Leg 3/2021
15 – 21 May Lymington to Lymington. RYA Day Skipper Course in The Solent
Regina Laska sailing into Cowes on the Isle of White, The Solent.
This leg is an intense, yet very pleasant, sail training course to learn the basics of sailing leading to the RYA Day Skipper Certificate. The goal of the course is that you can take a yacht during daylight from and to a known port under benign conditions.
It’s a unique opportunity to do this kind of sail training on a fine Hallberg-Rassy 46, and we will jointly take care of our fine yacht and learn how to handle a 20 tonnes boat under all sorts of conditions. Boat handling and a lot of manoeuvres will be practiced under sail and under power. Practical navigation forms an important part of the course, and so does safety.
It will help a lot if you first join the theory course on Malta. You will become well prepared in all the theoretical subjects. We can thus concentrate on the practical side of seamanship and manoeuvres. If you have no possibility to join the theory course, should, at least, work through the excellent book by my friend Tom Cunliffe: The Complete Day Skipper.
We will not make much distance and probably remain within The Solent and concentrate on hands-on sail training. Having said that, we will, of course, have the well-known atmosphere onboard and visit one and the other pleasant pub and restaurant, which there are plenty of in The Solent!
Price: EUR 2,185 per person including all food consumed onboard, harbour fees, diesel etc. plus visits to restaurants and pubs.
Regina Laska leaving Cowes. There is always a lot of traffic to look out for!
Cowes on a busy Sunday in Mai. There is, for sure, a lot to take into consideration when sailing in The Solent!
There is not much time to know your ColRegs in The Solent. And there are not only other sailors underway, but a lot of other vessels constrained by draught or restricted in manoeuvrability…
Strong tides form another challenge in The Solent. Here the harbour entrance of Lymington.
Strong currents in the Solent! I’m explaining on which side to pass a buoy not to be “sucked into the buoy”. Ferry gliding into the current is also part of the course.
Night sailing with a lot of heavy traffic. How to identify the three red lights on top of each other on this highly lit-up cruise ship is a challenge!
Night sailing into the busy port of Portsmouth.
Chartwork is fun! The RYA need to excuse Scandinavians who since childhood have been brought up with the important rule, always to have the chart at hand in the cockpit, otherwise a grounding is pre-programmed. The RYA has a somewhat different approach to paper charts and we will discuss both methods during the course.
This is the proper RYA way of doing it: Chart-work at the chart table. ….if the boat still has a chart table that is. Many modern boats don’t. And sailing in Scandinavia, this would definitely mean running on the rocks. There is no right or wrong in sailing and we discuss various aspects of seamanship.
Comparing bearing. Or, as one student said: Too many bearings – too little beer!
Rope handling is so much fun, if you know a couple of small tricks!
Training lassoing.
Finding your way in The Solent while sailing! Proper look-out is essential!
Picking up a buoy under power.
Slow is Pro, when entering a harbour.
Placing the right springs and breast lines is part of a good seamanship.
Preparing springing off with a bow-spring.
Welcome to an intense and very worth-wile sail training week onboard Regina Laska in The Solent!