Tackers 1 — Smooth Sailing School

Tackers 1 is the entry level of Australian Sailing's Tackers program for children aged 7 to 12. 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. No sailing experience is needed; children only need to be water confident.

What you'll learn

Tackers 1 is built around games rather than drills. The aim is for children to understand, by feel, how a boat moves and where the wind is coming from, and to enjoy being on the water. Key skills:

• Steering with a tiller extension – learning that pushing the tiller one way turns the boat the other, first while under tow and then under sail.
• Basic sail control – pulling the sail in to go and letting it out to slow down or stop.
• Tacking and gybing – turning the boat through or away from the wind while ducking under the boom and changing sides.
• Knots and rigging – the figure-of-eight knot, which stops a rope running out through a fitting, and helping to rig the boat.
• Launching and retrieving – getting the boat into and out of the water safely.

By the end, a Tackers 1 sailor can reach around a figure-of-eight course and sail upwind and downwind by following the safety boat.

How Smooth Sailing runs it

Children sail double-handed with a buddy, with an instructor close by, in the school's brightly coloured Tackers dinghies. The course runs over three to five half-day sessions depending on the program. Instructors hold current Australian Sailing qualifications, First Aid and Working With Children checks.

What parents should know

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. Sailing continues in light rain and fresh breezes, but if conditions are unsafe the session moves to shore-based activities, and lightning means nobody goes on the water until the sky is clear. Parents are welcome to stay and watch, or leave and come back for pick-up.

Who it suits

Children aged 7 to 12 who are comfortable in the water and have not sailed before.

Where it leads

The next step is Tackers 2, where children take the helm on their own for the first time.

Full course guide

For the full Australian Sailing syllabus, see the Tackers 1 course guide.