Loads of opportunities to learn to sail in West End at the South Brisbane Sailing Club in September.
Have you ever noticed those sails catching the breeze on the Brisbane River on summer Saturday afternoons? Would you or your children join them?
Well, you can.
South Brisbane Sailing Club has been holding sailing races on the Milton and St Lucia reaches of the Brisbane River for well over 100 years and is about to commence its 2023-24 sailing season.
Come and Try
The season kicks off this Saturday, 2 September, with a ‘come and try’ event in the morning, open to anyone interested, no experience necessary.
For just $25, you will learn the basics of launching, sailing and retrieving a Heron dinghy – one of several classes of dinghies raced by club members on Saturday afternoons.
The only eligibility requirements are the ability to swim 50 metres and to hoist yourself unaided out of a swimming pool. Two sessions will be held, one commencing at 9 a.m., and the other at 11 a.m. Go to the website www.sbsc.org.au for registration details.
School Holiday Learn to Sail
For children and youths aged between 8 and 15, the club also holds two 3-day School Holiday Learn to Sail courses. The first runs daily from Monday, 18 September to Wednesday, 20 September, 9 am to 2 pm. The second – a repeat of week 1 – runs at the same times the following week: 25-27 September.
The courses are recognised by Australian Sailing (the sport’s national peak body) as Start Sailing Level 1 courses and offer a safe and fun introduction to sailing small dinghies, with attention to water safety, how to rig a dinghy, basic boat handling and seamanship skills.
All SBSC Learn to Sail courses are conducted by experienced and accredited instructors familiar with local conditions and, in the case of the holiday programs, working with children and youths.
The cost of the three-day School Holiday course is $190.
Discover Sailing
In addition to the introductory Discover Sailing event on Saturday 2 September, and the School Holiday courses in September, the club offers longer Learn to Sail classes on Saturday mornings over the sailing season at introductory and more advanced levels for adults and youths.
Check out the club’s website – www.sbsc.org.au – for more details and registration information.
South Brisbane Sailing Club is a family-friendly, welcoming club with deep roots in the West End. It began in 1903 with club rooms in Fish Lane and moved to its present location in Hill End Terrace, adjacent to Orleigh Park, in 1956. Members range in age from as young as five years to 80s+. (Dinghy sailing has been described as the one sport where you can race with or against your grandchildren.)
The club also prides itself on encouraging a broad base of volunteers, who help to ensure that races are run at the highest safety standards. If you are a parent of one or more of the club’s junior members, there’s sure to be a role that can build on your skills and experience. It is partly because of the active involvement of so many volunteers that the club has a distinctive ‘community’ feel.
But hurry, places in the Discover Sailing and School Holiday programs are being snapped up.
For more information, please visit the SBSC website www.sbsc.org.au .
