The coronavirus pandemic forced a sudden change of plans for Kinsale Yacht Club’s day skipper course last March.
But after jumping in at the deep end and working out on the fly how to adapt the usual on-the-water lessons to the world of Zoom and remote learning, the club saw 12 participants graduate across two courses held in spring and autumn.
“As we progressed, the Zoom platform became more comfortable and the use of screen sharing, breakout rooms, etc helped to add interest and depth to the course,” says course tutor Victor Fusco.
KYC is now headed back online for the first RYA/Irish Sailing day skipper course of 2021, running for eight weeks on Monday and Thursday evenings from next Monday 18 January.
Once again Zoom will be the platform for the classroom-based course to develop skills for navigation within sight of land by day, covering key topics from chart work to meteorology.
The course fee is €355 for KYC members (€425 for non-members) and this includes all course notes, handbooks and a chart.
But those interested must act fast as the spring course is limited to eight participants to ensure everyone involved can get the most from the experience.
