Rye Watersports provides dinghy sailing lessons for kids age 8 upwards at our Royal Yachting Association School.
Courses are run on a safe inland lake situated between Rye and Camber Sands on the South East coast. The gently shelving lake shore-line is perfect for giving children confidence during their first lesson on the water. For parents not wanting to travel too far for their children’s dinghy sailing lessons, Rye Watersports is easy to get to being only a fifty minute drive from Tunbridge Wells and 45 minutes from Sevenoaks, Kent.
Once children have completed their RYA Stage 2 they can come to our sailing club sessions which are held on a Wednesday during school holidays, at 10:00 – 12:30 and then again 13:30 – 16:00.
Kids love sailing here’s why:
RYA Stage 1 & 2 – £360.00
- Week long course
- Monday - Friday 10:00-16:00
- Introduction to sailing principles and basic manoeuvres
- Building water confidence and foundational steering skill
- Boat rigging and launching
- Ropework and knots
- RYA Stage 1 and Stage 2 certificates upon successful completion
Week long sailing course combining RYA Stage 1 and Stage 2 programs. Ideal for all young sailors. This five day course runs from 10:00 to 16:00 daily. It starts with mastering boat rigging, water confidence, steering and tacking, before moving onto refining techniques in tacking, gybing, triangular navigation, and knots. Participants earn both RYA Stage 1 and Stage 2 certificates on successful completion.
RYA Stage 1 – £185.00
- 2 day course 6 hrs each day
- Learn how to rig boat
- Gain confidence on the water
- Steer and tack
- Understand the basic principles of sailing
- RYA certificate on completion
This RYA Stage 1 sailing course is a brilliant introduction to the Royal Yachting Association Youth Scheme that teaches children all the basics to get them sailing with confidence. Part of the course content covers launching and recovery, steering, sailing across the wind (remove upwind). At the end of the the two day course all pupils should be proficient enough in their sailing skills to be awarded their RYA Stage 1 Certificate.
RYA Stage 2 – £185.00
- 2 day course 6 hrs each day
- Tacking and gybing
- Learn to sail around a triangular course
- Ropework and knots
- Make turns quicker and smoother
- RYA certificate on completion
The aim of this course is to become confident and self sufficient in a small boat in light to moderate winds. Tacking and gybing are concentrated on to make your turns quicker and smoother. Ropework and collision avoidance are covered. Basic sailing skills are improved on aiming towards sailing round a triangular course unassisted. This is required to come to our Kids Sailing Club.
RYA Stage 3 & 4 – £360.00
- Week long course
- Monday - Friday 10:00-16:00
- Sail in all wind directions
- Demonstrate a capsize recovery
- Learn about the 'Five Essentials'
- Introduce advanced sailing techniques, solo helming and building confidence.
- Sailing double handed boats, crewed boat rigging and launching.
- Recovery of a man overboard and mastering techniques for sailing in pairs.
- RYA certificates for both Stage 3 and Stage 4 upon successful completion.
RYA Stage 3 and Stage 4 week long sailing course for youth sailors running from 10:00 to 16:00 daily. Begin with Stage 3 introducing solo helming, handling all wind directions, capsize recovery and learning about the 'Five Essentials.' Course equips you to handle various conditions independently that is perfect for gaining confidence as a sailor. The progression to Stage 4 involves sailing double handed boats, crewed boat rigging, launching, recovery and using advanced techniques for sailing in pairs.
RYA Stage 3 – £185.00
- 2 day course 6 hrs each day
- Understand and deal with wind conditions
- Capsize recovery
- The 5 Essentials
- RYA certificate on completion
Introduction to the ‘five essentials’ tacking and gybing in stronger winds, and helming a boat on your own are covered in this next stage. Course content also includes: rigging, launching, and capsize recovery plus more advanced sailing techniques and manoeuvres. You should now be able to use your own judgement when dealing with any conditions and have the confidence to take charge if out with a more inexperienced sailor. This course is a big step up from Stage 2 and practice between stages is essential. Our Wednesday sailing club is a perfect way to gain experience.
RYA Stage 4 – £185.00
- 2 day course 6 hrs each day
- Sailing double handed boats
- Rigging of crewed boats
- Launching and recovery
- Sailing techniques and manoeuvres in crewed boats
- Recovering a man overboard
- RYA certificate on completion
Learn to sail a double-handed boat as crew or helm, applying all the skills you have learnt up to and including Stage 3, as well as gaining a variety of exciting new skills.
RYA Youth Sailing Spinnakers and Seamanship Skills – £360.00
- 2 day course 6 hrs each day
- Learn how to rig the boat, hoist, gybe and drop/recover one type of spinnaker.
- Gain the knowledge and understanding to sail the best possible course downwind.
Embark on a 5 day sailing experience from 10:00 to 16:00. Seamlessly integrating two vital courses, first explore the Youth RYA Spinnaker Advanced Scheme. Rig, hoist, gybe, and recover a spinnaker in double handed boats, mastering downwind sailing and optimal navigation. Proficiency in the Five Essentials is a prerequisite for this course. Conclude the week with the Seamanship Skills Course, refining advanced techniques such as reefing afloat, sailing backward and navigating without a rudder.
RYA Youth Sailing Seamanship Skills – £185.00
- 2 day course 6 hrs each day
- Reefing afloat
- Sailing Backwards
- Sailing without a rudder
- RYA certificate on completion
Seamanship Skills will help you learn skills a short step beyond Stage 4. During this course you will polish and test your skills and learn to resolve problems afloat. The course will give you a solid foundation for the future and enable you to become much more confident and self-sufficient afloat.
- 2 day course 6 hrs each day
- Learn how to rig the boat, hoist, gybe and drop/recover one type of spinnaker.
- Gain the knowledge and understanding to sail the best possible course downwind.
Two day Youth RYA Spinnaker Advanced Scheme in double handed boats. This course you should already be proficient in demonstrating the Five Essentials. This will allow you to integrate existing knowledge for confident handling of double handed spinnaker boats. This condensed yet dynamic course provides 12 hours of hands on training. Youth RYA Spinnaker Advanced Scheme certificate on successful completion of this course.
KIDS SAILING CLUB - £35.00
- Every Wednesday during school holidays
- £35.00 per session including hire and coaching
- For children who have completed RYA Stage 2 or above
Did you know?
All our instructors are Royal Yachting Association qualified and we hold an ‘Adventure Activities License’. Rye Watersports has been an RYA centre since 1986 and, is still under the same ownership. We genuinely feel that there is nowhere in Kent, Surrey or Sussex that can offer the same superb conditions for children to learn to dinghy sail in.
Q & A
Some common questions we often receive answered here →
Q & A
Some common questions we often receive answered here: