This year’s National Yacht Club Nippers course at the East Pier at Dun Laoghaire welcomed the largest group of eager children than ever before to the club. Over six weeks in May and June, adventurous 6-8 year olds dipped their toe into sailing, many of them for the first time writes the club's Fiona Staunton.

The NYC Nippers course is based on the Cara na Mara curriculum. Cara na Mara provides a child-centred approach to introducing children to sailing and the marine environment. The programme allows children to discover, explore and practise the skills and knowledge they will need as sailors.

For two hours on a Wednesday evening, the children took turns on the water every week in a range of crafts, Optimists, Fevas, kayaks and paddle boards, either individually or in small groups. And whilst the Nippers spent most of their time on the water, the programme is not just about sailing.

The curriculum also covers safety at sea, sailing skills, weather and the marine environment. Indeed, a favourite with the Nippers is ‘water theory’, as invented by NYC’s brilliant instructors, where children are asked a range of questions about boat handling and safety at sea and the ‘punishment’ for giving a wrong answer is to be pushed off the pontoon…to delighted squeals from each child as it splashes into the water!

The NYC Nippers is a great way of introducing young children to sailing and fostering a love and respect for the sea. It would not be nearly as much fun without NYC’s fantastic instructors or the older children for the NYC’s Junior Section who helmed the various boats and actively encouraged their young friends to have a go. As always, it would not be possible without the parents who volunteered for ‘shore duty’ on the night and Sarah and Henrietta who organised the programme.

A big shout out goes to the Dun Laoghaire fire brigade who provided the star attraction on the last night. Their visit to the NYC gave each Nipper a chance to take the wheel of a real fire engine and turns at sounding the (very loud!) sirens. Now that was an experience that will take some beating!

We hope that many of our 2016 Nippers will return next year to build on their sailing skills and rekindle the friendships they made over the last six weeks.