Broads Sailing Made Easy – Tim Whelpton

• Extract from Broads Sailing Made Easy

‘If you have made up your mind that you are going to be a really good sailor then there is no reason why you should not be one. You do not need to have a father who sailed many times round the world in square rigged ships or have spent a childhood with boats and salt behind your ears. It just so happened I did.

I had heard of sailing on the Norfolk Broads. I thought how flat, how dull. How wrong I was! If the Broads themselves had been made specifically for small boats, and people like us who want to sail them, I for one could not have bettered their design.

Sailing on the rivers teaches you very quickly to handle your boat accurately, and as they wind through Broadland the apparently changing wind keeps you on your toes. For your very first sail I would advise you to try one of the actual Broads – there’s much more room to manoeuvre and a soft reed bank if all doesn’t go to plan.

Sailing, and perhaps racing yachts is something that once started is near impossible to stop. Like all real sports there is always something more to learn.’

Tim Whelpton 1965

Copies of ‘Broads Sailing Made Easy’ by Tim Whelpton can be purchased from the Boatyard Office. A copy of this excellent little book can be also found onboard each of our yachts in the Skippers Pack for you to read during your stay with us – and hopefully pick up a few top tips from Tim.