Sailing on the Isle of Wight

Set sail on the Solent. 
Everybody can enjoy a day on the water around the Isle of Wight – novice sailors and experienced sea dogs alike. Brush up your sailing skills with local experts, then chart your own course on a hired dinghy or chartered yacht, or offer to crew on a boat for great experience and good fun. 

UKSA offers courses in learning to sail, improving your skills, and even instructor courses if you’re thinking of becoming a career sailor. Courses are appropriate for all ages and abilities.

Salty Sailing is a fully accredited RYA Training Centre based in Shepards Marina, Cowes. They offer a complete range of courses from beginner through to Yachtmaster, so there really is no better place to learn how to sail.  For friendly, fun, expert tuition in one of the best learning locations in the world, get in touch.

One of the best ways to learn to sail is to join a sailing or yacht club, as many offer training to their members. Gurnard Sailing Club offers Adult Sail Training to club members from complete beginner to intermediate racing level. Adult beginner courses (RYA Basic Skills levels 1 and 2) are run from a sailing centre on the River Medina in Cowes and they also have cadet sailing sessions for kids between seven and eighteen.

Yarmouth Sailing Club (YSC) are also an RYA Training Centre and can provide instruction, and award certificates for adult dinghy course levels 1 to 3, and youth dinghy courses stages 1 to 4, together with Dinghy Seamanship Skills. They also offer more informal training sessions such as Sailing Skills Days, Get Back on the Water Days, Racing Rules Clinics, Patrol Boat familiarization sessions, and Race Officer training sessions.

Sail training at Yaverland Sailing Club takes place on Saturday mornings through the spring, summer and into the autumn (usually finishing at the end of September when the sea gets too cold). They limit the number to six so that every cadet gets their own boat, with a minimum age limit of 13. Participants under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a paying adult. Once trainees have reached a level of proficiency and have become club members, they will be able to hire out Picos on a Saturday afternoon.