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A gap year sailing and windsurfing in Sydney
Having been on a number of sailing/windsurfing family holidays, I thought it would be good to improve my personal skills and get the instructor qualifications so that I could work at a holiday centre during the summer of my gap year, and in future uni holidays. So I signed up for the 12 week Sail/Windsurf Instructor Traineeship with Flying Fish, in Sydney. I got in touch with a couple of the people who were also on the course, so I met up with them on the flight over.
Life in Manly
Living in Manly was amazing – wonderful weather, fantastic shops, great beach, relaxed lifestyle, excellent nightlife. The first night there we went to the bar which would become our nightly haunt, to ‘get over our jetlag’ (yeah right).
The first six weeks were spent sailing in Topaz Magnos – we were worked hard, but it was intense and successful training, which improved my sailing loads. One day we went out in 30 knots of wind, and caned it up and down, kite up, crew on the wire, flat out – great fun. I passed my sailing instructor moderation with flying colours – I obviously perform well under pressure…!
Windsurfing
Moving on to windsurfing - where to start? It’s now my favourite hobby and I can’t get enough of it. Again, the course was intense, which meant a high improvement rate. One day I could hardly balance on the board with a 3.5 metre sail, the next I was planing across the bay, in the harness and footstraps. So much fun! Again, I passed the instructor assessment, so I’m now qualified to teach both sports.
Awesome group
The people on my course, and on all the other Fish courses in Sydney (yachting, diving, surfing), were awesome – a great group who provided endless entertainment, and some people who I hope to stay in touch in the future, and who I am now working with. We tended to all go out as one big group, having warmed up for the evening at home, playing ‘Beer Pong’, building human pyramids, having cake fights.
The Flying Fish socials were also always amusing – James Bond theme, Hawaiian, cocktails, barbecues, a real mixture. There were evenings spent singing karaoke, trolley racing, midnight swimming on famous Manly Beach or in a hotel fountain, at the Sydney Opera House Bar, even a mask party.
A lot of our stay was filmed by the Fish instructors who made us a great Top Gun/Reservoir Dogs themed DVD at the end of the course, including windsurfing, sailing and social footage.
Working in Minorca
I stayed in Australia for a two week holiday, went home for four days, and I am now working at Minorca Sailing for the summer, one of the top sailing and windsurfing holiday companies in the Mediterranean. It’s long hours, low pay and hard work, but the kit available to all us instructors is vast, the social life is good, and it’s great fun. I work about 10 hours a day, six days a week, teaching windsurfing and dinghy sailing to all age groups, but generally kids.
On my day off and during my free time I can use any of the boats or boards, so my personal sailing has improved loads. Like on the Fish course, all us instructors are about the same age (gap year or students) and all enjoy the same wind-related sports, so I’m having a blast.
Great people, cool stuff
My gap year’s been awesome, I can’t imagine not having taken a year out. It’s changed me as a person, making me so much more confident and giving me skills and hobbies that I wouldn’t have achieved if I’d gone straight to uni. I’ve met loads of great people, and done loads of cool stuff. I would definitely recommend the Flying Fish courses – everyone I met out in Aus was having a wicked time and it’s so great to be achieving qualifications while having a fantastic time.
The first six weeks were spent sailing in Topaz Magnos – we were worked hard, but it was intense and successful training, which improved my sailing loads. One day we went out in 30 knots of wind, and caned it up and down, kite up, crew on the wire, flat out – great fun. I passed my sailing instructor moderation with flying colours – I obviously perform well under pressure…! 
