PELICAN

All newcomers to the sport and to the Club are encouraged to complete a GISBS (Get into Small Boat Sailing) course run in the Club’s Sailing Academy Puffin Pacers.  This gives participants the opportunity to assess if they wish to continue sailing without any major financial committment at the outset.  Once this has been completed, they can then move into the Pelican Section training programme conducted by the Club coaches.

Second hand Pelicans sell for between $500 and $3,000 depending on their condition, age and hull type, i.e. wood or fibreglass.  Pelicans are advertised for sale on the Club’s Junior Notice Board. The cheaper, older wooden boats are perfectly adequate for the first two years of training , however new fibreglass hulls are available locally from an authorised Pelican Sailing Association builder and cost approximately $4,000 to complete.  The Club also has some Pelicans it hires to children for a restricted period whilst they consider the purchase of their own boat.    With a boat ready to go, children can  move straight into the Pelican Section training programme which is a comprehensive, structured programme, fully supervised by trained and certified coaches.  The programme takes non-sailors through a series of skill based stages, both theoretical and practical, until a satisfactory level of competence is achieved both from a sailing and safety aspect.  Training starts with on-the-beach theory, followed by practice on the river and encompasses the rules of racing and race tactics with each sailor being allowed to advance at their own pace into the three structuredtraining groups.  These are:

 
Bronze Fleet -