Irish National Sailing School
Competent Crew and Day Skipper C-6
Overview
Our Competent Crew and Day Skipper courses are designed to refine and build upon previously sailing experience with a view of crewing or skippering your own boat one day! Please note that these courses are run in conjunction and as a result share a booking page.
Where to meet
All courses meet at Dun Laoghaire Marina at 9.30am on first day of course. The finish times of the course each day will vary depending on destinations and weather conditions.
The Boat
This course is held on board our Elan 36 ‘Beaufort Venture.’ It is a 36-foot cruising yacht with 6 berths, full kitchen including stove and fridge, as well as toilet and shower facilities.
Sleeping arrangements & berthing port overnightÂ
We will aim to berth overnight in Dun Laoghaire each evening, so that you will be free to head off home and re-join the boat in the morning.
Alternatively, if you do not live locally you are welcome to stay on board. We do not supply sleeping bags or sheets for the bunks, we require clients to bring their own sleeping bag and pillow for all courses.
There will be one late evening sail, the day of which will be agreed with the Skipper at the beginning of the week.
Gear Provided
We provide foul weather waterproofs and lifejackets.
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Competent Crew Course - Excellent Instructor - Having done a few courses with the INSS over the summer of 2023, and some sailing on the Mediterranean, doing the Competent Crew course with others who were doing the Day Skipper course at the same time was the highlight of my time learning how to sail. The reason it was the highlight was largely due to the course instructor Shona O'Dowd (I made certain to get her full name before leaving to give her the credit she deserved). Huge knowledge and experience mixed with a great attitude, with friendliness, patience and approachability making Shona stand out and make each day of the course something to look forward to regardless of weather or experience level. Shona guided practical use of all facets of sailing knowledge excellently and never micromanaged or tried to exert too much control, thereby never limiting the learning that can take place for students.
This teaching style is difficult to find, having seen a variety of instructors and their styles, in different countries and even within the INSS, and so you will be very lucky if you get Shona on your boat when it comes your turn to learn the ropes (literally). All in all, the Competent Crew course was very enjoyable, and I just wanted to give credit where it was due.
20/08/2023 -
Amazing! Well worth it and I enjoyed every bit of it! - Firstly, Jess (our instructor) was amazing! I was a bit nervous starting this course as I didn't know what to expect but Jess made it so easy to understand everything and I absolutely, thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it! As a result, I'll be booking more courses with them soon.
I think the school is excellent, the structure of the courses are excellent and the instructors are very very good at what they do and I just want to thank Jess and everyone else involved for not only making it an excellent weekend but also giving me an interest in something that I want to stick with for the rest of my life!
If there were 100 stars to choose from instead of just 5, I'd choose 110 ;)
12/09/2022