Before you Hire

Anyone whose membership allows them to sail at the Club may hire one of the Club’s dinghies.

Before you book a boat for the first time you need to ask your Class Captain or the RYA Training Centre Chief Instructor to authorise you to hire a Club boat. They will do this if you:

• have recently obtained a minimum of either the RYA Level 2 (adult) or RYA Stage 2 (junior) certificate.

• or have an older RYA certificate backed up by recent relevant sailing experience.

• or are sufficiently experienced to satisfy them of your competence, which may require a practical assessment.

The aim is to make sure you have the skills to keep yourself and others safe.

If you subsequently hire a class of boat that you have little experience of rigging or sailing then you must arrange in advance for the relevant Class Captain or Chief Instructor to help familiarise you with it. You should allow plenty of time for this – say an extra hour – and it is subject to their availability. Even better, join in with a class traing session where there will be lots of people on hand to help you get the on the water.

Hire Terms in Brief

Please read the Boat Hire Policy and make sure you meet its requirements before booking. In particular please note that:

• Boats must be under the control of a fully paid-up member of the Club otherwise the INSURANCE IS INVALIDATED.

• You are liable for the insurance excess charge.

• It is your responsibility to decide whether or not it is safe for you to sail in the prevailing weather conditions. Consider your skills, experieince and the type of boat you intend to sail. If in doubt, sit it out.

• Please co-ordinate with the Chief Instructor or Duty Officer to make sure someone is available to issue the boat key. Remember they may have other things to do so please do not assume they will be available if you just turn up at the Club.

• You need to provide your own buoyancy aid and appropriate clothing, including wetsuit/drysuit if needed.

Booking a Club Hire Boat

You can view availability, book boats, pay and cancel bookings by logging in to the FPSC Membership Portal. If you have lost your personal login details then you can request a reset from the Portal. You will not be able to see the Boat Hire booking menu if you have not been authorised to hire boats - see above!

Bookings are not complete until you have paid through Stripe. You must do this within an hour of booking a boat otherwise the booking will be automatically cancelled.

You will be emailed a reminder about your booking 2 days before you are due to sail.

You can cancel a booking and will be refunded the hire charge. Please note that you must cancel prior to midnight the day before for Morning and Full Day bookings; and prior to midday on the day for Afternoon and Evening bookings.