Girls Week Sailing On The Water

Girls week sailing courses aren’t something we plan, but sometimes it just works out that way – and we love it!

October 18th’s Express course this year was one of those times, with 3 boats dedicated to Day Skipper Express (a 9-night course that includes Day Skipper Theory and Day Skipper Practical), and the perfect male/female split of 2:1 to have a girls boat, with Yachtmaster Instructor Hayley training the Skippers.

With the growth in women learning to sail, thanks to high profile sailors sharing insights into their life through social media and the amazing success of women sailors in international sporting events, we’re seeing more women join us across all levels of courses. And of course, from £750 a week (including instruction, accommodation onboard, breakfast and lunch) it’s affordable for solo travellers with a lust for adventure.

And when it comes to the motivation for learning to sail – there are many. In Instructor Hayley’s crew Ann and Emma were returning to us after completing Competent Crew on a previous visit, Bailey was doing 2-weeks sailing as part of her 4-week Gold Superyacht Crew training package and Hebe has since gone on to rejoin us on week-3 of the Yachtmaster Fast Track Pro course.

So what’s the advantage of a girls week? Well it’s a great way to enjoy female company, with like minded people all bonded by a love of adventure, the water and the great outdoors – irrespective of age or country of origin (Bailey had flown in from the USA to train with us). It’s also a great way for some trainees to find their Skipper’s voice and gain confidence as a leader… often girls can lack confidence when training 0r stiffle their own progress by under rating their ability.

Don’t get me wrong, we love our mixed sailing courses, they’re fun, rewarding, sociable and a great way to meet people with a common interest – yes we see lifelong friendships form, partners find one-another and sometimes we even see ex-students sail off into the sunset together. But every now and again, just for a week, it’s great to hop on a boat with the girls 🙂