Basic Dinghy Sailing

"Jonathan, thank you very much for the dinghy sailing sessions – I enjoyed them so much. I’m very pleased that I came to Malta for the tuition. I do hope we shall meet again. Below is my crack at an article about my experience:

My sailing experience was confined to 7 voyages in Tall Ships – quite late in life. These trips including sailing in British waters, the Caribbean, the Spanish Main and finally Pacific islands to the North East of Australia. A whole new world for me – one which I loved. However, as voyage crew on tall ships one is only a small cog in a large machine. I regretted not having learnt to sail a dinghy – in which one has a much bigger role to play…

I must be honest and admit that I am NOT keen on being cold and wet at the same time. Then I had an idea – why not try to learn dinghy sailing in the land of my birth – Malta. I started by phoning the Maltese embassy in London and was lucky enough to speak to someone with first-hand experience of learning to sail in Malta with BoatLink. He highly recommended Jonathan Sammut and supplied the address and telephone number. I contacted Jonathan and arranged a 16 hour course to be taken during the second half of April 2008, plus a further 16 hours of training during the first half of June 2008 during my other holiday to Malta.

My first encounter with Jonathan was very reassuring – starting at the beginning and learning about the dinghy (an Enterprise), rigging, a few knots, some theory of sailing and then the actual sailing. At first I felt stiff and awkward in the boat, but was systematically taught the elements of (first) crewing – operating the jib, helping to balance, etc. Eventually I progressed to taking the helm – a little nerve-wrecking at first, while I was taught the basics of tacking and gibing. I also learnt how to spill wind from the mainsail when caught in sudden gusts of wind – very important! Most of the sailing instruction took place in Marsamxett Harbour – an ideal location. The wind direction proved variable – as was the shelter from the wind provided by the hills and buildings around the harbour. This led to marked changes in wind speed – another good learning feature. On some days, we experienced sudden strong gusts - a challenging experience indeed! There were quite a number of boats and ships on the water – useful for learning some of the rules of the road and for keeping me alert. Another blessing was the fact that the Mediterraean sea is virtually free from tidal effects – which simplified things greatly for a beginner. “Man overboard” tactics were practised – another manoeuvre which built confidence. To summarise, my choice of Malta for sail-training could not have worked out better – and I strongly recommend BoatLink and Jonathan as instructor!" - Gerald Bowler, Cornwall UK.