Girls Go Sailing
Welcome to Girls Go Sailing
In 2018 we saw a great revival of our Girls Go Sailing scheme, which we have run intermittently for a few years. By making it a member led activity, we have seen increased numbers of women participating and welcome new members at any time throughout the year.
What do we do?
- Encourage women and girls to enjoy sailing activities safely within the Exe Sailing Club.
- Provide taster sessions in yachts, the Hawk, dinghies and power boats which will lead on to progression through the RYA courses.
- Encourage participation in shore-based theory sessions and offer knowledge and safety seminars through the winter and spring.
- Encourage social gatherings of women and girls and to have fun on and off the water.
Go to the Calendar for an up to date listing of the wide variety of club events.
If you would like to get in contact with the GGS group please contact the Club Professional for more information ggs@exe-sailing-club.org.
The team are a group of ladies who run and support the Girls Go Sailing come from varied sailing and non-sailing backgrounds, they are here to help you. To find out more, please go to our GGS team page.
News
Girls Go Sailing Cruise to Dartmouth | 16-17 May 2026
Six boats with female skippers and 25 women and girls crewing sailed to beautiful Dartmouth from Exe Sailing Club to enjoy the Music Festival on the weekend of 16th-17th May.
A brisk SW wind meant a beat from Exmouth in cold grey conditions. One boat, Zawadi sailed from Plymouth for the weekend to join us, which was brilliant.
Zawadi sailing round to the Dart from Plymouth.
All were safely tied up by early afternoon and drinks on board Exeat significantly lowered the waterline, before a lovely dinner in the Dartmouth YC. The upstairs room gives panoramic views of the R Dart and Kingsweir. Time to enjoy the music and the busy atmosphere in town.
Drinks on board Exeat
Sunday morning dawned with a light westerly breeze to take us home via Ansteys Cove to anchor for lunch. Great for those sailing back to the R Exe, but a long motor sail for Zawadi heading back to Plymouth. All boats were safely home to enter the R Exe on a rising tide.
Libby Griffiths looking comfortable up the mast on Goshawk.
Special congratulations to Sophie Coleman in the smallest boat, Hiva Oa, and to Goshawk and Nicola Hill for sending crew up the mast to broaden the experience(!), also to Mei Tan and Zawadi for their sail from Plymouth to Dartmouth.
All in all a great experience of weekend cruising along our beautiful coast. A big thank you to all our skippers for sharing their lovely boats and for the enthusiasm and charm of all the crew who joined us.
Exeat – Tink Dixon
Goshawk – Nicola Hill
Hiva Oa – Sophie Coleman
Indulgence – Jane Williams
Zawadi – Mei Tan and Jules E
Zephyr – Hazel Acland and Ruth Carter
Jane Williams
Indulgence
As part of the RYA Steering the Course week highlighting women in sailing, the Exe Sailing Club Girls Go Sailing group had a lovely write up – click here for the article.
To celebrate International Women’s Day 2024, this video highlights five inspiring female Olympic sailors over the last couple of centuries. It’s worth a look – click here to view it.
Winter 2025/2026 Seminars
We hope you have had a fun sailing season this year and have had happy times on the water. We now have some dates for your diary for the GGS winter programme:
- Friday 21 November 2025 | 7pm Preston Room | End of Season Review and Supper| Review of the Year hearing of members of GGS adventures over the summer of 2025 | 8pm Restaurant Area for Bring and Share Supper. Finger buffet of canapés, main course and puddings.
- Friday January 31st 2026 | 7pm Preston Room | Informal chat – Emily Wright adventures in 2025, time for questions and discussions.
- Friday 13 February 2026 | 7pm Preston Room | Informal chat – Tink and Crew on Exeat, cruising across the Bay of Biscay to the Spanish Rias and home.
- Friday 27 March 2026 | 7pm Preston Room | Informal chat – Karen Melling and Crew, Ocean Hound cruising from
Exmouth to Cardiff, Ireland and West Coast Scotland.
Hope to see you there.
If you would like more information or are interested in our previous seminars please go to our Girls Go Sailing Seminars page.
Getting Afloat
Cruisers
A very useful Beginners Guide to Cruising – specific to our club written by Tink.
Cruiser Training & Qualifications - Lots of opportunities to take part in RYA cruiser courses throughout summer on Zephyr with Karen Melling – go to Training for more details.
Dinghies
Dinghy Training & Qualifications
The Club also runs various RYA dinghy courses through the season, go to Training for more information.
Powerboat Training & Experience
If you are interested in improving power boat skills please sign up for Power Boat Level 2 training courses run by the Club throughout the summer. Go to the Training Section of the web site for more information.
Last updated 17:41 on 31 May 2026