Start Sailing 2 — Smooth Sailing School

Start Sailing 2 is the second of Australian Sailing's two beginner dinghy courses for adults, picking up where Start Sailing 1 finishes. Smooth Sailing School is a mobile learn-to-sail school: it brings its own trailer fleet, instructors and safety gear to partner yacht clubs around coastal Victoria, including Williamstown Sailing Club.

What you'll learn

The goal is independence: rigging, launching and sailing the boat without an instructor making the decisions.

• Rigging and de-rigging unassisted – setting up and packing away the dinghy from scratch.
• Helming and crewing on all points of sail – including sailing upwind in a series of tacks and running downwind.
• Gybing under control – turning the stern through the wind, where the boom crosses quickly and needs to be managed.
• Centreboard and tiller extension technique – raising the board downwind and lowering it upwind, and steering while sitting out.
• Man-overboard recovery – returning to and picking up someone who has fallen in.
• The bowline – the loop knot you will use most as a sailor.

Theory covers the right-of-way rules, buoyage and signage, reading gusts and lulls and lifts and knocks (the changes in wind strength and direction you can see on the water), and where to find a reliable weather forecast. By the end you can sail a triangle and a windward-leeward course.

How Smooth Sailing runs it

The course is three sessions, about 12 hours in total, in the school's dinghies. Boats, sails and lifejackets are provided, and everyone wears an Australian Sailing-approved lifejacket at all times on the water. Bring water, a hat, a snack, a towel, clothes that can get wet, a spare set of dry clothes and shoes; a spray jacket, wetsuit and water shoes are useful if you have them. Instructors hold current Australian Sailing qualifications, First Aid and Working With Children checks.

Who it suits

Water-confident adults who have completed Start Sailing 1 or have equivalent experience, and want to reach the point of taking a dinghy out on their own.

Where it leads

The next step is Better Sailing, which focuses on sail trim, boat speed and the basics of racing.

Full course guide

For the full Australian Sailing syllabus, see the Start Sailing 2 course guide.