The Learn to Sail Keelboats is a hands on course that introduces people to sailing on keelboats. No experience is necessary. We will teach you all of the principles needed for your journey to become a great sailor. You just need to be over 16 years old!
On successful completion of the course participants will be awarded a Yachting NZ Level 1 Introductory Keelboat Sailing Certificate. From here we can help get you involved in club sailing to add to your skills and experience as well as offering you follow on courses such as Racing Crew and Cruising Crew.
The course covers the following topics:
- essential safety skills
- boat parts, rigging & boat terminology
- knots and rope work
- all crew positions including helming
- tacking, gybing and sail setting
- reefing
- man overboard drills.
The course is 28 hours long and involves both classroom and on-the-water elements. Courses run in a variety of formats – 4 consecutive weekend days, 4 day block courses (usually over public holidays) or evening courses two nights a week for five weeks.
Upcoming courses
Intro 647 – Saturdays & Sundays: December 14th, 15th, 21st, 22nd. 9am-4pm each day. $775. Fully booked. Please email ocean@rpnyc.org.nz to be added to the waitlist.
Intro 648 (Xmas Block): Friday – Monday: December 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th. 9am-4pm each day. $775. Fully booked. Please email ocean@rpnyc.org.nz to be added to the waitlist.
2025
Intro 649 – Thursday – Sunday (New Years Block): January 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th. 9am-4pm each day. $775. One seat remaining. Potential to add a second boat with sufficient interest.
Intro 650 (midweek) – Tuesdays & Thursdays (except Waitangi Day): January 21st, 23rd, 28th, 30th & February 4th, Wednesday 5th, 11th, 13th. 5:30pm-8:30pm each day. $775. Four seats remaining.
Intro 651 – Sundays: January 26th & February 2nd, 9th, 16th. 9am-4pm each day. $775. Fully booked. Please email ocean@rpnyc.org.nz to be added to the waitlist.
Intro 652 – Saturdays: February 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd. 9am-4pm each day. $775. Eleven seats remaining. (2-boat course).
Intro 653 (midweek) – Tuesdays & Thursdays: March 4th, 6th, 11th, 13th, 18th, 20th, 25th, 27th. 5:30pm-8:30pm each day. $775. Five seats remaining.
Mid Week courses – if you are interested in doing a course on a weekday email us ocean@rpnyc.org.nz. These are run based on demand and availability of participants.
To book, please select the course start date and number of people attending from the book now box on this page. If you need help check out our booking help. Please note all courses are subject to minimum booking numbers to run.
If these course times don’t suit please email ocean@rpnyc.org.nz to be notified when new courses are scheduled. Note additional courses may be scheduled based on demand.
What to wear
This is a hands on course that spends lots of time on the water. For going out on the water dress warmly, even in summer. A wool or polypropylene base layer is a good idea, with at least one more warm layer on top. We provide you with a good quality set of wet weather gear (pants and jacket) along with a lifejacket. A hat and sunglasses are also a good idea. Make sure that you have a strap or similar so that you don’t lose these overboard!
Weather information
We are subject to the joys and challenges of Wellington’s wind and weather. Course components are flexible and instructors will use their best judgement to adjust the course components to suit the weather. If the weather is unsuitable for sailing, often we can get ahead on some of the classroom based sessions. On rare occasions where we have sustained bad weather we may have to reschedule a session.
