Nat_Windsurf_adult

The RYA ‘Start’ and Junior L1 & 2 courses are the first rungs on the windsurfing ladder.

The ‘Start’ course is a short (2 day/4 evening) course, designed to teach you all the basics you need to get on a board, sail in various directions in light winds, to turn around, and to come back to where you started!  It really is as simple as that!

windsim1We fully appreciate that not everyone has natural ‘sea-legs’ and work with you to build confidence by introducing you to the basics on our dry-land simulator so you have as much time as you need to get a feel of what is involved in each step before going on the water to get wet.

This includes getting on to the board, pulling the rig (sail) out of the water, getting your balance, turning the board round, and sailing off into the sunset! – oh, and coming back and stopping too!

Once comfortable with the moves practiced on dry land, we’ll introduce you to the water with some gentle balancing exercises so you can get a feel of how the board moves on the water and how it reacts to both your movements and the wind.

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By lunchtime on your first day you will have already been on the water and, all being well, taken your first steps in your windsurfing career, hopefully having balanced on the board, turned it around, and sailed across the water.  The remainder of the course is spent honing the basic skills, developing an ability to steer the board to enable you to sail in all possible directions, and to sail a course that will bring you back to where you started.

There is a small amount of theory to learn, which is set out in the RYA course-books that are provided to each student on the course, helping you to understand some of the science behind how the windsurfer works, and to identify safe places and times to windsurf.

On successful completion of the course, those candidates that have met the criteria set out on the course syllabus will be awarded the RYA ‘Start Windsurfing’ certificate.  This always sounds a little formal – what we really hope the outcome to be is that you will have had fun discovering something new and that you will want to do it again!

We really look forward to meeting you – please contact us if you have any questions.  Thanks for reading! 🙂

Have a look at the RYA video below to get a feel for what is involved!


If you would like to find out more or book a place please email: training@shotwicksailing.org


Volunteers wanted!

If you would be interested in helping out with the training then please let us know.
email training@shotwicksailing.org