Occasionally we need to use external services, such as First Aid Trainers and these may be a little more
expensive.
We have allocated time in our sailing programme for courses and general sailing/training sessions.
You can learn at your own pace every time there is a race there is safety boat cover and therefore a
great time to sail, so lots of opportunity throughout the year.
Throughout the year we provide talks and workshops of interest to encourage you to become involved with
your Club. These cover topics such as:
Use of Radio
Rules of Racing
Race Management
Winch Operation
Safety Patrol Boat Handling
What we cannot offer
At this time HPYC has no direct links with any RYA RTC (Recognised Training Centre), this means that
while the instructors can train you in sailing skills as per the RYA methods, and to the RYA standards,
we cannot offer formal certification.
We are not paid to provide training.
We do not provide training to the public, only for the benefit
of Club members.
Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that you will be successful in
learning to sail!
When does training happen?
Sail Training for novices happens during training sessions and general sailing sessions (marked in the
sailing programme). For 2023 the number of days dedicated to sail training has been increased
significantly.
General sailing is also a session where any member can go sailing and there is no race, so a great time
to chill out and enjoy your boat!
General sailing is also an informal opportunity to receive tuition from our volunteers and
Instructors, to help you learn to rig your boat and sail.
General sailing sessions require volunteers to man the patrol boat. Tuition is free and relies on our
volunteers, so if there is a shortage then we cannot guarantee that you will receive training.
Specific training events are also advertised in the sailing programme, when our Instructors or a guest
coach runs the session. These are more formally organised and there may be a charge. We stick to the RYA
ratio of 6 people per instructor. The canteen is often open, so come along and enjoy coffee and cake and
watch the others do the hard work.