Sailing Life
fantastic opportunities for children to be independent and adventurous, albeit in a safe environment. Marel Blunden from London, whose 12-year-old daughter Samantha has visited Minorca Sailing for many years, enthuses: “It’s a great equaliser and a great social thing for them. Samantha has made a lot of friends and once kids are able to sail on their own, great fun. “T e accommodation is within a fi ve-minute walk, so they can run in and out and go to meet their friends. T ey sail with the instructors to the local tavern to get ice creams and swim off their dinghies, or sail over to some of the little islands and play beach games. T e children feel like it’s their own big adventure.”
Camps and courses Many sailing centres run residential courses for children and teenagers wanting an independent holiday without their parents, with plenty of fun, on and off the water, plus an RYA certifi cate to work towards. UKSA, in the yachting mecca of Cowes, runs residentials for children aged eight upwards. On off er are dinghy, keelboat courses and camps during Easter, Summer and the Autumn half-term holidays. Other homegrown providers include
Rockley Watersports, based in Poole. You could try out the 2012 Olympic sailing waters at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, in Dorset, which is also home to SailLaser. T ey off er courses for all age groups from fi ve years old upwards. Les Glénans in France, whose motto,
“a sailing school, a sea school, a school of life”, was set up by Resistance members, after the Second World War. A not-for-
Holiday postscript
RYA-recognised training centres and sailing clubs iaround the country include RYA Sailability groups for disabled children
Royal Yachting Association
www.rya.org.uk Association of Sail Training
www.asto.org.uk UKSA Cowes
www.uksa.org Rockley Watersports:
www.rockleywatersports.com SailLaser
www.sail-laser.com Neilson
www.neilson.co.uk Sunsail
www.sunsail.co.uk Mark Warner
www.markwarner.co.uk Minorca Sailing
www.minorcasailing.co.uk Wildwind
www.wildwind.co.uk Les Glénans
www.glenans.asso.fr Jubilee Sailing Trust
www.jst.org.uk Tall Ships Youth Trust
www.tallships.org
profi t organisation, it is one of Europe’s biggest sailing schools and also now has cruising, catamaran and dinghy sailing courses against a backdrop of some stunning scenery at Baltimore in the south and Collanmore in the west of Ireland.
Sailing the high seas Off shore voyages on yachts and tall ships give young people a unique opportunity to set sail for the trip of a lifetime. T e Jubilee Sailing Trust has two training ships, T e Lord Nelson and Tenacious, with able-bodied and physically disabled crew members aged 16, and over, working together with a “can-do” attitude to the fore. Everyone is equal and gets a chance to do everything from peeling the potatoes for dinner, to sailing the ship. Voyages range from hops around the British coast, to the Canaries and the Caribbean, and
Cruise the high seas…
Cruises are not what they used to be. Time was when they were exclusively the preserve of the blue rinse brigade but now they off er families with children of all ages ways to explore inaccessible and exciting regions of the world. For the adventurous, Lindblad Expeditions cruises off er an innovative and educational travel experience that introduces children to the excitement of whales and ice-bergs, whether its Baja California, Costa Rica, or Alaska, and all without visiting a single airport, with all its unchild-friendly
hassle! Cruises like these foster an understanding and appreciation of the most remote and pristine places in the world. Experienced guides lead
travellers on small ships through islands, coves and vast seas. Very diff erent from the huge ships of yesteryear. Forget geography and
history prep, by the time your child has seen thegiant turtles of the Galapagos, and snorkelled or dived in their turquoise seas, as well as learned the history of the Falklands, and wondered at the penguins he will be a walking-talking encyclopedia
of knowledge and when he returns fi red up with enthusiasm, his teacher will be wondering who is taking the class. For something quieter but no less exciting, Regent Seven Sea Cruises off ers voyages of exploration and discovery to more than 300
ports on all seven continents, including the Far East and South America.
Lindblad and National Geographic expeditions:
www.expeditions.com Regent Seven Seas Cruises:
www.rssc.com
www.fi rstelevenmagazine.co.uk Summer 2011 FirstEleven 71
the trust has a Youth Leadership at Sea scheme for those aged 16-25. A voyage of fi ve days or more, counts towards the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award residential section. As Jo Hall from JST fundraising and development explains, when it comes to writing your CV, “future employers will realise you’ve stepped outside the box.” T e Tall Ships Youth Trust also off ers a
variety of voyages, and again, some fulfi l Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award criteria, or lead to qualifi cations such as RYA Start Yachting or RYA Competent Crew. A group of 16 to 17-year-olds on the tall ship, Stavros S Niarchos, last July, were certainly impressed. One commented she had made not just friends for life, but also developed skills for life. Another added: “Having to change your daily timetable to suit the needs of the ship comes as a challenge but the reward is simply awesome.”
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