It was summer 2015 and like millions of parents in this country, Mum was faced with the age old dilemma “what shall I do with the children for 6 weeks?” After many hours of searching the internet she asked me, “Do you fancy going sailing for the week?” Always willing to give anything new a try, I turned up on a cold, wet and windy summer’s day. This was my introduction to Fairlop Outdoor Activity Centre (FOAC). Despite the atrocious weather, I had a great day on the water, Mum admitted that she was worried I wouldn’t want to go back because of the weather. But this was just the start of my journey into sailing.

FOAC is part of the Fairlop Waters site which incorporates a golf course, rock climbing and a high ropes course and much more. The Outdoor Activity Centre runs sailing courses for various age groups, most of which are run in the school holidays – even some of the colder ones, as sailing is not just a fair weather sport (although that is what I thought when I started). The courses usually run from Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00, and are always really full on with not only tuition in sailing but a chance to try other paddle sports such as canoeing and kayaking and the now popular stand up paddle boarding. The cost of this for a week is approximately £150. Weekend sailing sessions are also run from the centre costing around £8-£10. If you prefer an oar to a sail there is also a paddle sports club that operates from the centre.  

On one of my recent visits I spoke to Geoff Philbey, one of the Centre Managers, as I wanted to find out a bit more about why and how Geoff got into sailing:

1) How did you get into Sailing and how old were you when you started? 

Sailing was offered as a games option at the end of YR 11. A friend of mine was keen to try it and asked me to go with him. I honestly was not interested but after a lot of nagging he wore me down and I reluctantly agreed. The first sessions were boring! However I had put my name down and decided to stick with it as other people dropped out of the group. That meant I got to know the instructors at the centre and also the teacher from school. I think it was the staff relationships that sort of hooked me as much as the sailing.

 

2) Did you start with Coastal Sailing or Lake Sailing? 

I started at and did most of my sailing at Banbury Reservoir in Chingford. 90 Acres, sort of elliptical in shape. It is raised and the south westerly winds had no obstructions for about 8 miles. So I learnt quickly how to deal with strong winds. North westerlies were a different beast as it whipped around all the local industrial buildings. Made it shifty as the devil.

 

3) How long have you been teaching sailing and what do you enjoy most about teaching?

I had received my A level results, which were none too brilliant, and I was mooching around the centre when the chief instructor of the one of the other organisations on site started chatting to me. Usual questions you ask a 19 year old, mainly “have you got a job lined up yet?” My response of “No but I’d better sort something or Mum’s got me working in a M & S warehouse” got him to say “would you like a job here?” of course I leapt at it!  He walked off puffing on his pipe muttering he would see what he could do. He managed to get a post created for me! That was 42 years ago and I have done no other field of work since.

 

4) What do I enjoy most?

There’s no easy answer to this. Ultimately I want to offer to everyone the same chances and experiences that I had and try to make sailing experiences as enjoyable as possible both at Fairlop and further afield.

 

Personally, for me FOAC proves that sailing is not only a sport for the more well off in our society, as I originally thought, but is open to anyone that wants to give it a try. In a country that is so dominated by football, where so many aspire to be the next David Beckham, it would be great to have more children aspiring to be the next Sir Ben Ainslie or Tracy Edwards MBE.

As I move on in my sailing journey, I want to start to take my sailing further by entering events with the help of the centre and hope to undertake the instructor’s course when I am old enough.  Hopefully I will also be able to pass on my enthusiasm and inspire a few young sailors. So next time you don’t know what to do over the holidays, take a visit to the centre, book a session and give it a go. It might just be what you have been looking for, I know I have never looked back.  

 

Daniel Gatty - Debden Park High School