In article , X.25
writes
I am looking for a career change, and all I want to do is sailing.

I have no experience whatsoever, and I would really need some
experienced input.

Few questions related to this:

1. It is my understanding that the RYA schools are the best choice.
Could someone be able to recommend a good RYA approved school
(course), outside of the UK (preferrably Greece, Spain, Turkey, etc.).

2. What would be the best approach, in order to gain experience?
Should I start with a day-skipper course, and then try to find
experience through "Crew Seeker" (or something similar), or should I
go for a longer course and then go for the experience?

3. I did search a bit on the web, but the information is very
confusing (and sparse). Could someone recommend a website which would
be suitable for someone like me?

4. It would be really nice to find out more about the problems you
have experienced when you were starting (or even the problems you are
encountering now .

Any help is much appreciated.

Whatever kind of sailing you might aspire to dinghy sailing with some
racing is without doubt the place to start. You will find out very
quickly if you have any aptitude for handling a boat, or if your
aptitude is for amusing on-lookers at the gybe mark.

Why do you want an RYA school out of the UK? If cold water bothers you,
think again about a sailing career.

However, speaking as someone that has been sailing (off and on) since
they were 13, I can assure you that dull as IT can be, it's a much
better career than sailing and holds the prospect of being able to make
enough dosh to enjoy sailing as a leisure pursuit.

Basically there is very little in the way of a 'career in sailing'.
There is a lot of racing in some places, but to actually get paid for it
unless you are Ben Ainslie (double Olympic medalist) and get paid well
is nigh on impossible. Ted Heath was pretty accurate (for the day) when
he described ocean racing as like standing in a cold shower tearing up
£20 notes. Allow for inflation... Nearly all racing is amateur e.g.
unpaid.

Then there are the flotillas. I only know about one company, Sailing
Holidays. The crew on each lead boat consists of:
o a hostie. Female, pretty, to jolly things along and so on.
o a mechanic, Qualified and experienced.
o a skipper. Quite a few if not all of theirs are RYA
Yachmasters, which is a not insignificant qualification.

And then - they don't (or didn't - I presume the policy is the same now
as in 97) let their crews stay as crews for more than something like 3
years as (quote) 'its not a career'.!!!!

My advice - go get a basic dinghy sailing course. Visit the RYA web
site, find a school near you with a level 1 course at times you can
manage. Go sailing. Join a Club. Have a ball - and don't give up the
day job!



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