Pre-Sailors (<7 years)

Although sailors generally need to be 7 years old to take part in the RYA Learn to Sail courses, there are plenty of opportunities for younger sailors to take part in our ROTTERS program. The ROTTERS Pirate Award is aimed at younger siblings, introducing them to basic safety rules and sailing knowledge.

All main season ROTTERS sessions include a Taster Sail opportunity in one of the club training fleet double handers with an experienced helm. This allows sailors who have not yet started the Learn to Sail program, including our pre-sailors, to get out on the water regularly and to begin to learn how to steer (helm) a sailing boat.

Weather permitting, our older pre-sailors and novice juniors may also have the opportunity to try some supervised independent sailing in the jetty area using single handed boats from the club training fleet. This allows us to introduce sailors to some of the basic sailing skills, including tacking, that they will use in their Learn to Sail courses and means they can meet the requirements for the ROTTERS Beginner awards.

Some of our pre-sailors who attend multiple sessions may progress into the general Beginners group, moving out to sail in the main lake and working towards their ROTTERS Bronze awards. These children are often then advised to skip their RYA St1 course and move straight to RYA St2 with the agreement of training team!

Last updated 17:03 on 9 March 2026