Beginner's course

Sailing is one of the most ancient skills people acquired, which helped them discover new places, new continents ...

In the past the purpose of sailing was trade, conquests, plundering, war activities, domination, etc.

Steamships, and later on motor ships, pushed sailing ships completely out of merchant navies. However, even today many replicas of those sailing ships still sail, usually in the capacity of school ships of naval academies or nautical academies, in countries which cherish their maritime tradition.

The last event which gathered probably the entire world fleet of those ships was the regatta organised to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America - Columbus 1992.

Nowadays sailing is an Olympic sport, and the famous America's Cup, the oldest official sport competition in the modern history, first took place in 1851. Most of today's sailors are recreational sailors, who rent sailing boats in summer for a week or two and sail the Adriatic Sea.

It is not too difficult to learn how to sail safely and easily in relatively good weather conditions. More time and energy has to be invested in learning sailing skills, tricks of life on board and how to be in harmony with the nature. Just like any school, sailing school has its programme of study.

During the 15 years of school's history the programme has not changed significantly, which says a lot of its quality. The study of sailing starts with the beginner's course. Some of you might want to skip that one, but it offers the basics, and skipping the basics makes any further progress much more difficult.

Beginner's course - one-week course

The beginner's course teaches you how to act and what to do in different positions on a sailing boat, how to handle the ropes and sailing equipment, how to perform the basic manoeuvres, trim and reef the sails, how to steer...

During the seven-day period of acquiring the basic sailing knowledge students sail on ten-meter long sailing boats (Adriatic 1020 or Val 35) in the waters in front of Jezera on Murter or in the waters infront of Dubrovnik and Konavle from base in Cavtat.

During the morning session the students get ready to go afloat and receive detailed explanations of all the activities on the programme for that day.

The afternoon session comprises the first aid lectures followed by the analysis of that day's sailing activities and all the questions students might have are being answered.

If you wish to take the exam for Boat Leader's Licence of Competency at the end of the course, we will provide the literature and organise classes which will take place every evening after dinner, and that will be sufficient to pass the exam.

Day after day there is so much to do. The participants in this course are accommodated in the school base. The rooms and number of beds in them are organised in such a way as to resemble a sailing boat as much as possible, and also to offer as many "amenities".

Every morning breakfast is served after gymnastics, during the day there is a break for a packed lunch on board, and dinner is served after the afternoon classes and a short break.

Free time?

There's hardly any since there are so many things which have to be done. After dinner the daily schedule is over and you are free till 7 a.m. next morning.

Beginner's course - two-week course

One week in school passes quickly, the course is over and the sailing basics have just started to find their "positions" in our heads. If you wish to acquire the sailing basics in more depth, and you have enough time to spare, we suggest you to choose a two-week beginner's course.

Why?

The first week is exactly the same as the one-week course. The seven-day period in which you get used to the boat, wind and sea is a must for everyone who starts to learn how to sail. Most of the students believe that after those seven days they know a lot or even everything, so what is there more to learn?

However, during the second week students sail on small dinghies, without their instructor, who supervises them from a fast motor-boat, because the dinghies sail very fast. Those sailing boats, constructed precisely for learning purposes, weight less than their crew. And they punish every mistake by overthrowing the crew into the sea.

They have no engine, therefore you have to launch from the shore and return back "on sails".
It will be the first time that you sail on your own. Once you have managed to handle these boats successfully, further study of sailing skills will be significantly easier.