About the Lyme Regis Sea School
Our Mission
Located in the heart of Dorset, we believe passionately in the life-changing experience that sailing can bring about in young people. We believe that sailing is not only an excellent sport demanding both physical and mental skills, but that it is also a platform for the development of life skills which go far beyond the ability to competently sail a boat. These skills include the ability to operate as a member of a team, to communicate effectively, and to provide the leadership needed to manage both resources and people.
Few activities provide the opportunity to develop these skills at such a young age and as the students progress through the various levels towards eventually becoming a Senior Instructor, the growth in self-confidence becomes evident. We hope that every student who passes through our program at LRSS has the opportunity to develop their sailing to this level.
The Sea School was set up in 1995 as a registered charity designated to teach young people and adults to sail. We believe that sailing is a life changing experience, and testament to this is the number of our students and staff who have gone on to successful careers in the maritime industry. Currently, the sea school has over thirty dinghies, five powerboats and over fifty instructors. We pride ourselves on the quality of tuition that we offer and are always seeking to expand as an organisation.
Management Team
The Sea School is administrated and managed by four key people. Find out more about each of them below:
Centre Principal - Simon Law
Qualifications:
Senior Dinghy Instructor
Race Coach Level 2
Advanced Dinghy and Multi Hull Instructor
Powerboat and Safety boat Instructor
First Aid instructor
SRC Assessor
Dinghy Chief Instructor - Phoebe Clark
Qualifications:
Senior Dinghy Instructor
Powerboat Chief Instructor - Chris Joyner
Qualifications:
Chief Powerboat Instructor, Safety boat Endorsed
Day Skipper – Sail
Chair of Trustees - Jo Law
Other trustees
Hilton Davies
Jim Thomas
Ray Waspe
Simon Pettit
Elliot Herbert
Senior Instructional Team
Every sailing course at LRSS is supervised in accordance with RYA Training Guidance – and often well beyond the guidance offered. We use a large team of Senior Dinghy Instructors, who have received high-level training, to operate all of our activities safely.
James Best
Lead Senior Dinghy Instructor
Josh Bolton
Senior Dinghy Instructor
SRC Assessor
Harry Newbery
Senior Dinghy Instructor
Advanced Dinghy Instructor
Powerboat Instructor
Saffie Clark
Senior Dinghy Instructor
Natasha Dower
Senior Dinghy Instructor
Powerboat and Safety Boat instructor
Molly Walden
Senior Dinghy Instructor
Powerboat Instructor
Edward Best
Senior Dinghy Instructor
Our training craft
We have a fleet of around thirty dinghies used for training. We take enormous pride in our fleet, and really believe that high-quality, high-spec training dinghies are key to a great customer experience. Therefore, we have a rolling program of replacement, meaning that no LRSS dinghy is over six years old – and most are 1-2 years old! We’d challenge you to find more than a handful of UK centres with such a new fleet. Learn more about the classes of dinghy below, and what we commonly use them for:
Laser Pico
Youth tuition – basic levels
Fusion
Youth tuition – improver levels
Adult tuition – improver levels
Laser Bahias
Youth tuition – advanced
Adult tuition – beginner
Fusion 2
Youth tuition – advanced
Adult tuition – advanced
Joining the team
The vast majority of our team is comprised of sailors who have learnt with us in Lyme Regis, although we do have the odd instructor who comes from further afield. One of the things we pride ourselves most on is our instructor development program. Each year, we spend thousands of pounds on instructor courses and internal training – a program which is open to every member of the team. We rarely take people on from outside of our home-grown team, but do welcome prospective enquiries. Learn more about our sailing roles below:
Lyme Regis Sailing Club
Lyme Regis Sailing Club provides the shore facilities for the Sea School sessions. You will find that the club members are very friendly and a pleasant informal atmosphere prevails at all times. We would certainly recommend that you join the club if you intend to continue sailing after the course.
Please note: Lyme Regis Sailing Club and Lyme Regis Sea School are separate organisations. You gain LRSS membership through your first purchase of an LRSS course. While you are on your course, you have access to LRSC facilities. However, if you wish to continue accessing these facilities, you must become a member of LRSC. LRSS membership does not grant you automatic membership to LRSC.