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Many people have the chance to learn sailing at a young age, but I wasn’t one of them—even though I spent the first 30 years of my life living by the sea. This blog chronicles my adventure of buying an RS Toura sailboat with my son, Paul, and learning to sail from scratch on the River Thames and the starting of our quest to buy an A-Rater called Champagne and then learn to sail her.
Our journey is documented through a series of blog posts, packed with exciting pictures and videos that capture every step of our sailing experiences. Whether you’re new to sailing or looking to improve your skills, you’ll find valuable insights here.
As I work towards earning my RYA qualifications, I share practical advice on various sailing techniques.
Learn how to:
We’re proud members of the Upper Thames Sailing Club, where we regularly practice sailing, man the Safety boat, and support fellow sailors. Follow our blog to stay updated on our weekly sailing adventures and learn how you can improve your own sailing skills.
See the relay race and my Pirate crew.
Essential Boat Terms: 75 Key Terms
Every New Sailor Should Know
Video Moments Visiting a Willow
Creating a Model Boat to learn how to sail
Our first overtake in a race. We were on the over side of the river and still had the wind behind us and some speed as we crossed to the mark where the other boats were becalmed.
Join us on a thrilling adventure as we navigate the exhilarating challenges of rounding the windward mark!
The race course was a normal with the Windward mark upstream. The wind direction made it hard to determine if we were going up or down wind, meaning we were going from reach to reach.
We had unfortunately had to avoid a cruiser which caused us to hit the bank meaning we had to deploy the Oars and boat hook to get us off the bank.
Get a sailor's-eye view of the action with onboard cameras that put you right in the middle of the chaos and camaraderie.
Video Moments Visiting a Willow
Although my team and I look the part, only my youngest son has prior sailing experience. To turn our sailing aspirations into reality, we've joined the Upper Thames Sailing Club in Bourne End. Our goal? To learn to sail proficiently, so I can one day fulfil my dream of sailing—and perhaps owning—and being able to sail a Thames A-Rater.
My wife is equally enthusiastic about learning to sail. She has taken her RYA 1, Competent Crew and the Powerboat Level 2, following in the footsteps of our youngest son. He began his sailing journey as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award and continued honing his skills at university by joining the Thames Sailing Club. With his First Aid and Powerboat Level 1 and 2 , RYA Sailing Level 1 & 2 and Safety Boat qualifications under his belt, My eldest son Mark has his powerboat qualifications but enjoys running the races as OOD.
Join us on our journey as we learn to sail, improve our skills, and work towards achieving our sailing dreams on the River Thames.
Slowly I am improving. I have my RYA Level 1&2. This year I managed with my wife to get our competent crew qualification out in Croatia. I have my Powerboat qualifications and have a role in the club as a Duty Team Leader and as the Sailing Secretary. I am still working on my Safety Boat Qualification by helping run the Safety Boat each Wednesday Morning at the club.
I commence with the Start sailing Course
Champagne No.21 After years of learning to sail on the River Thames, I've taken on my biggest sailing challenge yet – buying my own Thames A-Rater. Meet Champagne No.21. Built in1993 from the mould of the famous A-Rater Ulva, Champagne has now arrived at Upper Thames Sailing Club, where she joins a remarkable fleet of Thames A-Raters including Tara, Spindrift, Carina, Kingfisher, Vanessa, Surf, Estelle and Dainty Too.
But there is one small problem...
I've never sailed an A-Rater before.
Many of the photographs and videos featured in our blog are captured from our dedicated camera boat, Whaly Coyote. This vessel is a Whaly 455R equipped with a Navy 3.0 Electric Engine and an E60 Battery, offering eco-friendly and silent operation.
With a 75 km range at low power and a cruising speed of 4 km/h, Whaly Coyote is perfect for extended filming sessions. Even at higher speeds of 15 km/h, we can cover up to 20 km on a single charge. Thanks to its solar-charged battery, we enjoy free motoring, allowing us to record our sailing adventures without disturbing the natural sound environment.
Whaly Coyote's virtually silent engine ensures that we capture high-quality audio while filming, making it an invaluable tool in documenting our journey on the River Thames.
Learning to Handle the Power boat
Part of the Duties of the Sailing Club is to do Duties Many members enrol on powerboat courses so they can safely drive the different powerboats and many are qualified safety boat crew, practicing righting capsized boats, rescuing a man overboard and recovering them into the boat and dealing if necessary with any injuries.
