Sailing for Adults in Taitung: Four Afternoons of Learning and Tech-Free Bliss

Sailing isn't just for kids. This July, we welcomed four adults to Taitung Sailing School for a four-day sailing course on our lake. Three participants travelled from Taiwan's west coast to enjoy some time on the quieter, greener side of the island, while one joined us locally.

From Monday to Thursday, we spent three hours each afternoon on the water, combining sailing theory with hands-on practice. The group was bilingual, with a mix of English and Chinese first-language speakers, making the course a truly international learning experience.

Day One: Learning to Sail Solo

We started with the basics: learning the names and functions of the different parts of the boat in both English and Chinese. Then came the real challenge.

Each student learned how to rig an RS Zest dinghy independently before dragging their boat into the lake. From there, it was time to start figuring out how to make the boat move.

On the first day, students had to learn an impressive number of new skills simultaneously: steering with the rudder, adjusting the sail, catching the wind, tacking, moving their weight across the boat, and understanding how their body position affected the boat's balance.

Our instructors followed the students around the lake in a support boat, offering advice and encouragement while giving everyone plenty of space to figure things out independently. After nearly two hours of practice, we had just one capsize. Not bad for day one!

Two Hours Without a Phone

One of the unexpected highlights of the course was simply being disconnected. For two hours on the water, there were no phones, emails, notifications, or other distractions. The only things to think about were the movement of the boat, the position of the sails, the direction of the wind, and what your body was doing.

For adults who spend so much of their lives connected to screens and responsibilities, there was something incredibly peaceful about it. 

At the end of each session, we returned to shore, packed away the boats, and gathered around the blackboard for a review and Q&A. And then came one of the best parts: jumping into the lake. Kids at sailing camp usually treat the lake like an enormous swimming pool, jumping in, climbing out, and immediately jumping back in again.

The adults had a different strategy. We floated quietly in our life jackets, allowing our tired muscles to recover and enjoying watching the sun set from the water. Pure bliss. 

Day Two: Wind, Teamwork and the Jib

On the second day, we went deeper into understanding the wind. Students learned how wind direction affects the boat and how the sails need to be adjusted depending on where the wind is coming from. After some time in front of the blackboard, we headed down to the lake and introduced another challenge: the jib, or front sail.

This time, students sailed in pairs, with one person responsible for steering and the other managing the jib. This quickly became an excellent exercise in communication and teamwork, with the two people on each boat needing to constantly communicate, remember what they had learned about wind direction, and coordinate their movements. Sailing together meant that neither person could simply focus on their own task: the boat only worked when both people worked together.

Days Three and Four: Building Confidence

By the third and fourth days, students were back to sailing independently. With the basic movements becoming more familiar, the focus shifted towards building muscle memory, reading the wind, improving tacking technique, and controlling the boat more smoothly. Students also learned how to deliberately capsize and then right their RS Zest dinghies independently, a valuable skill for anyone learning to sail. 

There was something particularly special about these afternoons on the lake. Between sailing sessions, students could look up and see Crested Serpent Eagles calling and circling above the trees. Occasionally, a military aircraft would fly low overhead on its approach to the nearby airbase. The rest of the time, there was just the sound of the wind, the water, and the boats moving across the lake. 

Finishing With a Race

For the final afternoon, we added another challenge: a sailing race. After three days of learning and practice, students were suddenly thinking about starting lines, timing, positioning, and getting across the line as close to the starting signal as possible. It was competitive, but mostly just fun.

The race gave everyone an opportunity to put together everything they had learned during the week while experiencing another side of sailing. And, naturally, we finished the final afternoon where we had finished every other day: floating in the lake. This time, however, the adults celebrated the end of the course by floating around with drinks in hand.

There are definitely worse ways to finish a hot summer afternoon.

The Joy of Learning Something New

There is something special about learning a completely new physical skill as an adult. Once we finish school, opportunities to be a complete beginner become surprisingly rare. We become accustomed to knowing how to do things, being competent at our jobs, and navigating familiar routines.

Sailing gives you permission to start again. You have to learn how the boat responds, make mistakes, capsize occasionally, ask questions, try again, and gradually develop confidence. And somewhere along the way, you remember that the joy of discovery doesn't disappear when you grow up.

We would love to offer more adult sailing programs in Taitung in the future. We're currently exploring how to develop these courses further, including single and multi-day small-group experiences and corporate team-building programs.

If you would like to organise a private sailing experience for a group of friends, colleagues, or a larger team, get in touch with us through any of our social media channels. We'd love to find a way to get some of our bigger students out on the water!