New Sailors Welcome at INSS Junior Club in Dun Laoghaire Harbour

23rd January 2023

The INSS team are looking forward to welcoming back sailors who were participating before Christmas, as well as sailors from their Summer courses who want to get back into the sport ahead of this year’s school holidays

The Junior Club - Saturday Sailing at the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School is back on Saturday, the 4th of February, for children aged 7-17 years.

The programme runs over nine Saturdays up to the Easter break, with participants choosing from either the morning 10 am-1 pm slot or the afternoon 2-5 pm slot.

The team are looking forward to welcoming back sailors who were participating before Christmas, as well as sailors from their Summer courses who want to get back into the sport ahead of this year’s school holidays. They’re also delighted to say that they have a specific programme for new sailors, tailored to those who have not sailed before, or have not sailed in a while, within each age grouping; 7-10 years, 11-14 years and 15-17 years.

Some of the team outline what they’ve got planned for each of their groups.

7-10 Years Age Group – Lead Instructor Cian Fay

Cian reflects on the last term, where the students developed their sailing skills from theory to practical application.

“They started the term off by concentrating and perfecting the basics, quickly moving on to upwind downwind, follow the leader and speed control drills. They also spent time doing shallow triangle courses and triangular courses, as well as manoeuvres such as coming alongside which was a new and exciting experience and to prepare them with skills that will be necessary as they move on to the older age groups.

This coming term, we’ll reinforce the basics, improve ropework and develop the students' understanding of theory. The students are particularly excited to try new manoeuvres and further their sailing abilities in the upcoming term.”

The 7-10 years Sailing Group of the INSS Junior Club in Dun Laoghaire Harbour

11-14 Years Age Group – Lead Instructor Dairine McCabe

This term’s focus is to keep participants’ skill levels up while introducing them to new boats like the RS Zest and RS Feva. There’s also plenty planned for this group on the school’s new J80 keelboat fleet.

“The Junior Club last year was overflowing with joy and learning. We were delighted to have such attentive, enthusiastic students with us endeavouring to develop their skills and understanding. We held special events for both Halloween and Christmas last year and we hope to create something just as special for St. Patrick’s Day this year. We’ve planned lots of sailing time and practice of manoeuvres in our fleet of dinghies, and applications of the rope work we teach. On top of this, we tailor each session to the group themselves and what they would like to do, or what they need to get signed off in their logbooks. This creates a personal learning environment for our students that I have found most effective. We can’t wait to get started!”

The 11-14 years Sailing Group of the INSS Junior Club in Dun Laoghaire Harbour

15-17 Years Age Group – Lead Instructor Ben Duffy

“We started off the Autumn Term by getting students comfortable on the water which allowed us to progress quickly to double-handers dinghies such as RS Quests and RS Fevas. Towards the end of the October term, all 15-17 years students were introduced to racing where we held an award ceremony for the winners of the event.

We’ll continue with this progression and continue racing at a high standard. Students will find themselves being introduced to slightly more complicated tactics for race starts and implementing spinnakers to make the racing a bit more realistic!”

The 15-17 years Sailing Group of the INSS Junior Club on a keelboat at Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Junior Club – Senior Instructor Zoe Noonan

“Last year's successful Junior Club saw sailors participating in a wide range of activities, including; dinghy and keelboat sailing, yacht sailing around the bay on one of our 36-foot cruising yachts, Lula Belle, as well as the odd kayaking session in weeks of bad weather.

Zoe also reminds all students to bring their logbooks and keep them up to date, so that the school’s instructors can determine what everyone needs to work on and will be looking out for talented sailors for the school Assistant Instructor Programme in the 15-17 years age group.

Programme Information

The Junior Club term runs from Saturday the 4th of February to Saturday the 1st April (Easter break). Sailors can choose from two times of attendance, 10 am-1 pm or 2-5 pm.

February: 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th

March: 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th

April: 1st

The fees for this term are €270, including wetsuits and boats.

More Information can be found here

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