Team on The Sea – Ewa Stachurska, Back to Sailing Basics

Despite having worked in the yachting industry for over 15 years, and with extensive time at sea in many wonderful places of the world, I have never had a chance (or rather time!) to do the basics and learn dinghy sailing on my own. As a working mum of three little and very active kids, there has never been the right moment to take this amount of time for myself and undertake a professional certified course. So, back in 2021 when my family decided to stay in Hong Kong for the whole summer , I decided that the time was PERFECT… it was NOW or NEVER.

I signed up for Beginner’s Level 1 & 2 course at ABC’s Middle Island and had an amazing time with my new fellow sailors learning to sail on RS Zest and Quest. Despite that summer’s quieter than usual winds, we had some great times sailing and stronger winds graced all three weekends on the water. Since then I have taken many daily and weekend sailing lessons and training sessions on different dinghies including Olympic class Laser boats, with some challenging windy days and many capsizes involved. I hope to move to the next level soon as the classes have resumed again and I am crossing my fingers for the right dates that will work with my schedule! The satisfaction and pride of being able to handle myself even in these small dinghy boats is beyond imaginable and I encourage anyone to give it a try. Away from your phones, screens, city buzz (and, let’s say it… kids), these days on the sea are the best spent weekends with much fun and team work, but also self-discipline and a healthy drive to do better every time.

Meanwhile, having been lucky enough to meet so many new people during my days sailing, I have also had a chance to train on a bigger 10-crew sailing boat in Sai Kung, trying out various crew positions and even learn how to sail with a spinnaker, which was quite athletic but fun! They have been great times sailing with local crews and enjoying the spectacular settings of the Hong Kong Geopark.

Next stop: My first RHKYC Around the Island Race (Hong Kong’s biggest annual regatta) this November as part of bigger crew. It’s very exciting!