Junior Training Courses FAQ.


​What is the minimum age to participate on the course?
Junior course participants must be 11 years of age or older as of the course start date.

Does my child need to be a strong swimmer?
All course participants must be able to swim and be comfortable in the water.  They will be wearing buoyancy aids (personal flotation device) on the water at all times, but they must be able to swim 25m in sailing clothes, tread water for 2 minutes and hold their head underwater for 10 seconds.

Does my child need to have sailed before?
Your child can be a complete beginner to enrol on level 1. For levels 2, 3 and 4, participants must normally have completed the previous level(s) to enrol. Participants complete no more than one level per year.

Do I need my own boat?
All level 1 and 2 participants (1st and 2nd years of course) must be in possession of a Mirror dinghy or be a nominated crew on another Mirror dinghy. Level 3 and 4 participants must have their own Mirror dinghy. No other dinghy types are permitted on the course.            

What equipment does my child need?
All participants must be in possession of an adequate, approved buoyancy aid which must be worn at all times while on the water and on the foreshore.
Wearing a wetsuit while sailing is also required for each sailor’s safety as well as comfort as it can get cold on (or in) the water when they get wet, even on nice days. Sailing during courses without a wetsuit is only permitted with the permission of the instructor in charge.
Each participant must also wear appropriate non-slip shoes (closed toed) that can get wet (wetsuit boots or older runners). 
In addition, participants should bring the following each day:
  • Towel
  • Rain gear
  • Hat (recommended)
  • Change of clothes
  • Sunscreen
  • Lunch/snacks (healthy)
  • Water/beverages

What are the course times?
Course run Monday to Friday, from 9:30 am to 5pm each day.  Participants must be dropped off and collected between these times.

What facilities are available?
We have changing rooms, toilets and a lounge area with kitchenette.

Can I cancel once I have booked and paid for the camp?
See the cancellation and refund policy here.

Do I need to do ‘Shore Duty’?
Each parent/guardian is expected to assist (for one half day) in the shore based running of the course. A description of shore duties is available here. Before the courses commence an email/text will be sent asking for volunteers to do a half-day. All parents are expected to do this.

Does my child get any qualifications after doing this camp?
Sailing is a fun and enjoyable skill which is taught to course participants.  Participants will be enrolled in the Irish Sailing Passport programme (see ISA website https://www.sailing.ie/Training/Courses/Dinghy-Keelboat-Catamaran-Sailing for more information). The Irish Sailing passport is an online skills tracking and certification system. 
Please note that the more advanced levels are not always easy to achieve and they require that the participants demonstrate certain skills during the course which can sometimes take longer to achieve than anticipated, take practice outside of the course, and for which assessment is weather dependent.  The most important aspect is that they learn how to sail or improve their skills on each course and have fun in the process. 

Can my child sail at the club outside of the course?
Course participants are given membership of the club for the remainder of the year. If they enjoy sailing, we would recommend that they take part in club sailing sessions on Wednesday evenings and Sundays throughout the season.

What if there is no wind or too much wind?
We will endeavour to teach junior sailors about safety on and off the water, teach skills, knots and rigging and play games on and off the water as ruled by the weather. Courses will take place but safety is foremost and they won’t sail (i.e. they will be shore based) if the weather is deemed to be unsafe.