Archived News
January in Lisbon
When West Coast Sailing wanted to update their instructors and give their own customers exposure to the RYA scheme, there was only one choice of school – rusailing
West Coast sailing are a very pro-active sailing school based in Lisbon, Portugal. They offer an impressive range of sailing courses delivered by their own instructors on sailboats ranging from their matched pair Gofino 7.25(m) to their brand new Bavaria 32 Cruiser. We actually trained the school’s principal instructors in the summer of 2009 to achieve their RYA Yachtmaster Offshore and Yachtmaster Coastal qualifications.
With increasing interest in the RYA scheme, the school arranged a special two weeks in January and invited Rob, our principal, to deliver RYA courses (and instructor updates) on their own boats. The result was a universal success! Great students, varied but ideal conditions and a fantastically diverse sailing area all went towards the two weeks flying by. From their base in Oeiras, Lisbon, the training took us deep into the river Tejo where pilotage opportunities are unlimited. Here, we mixed it up with some impressive commercial shipping (including the nuclear powered U.S.S. Enterprise and her 5,500 naval crewmembers!) and found peaceful little anchorages and moorings. A great experience builder for people who sail near commercial ports and busy ferry crossings. Very much like training in the Solent but in glorious winter sunshine. To complete the training and gain offshore experience, we made several Coastal Journeys and visited the Brand new Troia marina, Sines (of Vasco de Gamma fame) and the delightful nature reserve of Sesimbra. Mainly offshore breezes of up to F6 (F7 at times) meant that the little Bavaria positively skipped along and provided the ideal platform for teaching Coastal Skipper skills.
The courses were such a success for the students and for the school, they have already called upon rusailing to provide more ‘own boat’ tuition from their centre. They have also invited us to co-attend the Lisbon Boat Show with them early next year! We look forward to supporting their ventures.
If you’re interested in sailing in and around Lisbon then just get in touch to find out more. It’s a great alternative to the more tranquil Algarve and brings a different set of experiences. We already have an extended mileage building trip heading there in April which Rob is now rubbing his hands about….
Welcome
Christmas is over and what’s new for 2011?? Firstly our web site! We have decided on a completely new look after 5 years of our original site doing a sterling job – we hope you like it as much as we do. Any feedback about it would be much appreciated, good or bad we always welcome your comments.
rusailing will continue to offer the full range of RYA courses as well as bespoke training to suit your exact needs. For those of you who do not know already, there is now the option to sail our new boat, Firefly. We are very encouraged by the fact that several of our students who sailed her last year have already booked to come back this year specifically to sail on her! In 2011 we will be introducing specific race training weeks as well as campaigning several prestigious local events. Why not combine the two? Join us for several days of training and then put what you have learnt into practice! Watch out for the ‘Racing’ section of the website that will be coming soon and will include a provisional calendar.
Also new in 2011 is our RYA Sea Survival course to complete the full complement of RYA one day courses available with rusailing. This is required for skippers who want a Commercial Endorsement to their Yachtmaster licence but it’s also a great (essential?) course for anybody who is going to sea. As well as talking about all aspects of survival at sea you will have the chance to experience actually inflating a life jacket and life raft and then find out exactly what it feels like to have to climb into the raft from the water. It really is a very valuable way to spend a day. It’s fun too.
Have I got old(er) news for you....
Click on the following links to read some of our previous newsletters
We have lots of exciting news for 2010 - click here for full details and information. Don't miss out!
We will of course continue to offer high quality RYA courses along with our range of bespoke tuition that makes us different from other schools. Click here to see what we are talking about! What was new for 2009?
Our mileage and 'Long Distance Cruises' proved very popular last year and we are aiming to repeat their success again. We are still working on our exact plans for this year but click here to see the sort of thing that we have in mind!