Garry Packer is Junior Training Coordinator at Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club. He qualified as a dinghy instructor in 1988 and volunteers his time to help run training at the club. He is typical of many club instructors, trying to strike a balance between teaching others and enjoying his own racing, in a limited amount of spare time. As is often the case, he manages to do neither as frequently as he would like.
We spoke to him about the course and how his background and experience prepared him for it.
What made you decide to take the SI course?
My motives were partly to improve my own knowledge and teaching skills, but also to allow me to be more active in organising training at my club. Instructing has its share of challenges and frustrations, but I really enjoy it and find it very rewarding.
How did you prepare for the course?
I downloaded the SI Workbook from the RYA website its a handbook with a set of exercises that has enabled the course to be reduced from five days to four. It was straightforward to complete and took a few hours each evening for about a week.
As an SI can do anything from organising a small group session exercise to running a large centre, the material in the workbook is necessarily diverse, covering topics from running sessions to risk assessment.
About three weeks before the course, I received a list of presentation topics and practical sessions. I was tasked with doing a five to ten minute presentation on the National Sailing Scheme no great problem. However, my practical task was an introduction to asymmetric spinnakers for instructors not ideal for a Lark sailor with only limited experience in an RS200!
Help was at hand in the form of the RYA/Shirley Robertson video Better Sailing. Also, coincidentally, a club member wanted some coaching in their Topper Magno, which was an ideal opportunity to get to grips with the asymmetric. Although we only had a couple of hours drifting in very little wind, I felt confident that I could impart the key points.
Who else was on the course?
Including me, there were eight of us on the course. We were a very mixed bunch. Some were part time instructors, while others worked full time at centres. I was the only one from a club background. The average age was around the mid twenties, but I was relieved to find I wasnt the oldest!
What did you do during the course?
On the first morning we were shown some model sessions by the coaches. This gave us a benchmark to work to and an insight into the essential elements of a good session afloat.
Each candidate then took it in turns to run and assist with sessions, which gave the coaches a chance to see our sailing and organisational abilities. A debrief followed each session.
Our evenings were spent discussing issues raised by the workbook, looking at risk assessment, giving our individual presentations and planning for the practical sessions with real students.
On days three and four our real students arrived in the form of a mixed ability group of outdoor activity students from a local college. The group was split to enable each SI candidate to run a half-day session with other instructors assisting. It was quite a challenge to organise interesting sessions to bring on the students sailing ability in an unfamiliar environment. As before, each session was debriefed by the coaches.
And what did you learn from all those debriefs?
1 Keep sessions short and simple (personally I need to talk less!)
2 Set clearly defined sailing areas
3 Be prepared to develop a session. Keep things moving along.
Now that youve qualified, how do you feel about the training process?
As a club sailor who may only run a few courses each year, I found it slightly daunting to settle into the routine. The learning curve was very steep and, with continuous assessment, the pressure never really stopped. But during the week my confidence grew as I learned where everything was and how it all ticked.
Fortunately, my lack of experience with asymmetric kites didnt disadvantage me at all, partly due to preparation and partly due to experience. However, it might have been a different story if we had been using more sophisticated boats like the RS400.
I had the opportunity to develop my own sailing, as well as gaining experience in managing larger groups than I am used to. My only criticism is that I think four days is too short some of the experiences were still sinking in on the drive home!
Overall it was an excellent four days.