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Home / Sailing Committee / Cruising / Open Sailing

Open Sailing

What is Open Sailing and Who is it For?

The RFYC Open Sailing programme is back for 2024 offering something for everyone. Open Sailing was originally envisaged as a way to invite non-members with a serious interest in sailing to visit the Club, meet some of its members, take a brief sail and get the opportunity to ask any questions they may have as a prelude to potentially making an application to join the club.

Open Sailing is now be a regular fixture in the Sailing Calendar for members that enjoy sailing in the 'loose company' of other boats from our fleet. On returning to the Club there is an opportunity for socialising in the clubhouse. In this way, Open Sailing compliments the longer-running Cruise in Company (CiC) that organises day-sails to local destinations. These usually take place at weekends on a monthly basis over the season. Open Sailing provides a mini taste of what Cruise in Company offers but on a smaller basis and on week-day evenings.

Additionally, Open Sailing helps our boat-owning members with unfilled crew rosters to meet non-boat-owning members looking for more opportunities to go sailing and vice-versa.

In 2024, Open Sailing invites its members to join the party, come on down to the Club on the scheduled dates and go sailing together. If you're a boat owning member with the possibility to take other members or non-members aboard, we'd especially love to hear from you. And if you're a non-boat owning member or indeed a non-member, we'd love to see you and to help you find your feet among our fleet!

Please see the appropriate section below for more details on what Open Sailing can offer you.

Finally, if after reading this page you need more information or help with anything you've seen here, please contact Stuart Fowler directly or via the office on 0131 552 8560.

... for non-members

First of all, welcome to the Royal Forth Yacht Club. If you're interested in sailing but haven't yet decided if it's your next favourite sport / passion / obsession then Open Sailing is the perfect way to find out what sailing might mean to you. It'll give you a chance to come down, experience the enjoyment of going for a brief sail on the Forth with one of our members, see the city from the perspective of the river and learn all about how we can help you to develop your budding interest in this wonderful activity.

Alternatively, if you already love sailing deeply and simply want to figure out if the Royal Forth Yacht Club is the place for you to continue pursuing this beloved pursuit, then Open Sailing gives you the chance to visit our Club, check out the facilities, get a sense of the community that exists among our membership and understand how we might jointly help each other with our shared appreciation for everything connected to this way of life.

In order to join one of the eight Open Sailing events that we have planned for the 2024 sailing season, we operate an online booking system. The ticket reservation is free but allows us to understand attendance numbers so that we can ensure enough members to manage the event properly, We limit capacity via our booking process to avoid disappointment.

If you want to attend an Open Sailing event as a non-member, please book an 'Open Sailing - Crew' ticket on the date you want to join us via our online calendar, or click the link below. Note that you will need to register some basic contact details in order to do so. We use these details to update you on arrangements and in the rare case we need to cancel, this is how we let you know.

IMPORTANT POINTS TO NOTE

There are some important points to bring to your attention before you reserve a place, as follows:

  • Open Sailing is open to non-members for the purposes of exploring the idea of potentially joining the Club.
  • We meet at the club at 17:45 or 18:15 on each of the seven Open Sailing event evenings with the intent to head out onto the water by 18:00 - 18:30 respectively.
  • After we come back off the water, we invite all those attending Open Sailing to join us in clubhouse to meet our members and ask any questions you may have about the Club.
  • The boats taking part in Open Sailing that invite guests aboard will typically have 1-3 spaces. We are therefore unable to accommodate large groups.
  • The recreation of boating involves numerous risks and we will require all non-member participants to sign a waiver on the night to acknowledge these risks and your acceptance of them before we take you out on the water.
  • It can be quite cold out on the water. We therefore recommend that all those attending an Open Sailing event dress warmly in clothing suitable for the environment, with water proof/repellent outer-layers and sensible flat-soled non-marking athletic or marine appropriate footwear.
  • If you have your own life-jacket or flotation device please bring it with you. Our skippers will be able to lend you a life-jacket if you do not have your own and you will be required to wear it at all times while out on the water.
  • Sailing is a weather dependent activity and we cannot therefore guarantee that the conditions on the selected dates will be such that sailing is possible. The decision on whether or not conditions are suitable for going out on the water is at the sole discretion of the skippers involved.
  • While out on the water, the skipper of the boat you are on is responsible for your safety and you must therefore follow their instruction at all times.


