Sailing Courses for Beginners

“Fantastic week learning to sail with our wonderful tutor Dave. Weather has been perfect, the boat is very well equipped, provisioned and the whole operation well managed. Exceeded expectations on every level.”

“I had sailed on and off for many years (always with a skipper) and had taken my Day Skipper theory course as a student 34years ago! Now, with retirement approaching my partner and I decided it was time to complete my day skipper course and for her, having never sailed to take on the competent crew course. I retook my theory course with Sunsail’s partner Prometheus. This was challenging but well structured and I completed it the week before. So my theory was fresh but my boat handling very rusty and riddled with bad habits.
We chose Sunsail through family recommendations and for the fact that they could offer a private shower/toilet ( heads) . As it turned out each cabin had a private heads so privacy was not an issue. We met our fellow trainees, a couple from Canada and a new to sailing young woman and our fears of sharing with ‘strangers’ were dismissed almost immediately. As we quickly became firm friends and hugely enjoyed each other’s company both during the busy learning on board and in the evening. Each supporting and complementing each other’s learning.
I would like to save the greatest praise for our instructor Tadeusz ( Tadek ) He is a young man with the wisdom , knowledge and ability of someone much older. He has a calm and friendly nature and excellent teaching skills. He was patient with the newbies and firm when needed. He is also relaxed and fun company. I am sure he has a very bright future.
We had initially planned to do the course in Greece but Croatia proved a beautiful and ideal location and if you are there in June listen out for the nightingales as you rest at anchor in the a beautiful bay and watch the sun go down.”

“Huge thanks to Amy Smith for the fun and professional course with Sunsail Agana ! Amy is a very talented and thorough instructor. Her calm and patient approach certainly helped to get all Comp Crew and Skippers Ticket candidates across the line ! Thank you Amy ! You are a gem 😊”

“I took part in a day skipper course last week having previously completed the competent crew course in June at the same place. I travelled solo and was joined on the course by one couple and another solo traveller along with our instructor, Michael. There were two of us doing the DS course and two doing the CC course. I arrived at Marina Agana on Saturday pm and after meeting my instructor and the other solo traveller we boarded our 47 ft yacht, Anegada which had 4 cabins and 4 heads (bathrooms). The course started on Sunday am with a detailed health and safety and yacht briefing. We then sailed for 4 nights/5 days travelling to Drvenik Veli, Solta, Brac, Hvar and Split before returning to Marina. This included 4 hours night sailing as part of the course. The weather was variable but we had good wind most of the time and some testing conditions. The yacht was quite old c.10 years and was being retired (sold) from the fleet at the end of the season but it was a good yacht to learn on. Unfortunately the windlass for the anchor broke on our trip and had to be replaced by Sunsail’s maintenance team. This caused some delays to our schedule as we waited for them to come out to us and source the replacement etc. Michael kindly agreed to extend the course into Friday ( until c. 1:30pm) which was planned to be a ‘free’ day and his day off, to complete the syllabus.
The boat was well provisioned by Sunsail and Michael for the whole week for breakfasts, lunches and the night sail dinner. On other evenings we went ashore to eat in the local restaurants.
The DS course was full on with passage planning required on one or two evenings as well as the night sail until 1:30am. Despite the physical and mental challenge it was a great experience. I successfully completed 13 out of 14 modules and will return early next summer to complete my DS course and obtain some more practical yacht sailing experience as even if I had passed in full, I still feel I need more experience under the guidance of an instructor before chartering a yacht on my own. I can’t recommend Sunsail and my instructor Michael highly enough. They are excellent in everything they do. Michael is very sociable, is passionate about sailing and a great instructor. Patient, assertive when necessary”

“I took the Day Skipper course with Amy as our instructor. I cannot recommend the course and Amy highly enough. The course is very well organised, providing us with lots of practical experience in all sorts of weather in the best sailing spot in Europe. Most of all it was Amy who made the difference. She is not only very experienced, but also a highly talented teacher and leader. A+ experience overall.”