TSA members page

TYPICAL MEMBERS

The members of the Trail-Sail Association are not simple to describe. Some trail, launch and sail single handed, and perhaps an equal number of boats have a crew of two. Others arrive as a family group of up to four. (Perhaps bigger families would come if more berths were fitted into trail-sail yachts).

Some members are young, others have retired. About the only thing they all have in common, (apart from the obvious pleasure of simply sailing), is the enjoyment obtainable from being able to visit different cruising
grounds, rather than keep their boats in one single place, where even the most interesting of waters inevitably becomes boring.

About 30% of the boats on a typical cruise have crews of both genders.

Standing around, or sitting on each other's boats, whilst talking with each other is a very popular harbour/ marina activity, that consumes a lot of non-sailing time.

Few members live on the coast, as the advantages of keeping a boat at home (free mooring and ready access for maintenance etc) can be out- weighed by the much more expensive advantage of not having to launch and recover with every voyage.

Actually, with very little practice, launching is not such a problem as it might seem at first sight, mainly because members choose to buy boats and trailers that are designed to make it easy. Some have boats that can be converted from trail to sail in 20 minutes, and then launched in the dark. Others choose boats that take longer to rig and launch.

The 'economic stratification' that can be seen dividing the members of other clubs can not occur during a TSA cruise, as there is an upper limit to the size of boat that can be trailed. Nobody can have the biggest or best boat, and the sea treats all who use it with the same indifference.

Many TSA members have paper qualifications, such as those offered to people by the RYA*, after they complete a suitable study course for the exams. (Usualy done at night school through the winter. The courses cover navigation and safety at sea.) The decision to join a course seems to be taken after spending enough time sailing to realise that the time has come to learn the bits that the random lessons of experience have not yet covered.

A smaller number of members hold an International Certificate of Competence, needed when sailing in foreign waters. The ICC requires an ability to pass a practical examation, which can sometimes be taken at a convenient time during a TSA cruise - if a qualified examiner is also on the same cruise. Sailing is supposed to be fun - so RSA formalities are kept to a minimum, and nobody is required to have passed any level of exam before joining a TSA cruise.

It is up to each and every skipper to be his/her own examiner to decide
if both boat and crew are competent for any activity.

Everybody has to start somewhere, and if the activity is enjoyable, experience is often a better instructor than the best of teachers, once the basic theory of the activity is understood. It is clearly understood that anybody joining a TSA cruise does not rely on other members to make decisions for other people. However, swapping ideas, and comparing passage plans before departure is an ideal way to learn new techniques.

*Note : The RYA night school classes are remarkably popular, and the popularity amply justifies the RYA policy of 'Educate - Not Legislate'. Everybody who attends does so for their personal benefit, rather than learn the minimum needed to pass an exam to get a bit of paper that Neptune will never read. We all know that Neptune operates a system of constant examination that is more searching than any human examiner.

Because people take up trail-sailing after experiencing flotilla holidays or dinghy sailing, most of them are aware of the night school courses, and either intend to sign-on the next winter, or are already RYA qualified when they buy their first trail-sail boat.