    ... for boat owning members

    The Royal Forth Yacht Club provides many services and facilities to its boat-owning members but sometimes to get the most out of our beloved vessels, we need a few extra pairs of hands from time to time to make our sailing activities a little easier to manage. In this regard, Open Sailing provides a great way for skippers to meet and spend time out on the water with other sailors who are looking for opportunities to go sailing and might just fit the bill.

    In addition to this, our Club is always looking to attract new members and one of the best ways to do this is by inviting non-members to spend some time with us, experience a brief taste of what sailing can offer via a short sail out on the water and to ask us all those questions that we all had when we respectively began our own sailing journeys.

    If you are a boat-owning member who would be willing to join one or more of our Open Sailing events and offer spaces aboard your vessel for the evening to guests we'd love to hear from you.

    IMPORTANT POINTS TO NOTE

    There are some important points that we must bring to your attention before you book a ticket to reserve a place for yourself as follows:

    • Open Sailing is open to boat-owning members for the purposes of enjoying a relaxed sail with other members of the Club and, where you are willing to take guests out on the water, to help others get a taste of the enjoyment of sailing with you.
    • We meet at the club at 17:45 or 18:15 on each of the seven Open Sailing event evenings with the intent to head out onto the water by 18:00 - 18:30 respectively.
    • After we come back off the water, we invite all those attending to join us in clubhouse to meet our members and ask any questions about the Club or to answer the questions you already know the answers to when posed by others!
    • It is the responsibility of the skipper to ensure the safety of their crew and passengers at all times and as such must provide adequate safety devices and ensure they are properly worn/deployed at all times. Your vessel must also carry adequate insurance cover.
    • Sailing is a weather dependent activity and we cannot therefore guarantee that the conditions on the selected dates will be such that sailing is possible. The decision on whether or not conditions are suitable for going out on the water is at the sole discretion of the skippers involved.

    If you don't have space aboard for guests or don't feel comfortable taking on the responsibility for taking guests out on the water, you're still completely welcome to join Open Sailing. The events are for you every bit as much as for everyone else but we won't ask you to book a ticket to attend since you're simply taking your own boat out with your own regular crew.

    If you do have space aboard for guests, then we would ask that you book an 'Open Sailing - Boat Owner' ticket on the date you want to join via the online calendar, or click the link below. Note that you will need to be logged into our website to do so.

    By booking a ticket, we will be able to track how many guests we can accommodate at each event and adjust the ticketing capacity for the 'Open Sailing - Crew' tickets accordingly.

      ... for non-boat owning members

      The Royal Forth Yacht Club has much to offer its non-boat-owning members but we have learned over the years that sometimes our non-boat-owning members can benefit from just a little bit of match-making help in order to find the best opportunities for them to get out on the water and enjoy the sport they joined the club to pursue.

      To this end, Open Sailing is a fantastic opportunity for both our boat-owning and non-boat-owning members because it gives each party a relaxed and informal way to easily meet each other, spend some time going out sailing together for an evening and potentially forming some wonderful new friendships that will lead to future sailing opportunities.

      In order to join one of the seven Open Sailing events we have planned for the 2024 sailing season, we operate a booking process whereby we ask you to reserve a place. The ticket is free but allows us to understand how many people may be attending on each occasion so we can ensure we have enough members available to manage the event properly. We limit the capacity via our booking process to avoid disappointment.

      IMPORTANT POINTS TO NOTE

      There are some important points that we must bring to your attention before you book a ticket to reserve a place for yourself as follows:

      • Open Sailing is open to non-boat owning members for the purposes of enjoying a brief sailing activity and potentially finding future sailing opportunities by meeting some of our other members.
      • We meet at the club at 17:45 or 18:15 on each of the seven Open Sailing event evenings with the intent to head out onto the water by 18:00 - 18:30 respectively.
      • After we come back off the water, we invite all those attending to join us in clubhouse to meet our members and ask any questions about the Club or to answer the questions you already know the answers to when posed by others!
      • The boats taking part in Open Sailing that invite guests aboard will typically have 1-3 spaces. We are therefore unable to accommodate large groups.
      • Sailing is a weather dependent activity and we cannot therefore guarantee that the conditions on the selected dates will be such that sailing is possible. The decision on whether or not conditions are suitable for going out on the water is at the sole discretion of the skippers involved.
      • While out on the water, the skipper of the boat you are on is responsible for your safety and you must therefore follow their instruction at all times.

      We do ask that all our non-boat owning members that want to attend Open Sailing book an 'Open Sailing - Boat Owner' ticket on the date you want to join us via the online calendar, or click the link below. Note that you will need to be logged into our website to do so.

        Last updated 09:56 on 6 March 2024

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