Dorchester Sailing Club is a recognised RYA Training Centre offering a wide range of dinghy sailing courses under the internationally recognised National Sailing Scheme and Youth Sailing Scheme. RYA recognition is your assurance that our training is delivered safely and to a high standard, by suitably qualified instructors.
About Our Courses
Adult sailing courses
We offer friendly training in a relaxed atmosphere. We teach in small groups and start off with instructors in the boat with you for the first few sessions until you are ready to sail alone, and our are instructors appropriately qualified volunteers who will do their best to make the sessions enjoyable for everybody.
Adult basic Skills
At the moment we are only able to offer Adult training alongside our school holiday youth courses. These courses are open to members and parents of participants on the youth course only. Typically adults who have completed this course are able sail for pleasure and join in club races. This course is open to members and non members. Details of our currently planned courses can be found at the bottom of this page.
Adult advanced skills
We occasionally offer more advanced courses for those who wish to develop their skills further, including RYA Level 3, Start Racing, and Sailing with Spinnakers. Details of any advanced courses available at the moment can be found in the enrolment section at the bottom of this page.
Youth sailing courses
Our youth training has been incredibly popular in recent years, especially as our lake is an ideal environment for families. For younger children, depending on size, we teach in RS Tera dinghies. For those who are a bit older and bigger we have Topper, Pico and Feva dinghies available. Youth courses follow the RYA Youth Sailing scheme which is broken into 4 stages. Almost all youth sail training, including schools’ sailing, follows this syllabus and so young people who also sail at other centres can develop their skills in a logical fashion.
Sunday Courses
Our regular weekend training is only open to members and runs over 6 Sundays in the Spring and 6 in the Autumn. We run 2¼ hour sessions, dovetailing our activities with the main race programme and leisure sailing activities. We expect a parent, or other adult, to be on site during the training and we are happy for them to sail in another part of the lake while the training is going on. Details of our currently planned courses can be found at the bottom of this page.
School holiday courses
Open to members and non members and, unlike our weekend training, there is no requirement for a responsible adult to stay on site. More information about the current courses can be found on the Holiday Course Page. These courses typically sell out very quickly once they are announced. You can subscribe to our email list to receive specific information about future courses when it becomes available.
Power boat courses
We usually only provide powerboat training for members. The two-day RYA Power Boat Level 2 course provides the skills and background knowledge needed to drive a powerboat. It includes close quarters handling, high speed manoeuvres, man overboard recovery and collision regulations. As we are only able to teach on a small lake and unless you are only ever going to drive a powerboat it this environment most people would be better off taking the course at a coastal centre where you can experience tides and waves first hand. You can search for a suitable centre on the RYA website or we are happy to recommend the Andrew Simpson Sailing Centre in Weymouth.
Course Enrolment 2026
Adult Courses
We are currently only running adult sessions alongside our youth courses. Details are sent to members and the parents of participants on our youth courses when they are available. If we are able to run any more adult courses details will appear here and we will email everyone on our mailing list. Please join the list if you are interested.
Adult refreshers
We plan to run some adult refresher sessions in the Spring. Details will be sent to members as soon as we have them. Contact us if you are interested.
Youth Courses
We are planning youth sailing courses for members and non-members in the Easter and Summer holidays. Full details can be found on our school holiday training page as soon as they are available.
We are planning a series of Sunday morning sessions for young sailors after Easter for members. Details will be sent to members as soon as they are available.
Further courses
To be notified about future courses subscribe to our mailing list or for any other information about RYA training at DSC please contact the Training Centre Principal (see Contacts page).
Information for Students
Extra information for people planning to come on our courses can be downloaded below
