A new one day training course in weather for sailors has been designed to sit alongside the Sea Survival, First Aid, Engine Maintenance, Radar and VHF/DSC courses. This is a new development in weather training, says Glyn Secker, founder of weather-to-sail.com.
The courses are designed to be accessible and affordable at £79. Particular attention is paid to micro-scale weather and to the practical application of knowledge. The primary objectives are to make a significant contribution to safety for all sailors, to enable sailors to catch up with new developments in the field or to brush up on their skills; and to help sailors maximise their use of weather and weather windows, explained Glyn.
“It is designed for all, including those taking RYA courses. The idea is that it will serve as a supplement to RYA training.” He has been encouraged by the interest already shown in the new courses.
“I have had an enquiry from a Yachtmaster Instructor, who stated that weather was his area of weakness. I had strong support for the idea from Roger Seymour, RYA Instructor Examiner, who I met at the Southampton Boat Show, and from all the RYA approved training schools at the Show.
“One person attending the first course is Yachtmaster Ocean qualified, and a number of other applicants and enquiries have stated that they have been looking for such a course for some time. I believe the course fills a gap in the field, although it is not yet an RYA approved course.”
The instructors are fully qualified Met.Office trained meteorologists from WeatherQuest, an independent organisation which was formed out of the Met.Office's Norwich branch when it was “rationalised” by the Met.Office.
WeatherQuest is based at the University Of East Anglia, where it is part of the School of Environmental Studies, providing graduate and post-graduate studies in Meteorology. WeatherQuest also supplies BBC East with forecasts and provides professional services to insurance companies and industry.
Glyn believes the course will help sailors to make the most of the huge range of weather information now available. “New technology masks the importance of personal skills in prediction,” he explains. “Forecasts sometimes differ, predicted progress of weather systems vary and selecting from the wealth of information is difficult. Technology can go wrong (usually at crucial times!) and no public forecasts predict all events at the micro-scale - the area in which most of us do our sailing.”
The first training course is to be held on Saturday October 28th, from 09.30 to 17.30 at the Cruising Association HQ at Limehouse Basin, London. Glyn expects to announce more dates, at the Cruising Association, and in the Solent area, in the near future.
The objectives of the course are
- To provide training of the highest quality
- To make a significant contribution to personal safety at sea
- To assist sailors in making the best use of weather and weather windows
- To study micro-scale weather as it affects small craft and passage planning
- To extend knowledge at all levels to Yachtmaster
- To update knowledge given the proliferation of sources of information
- To emphasise in particular wind and visibility prediction
- To emphasise the application of knowledge through practical exercises
The course covers:
- Principles of weather and weather systems
- Interpretation of synoptic charts and satellite imagery
- Clouds, other observable predictors and barometer reading
- Depressions - theory and in practice
- Anticyclones
- Effects of land on wind and weather
- Meteorological dangers
- Forecasts and micro-scale weather re. small craft and passage planning
- Prediction: weather conditions and sea states, wind and weather routing
- Sources of weather information
- Methodology and practical exercises
For more information visit www.weather-to-sail.com
and www.weatherquest.co.uk
The MainSail will be going to the course. Watch out for our report on what we learned, coming soon.
