Sail Escapade's Wyndham Harbour Sailing School.

The Melbourne to Hobart Westcoaster is a blue water ocean racing classic of unusual challenge in which seamanship, navigation and tactical skills drive the race outcome. Skippers and crews face diverse conditions of sea state and tide uniquely associated with Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean plus wind conditions which normally include all points of sailing. It is a 432NM race at Cat 2.

Cruising on a yacht is a wonderful way to experience sailing. Join Escapade on the delivery back to Melbourne from Hobart, sailing up the east or west coast of Tasmania. We will depart Hobart on Thurs 3 Jan with the intention of arriving back in Melbourne on Mon 21 Jan (+/-1 day), depending on the weather. There will be an opportunity to step off/on about half way up the east/west coast of Tasmania. Cost: $100/day/pp. On receipt of $100 deposit, we will discuss the options that suit you!

If you loved your Try Sailing then its time for a more extensive 2-day beginners course. By the time you've completed the two days you will be feeling comfortable aboard a yacht and able to respond with confidence to basic sailing tasks.

You've finished "Start Sailing" and are starting to realise how much fun it can be then its time for something more challenging. These next two days will give you the chance to practice the basic crew skills from our Start Sailing course as well as begin to understand what else is involved in enjoying sailing including some new and interesting locations. Learn a bit about navigation, anchoring and living aboard plus a range of skills to make sailing a bit less mysterious.

The course provides a guide to the Long and Short Range Operator Certificate of Proficiency exam. A program of coaching, self study and pre-exam revision will help increase your knowledge and allow you to approach the examination with confidence. The training session is approximately 3.5hrs followed by a revision session and exam one week later. Your internationally recognised certificate is issued by the Australian Maritime College upon passing the exam and practical assessment.

The journey to Stanley is the traditional season–opening ocean race conducted by the ORCV. The 152 nautical mile race is held on the Melbourne Cup holiday weekend at the start of November. The passage across Bass Strait finishes in the town of Stanley which is dominated by a huge basalt head- land locally known as “The Nut”. This race is a qualifying race for both the West and East Coast ORCV races to Hobart and the Sydney Hobart race conducted by the CYCA.

Your chance to try your hand at sailing aboard one of our fully equipped yachts under the guidance of a qualified instructor. The Sail Escapade sailing school at Wyndham Harbour is ready to give you a taste of sailing in a safe and structured environment. Our instructor will take you on a 3 hour introductory lesson with all equipment provided. You'll get the chance to hoist sails, steer the boat and learn a bit about what makes sailing such fun. We have weekend and mid-week twilight sessions.

The course provides a guide to the Long and Short Range Operator Certificate of Proficiency exam. A program of coaching, self study and pre-exam revision will help increase your knowledge and allow you to approach the examination with confidence. The training session is approximately 3.5hrs followed by a revision session and exam one week later. Your internationally recognised certificate is issued by the Australian Maritime College upon passing the exam and practical assessment.

The Ocean Racing Club of Victoria (ORCV) has announced the development of an all new format for its 2018 Winter Series, to be held on the waters of Port Phillip Bay, commencing Sunday 3rd of June, 2018. As the proud organising club of the longest running winter series on the Bay, the ORCV conducted a review over the summer months, to ensure that it continues to provide an exciting format to meet the needs of the Port Phillip Bay keelboat fleet.

Well, you've done your Basic Navigation and Seamanship course, Essential navigation, or maybe it was called “Coastal navigation”? Whatever they called it, did you think that was all there was to it? Or were you left knowing you had some practice to do but there was plenty more to come? This is it, the next step, if you want to take on some new challenges and sail a bit further. New destinations, longer trips, maybe around into Western Port with its three metre tides?

Sail Escapade is supporting women in sailing by making our Columbia 22 yachts available for the Port Phillip women's series. Each of the Melbourne based clubs run a race event and we have up to eight places available on Rose of Wyndham and James of Wyndham.

Learn how to recognise the basic components of your diesel engine and how to check for the main causes of minor engine trouble. By the end of this course you should be able to locate the important components of the various systems on the engine and to carry out basic fault finding and rectification. This is a hands on course in a practical environment using marine diesel engines mounted on engine stands.

This course provides a comprehensive grounding in the basic knowledge required to take responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of a cruising yacht or power boat and her crew. Successful completion of this course will provide sufficient knowledge to allow the participant to participate in the RYA Day Skipper practical course.

For those who enjoyed their Try Sailing session and would like to do a little more this event involves a full day sailing. We'll have lunch along the way, depending on what the weather says we should do. During the day you'll experience some leisurely sailing and a few of the graces that make cruising under sail a great leisure time activity. Finish time for this session may vary depending on the enjoyment of the crew and accuracy of the weather forecast :)

So you thought you'd try sailing so you turned up at the local club and they put you on a boat for the twilight race. Quite likely your first impression will be "Why is everyone yelling at each other? Look there's plenty of room over there, why is no-one sailing over there?" Here is you chance to find out minus the yelling and crunch of fibreglass. Learn the basic rules and you'll probably be one up on your skipper!

This is a five day live aboard sailing course which leads to the RYA Competent Crew or Day Skipper certificate depending on your level. If you are not sure which level is best for you, please give me a call before you book.