Why dinghy sailing?
Because sailing is fun, sociable as well as an excellent way of building confidence on the water and getting involved in a fantastic sport.
“If you can sail a dinghy you can sail anything.”
The principles of sailing are the same irrespective of the size of the boat you sail.
PLEASE NOTE – due to the exceptional backlog of cadet training created by Covid restrictions, plus a related shortage of instructors, our sailing tuition programme is now over-subscribed. Consequently, in order to be absolutely transparent to potential new members joining in 2023/24, we are unable to offer a place on our sailing tuition programme as we are still trying to catch up with demand.
Learning to sail at Up River Yacht Club
Learn to sail on the sheltered waters on the upper reaches of the River Crouch. Up River Yacht Club is ideally located in a scenic setting on the south bank of the river in the village of Hullbridge. There’s easy access by road and plenty of parking on site.
Enjoy relaxed and friendly tuition in the company of our experienced club members. Up River Yacht Club is an affiliated member of the Royal Yachting Association. Guest RYA instructors will be on hand whenever possible to provide additional support.
I joined Up River Yacht Club because it’s situated on an ideal stretch of the river where my daughter could learn to sail in complete safety. Dennis Haggerty
Tuition
Each session will begin ashore with ‘hands on’ learning. Then participants take to the water as crew in one of the club dinghies. This offers the opportunity to put the freshly learned skills and drills into practise under the helpful guidance of our members and guest instructors.
Everyone is invited to participate fully in all aspects of the session. This ranges from rigging the dinghies, assisting with launch and recovery of the safety boats, to washing down the equipment afterwards. Buoyancy aids are provided and matched to the participant’s size and requirements. The club house has spacious changing facilities including showers.
The Up River Yacht Club offers 5 half day sessions on dates in May, June and July. These are capped off with a very popular and enjoyable Family Fun Weekend, which is usually held over the August Bank Holiday.
Fun sails and social events
There are plenty of opportunities to meet and get to know other Club members at evening and weekend Fun Sail events. In addition, you can join other club members at several social gatherings throughout the year. Please follow this link to Events and find out more.
The Up River approach
Our primary objective is to enable participants to develop their sailing skills and confidence so they can enjoy getting afloat by themselves or, if they prefer, as crew. Don’t worry, after tuition you can develop your skills over time as a club member. Sailing at Up River Yacht Club is for enjoyment, there are no exams or qualifications to achieve.
What’s included
- Five half day tuition sessions
- Teaching by URYC members and guest RYA instructors
- Use of 9 modern sailing dinghies maintained to a high standard
- Boat and liability insurance
- Use of all club facilities
- Spacious changing rooms
- Modern showers
- Social events
- Free sailing events
- Free parking in URYC private car park
- Free wifi in the club house
The parents/responsible adults of individual child cadets are welcome to use the club facilities or lend a hand with club activities on the shore.
My family & I visited the club on one of the ‘Push the Boat Out’ open days. Everyone was very welcoming, helpful and encouraging in mine and my son’s quest to sail. As a result, we signed up for the ‘Cadets Training Programme’. Over this past summer, we have both learnt the basics from very supportive club members, have been treated to the expertise of Peter Clancy, (a visiting RYA instructor), and have enjoyed the end of cadet season BBQ.
However, the overall highlight was being able to put into practice what we had learnt in the charity regatta. The ‘Working Party’ mornings have been both fun and rewarding, knowing that we are contributing to the ongoing success of the club. Everyone has been so warm and friendly, which has made learning to sail even better than anticipated. Richard Owen
How much?
Up River Yacht Club subsidise sail training. ‘Fun Sails’, racing experiences and social events are all included in the cost of annual membership. Memberships range from ‘Family’ (including 2 adults,) Adult individual or Cadet individual for children only memberships. Please click this link for membership fee information.
To confirm you are interested, or would like more information, please click the button below and complete the Learning to sail at Up River Yacht Club contact form.
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Questions?
Alternatively, if there are some things you would like to chat through first, please email an outline of your questions. We will put you in touch with a member of the club who will be happy to help and talk about what the club can offer. Please email info@upriver.org.uk
If you would prefer to speak to a club officer, please include your telephone number let us know good time(s) to call you.
