About Us

SailCork has been involved in watersports training and holidays for over 40 years in Cobh and on the south coast of Ireland and is run by Eddie English.The English family has been involved in seafaring in Cobh for 4 generations. Eddie has been teaching sailing since 1969 and is one of the most experienced instructors in the sport. He is an ISA/RYA sailing and powerboat trainer/examiner. Eddie is also a yachtmaster instructor/examiner and races dinghies and cruisers.

Why sail with us?

Eddie English leads a team of professional, dedicated instructors are carefully chosen for their sailing and powerboating ability as well as their patience, understanding and teaching skills. SailCork is approved by the Irish Sailing Association (ISA), the RYA and the Irish Tourist Board (Failte Ireland). SailCork offers a very comprehensive list of courses in Sailing, Powerboating, Navigation, VHF Radio, Sea Survival, Safety at Sea, First Aid at Sea etc. The courses are run in a friendly, professional and seamanlike manner.

Our Convenient Location

Our main Cork Harbour base is at East Ferry Marina Cobh with excellent facilities - good berths alongside, showers and changing rooms. This has to be the most tranquil setting for any marina in northern Europe. We have our offices in Cobh run by our customer services manager Jo English where we have invested in the most up to date office technology to improve the communication with our customers.

Our expert instruction and tuition

SailCork has always spearheaded development in marine training in Ireland.They were one of the original schools to introduce the National Dinghy Scheme to Ireland and pioneered the National Powerboat Scheme here. On the cruising front Eddie English brought in full international qualifications and is now one of the leading Yachtmaster Instructor/Examiners.

Our beautiful sailing area

Cork Harbour is an amazing location for watersports. It is the second largest natural harbour in the world (after Sydney Harbour in Australia). Sailing as a sport has been carried on in our sailing waters for 350 years - since the late 1600's - we are part of an amazing tradition. Cork City is located in the north western corner of the harbour and is located nearly 15 nautical miles (26k) from the open sea - the Atlantic Ocean. Cork is a very vibrant city and has excellent marina facilities.

Well-equipped Boats

Yachting: Holy Grounder is a Beneteau First 36.7 built and equipped to the highest specifications in 2002. The was re-equipped and upgraded for teaching in 2014. Powerboating: Excalibur 6.5m RIB 120 Mercruiser diesel with outdrive. Humber 5.0 RIB with 50hp Suzuki outboard. Narwhal 3.6 RIB tiller 15hp Suzuki outboard.

Staff and Instructors

Eddie English Chief Instructor

The English family has been involved in seafaring in Cobh for 5 generations. Eddie has been teaching sailing since 1969 and is one of the most experienced instructors in the sport. He is a Dinghy and Powerboat Senior Instructor and Trainer and has been training instructors for nearly 30 years. He is also a qualified scoolteacher and has lectured at college.

Eddie is also a yachtmaster instructor /examiner. He began his offshore experience in his early teens and has and races dinghies and cruisers. Besides sailing cats he sails on cruisers in competes in many major regattas and cruises thousands of miles each year.

Jo English Customer services manager

Jo has been sailing dinghies and cruisers since 2001. Jo has attended most of our courses over the last number of years and can give you a personal insight from the pupils point of view!

Shirley Scandrett Sales co-ordinator

Shirley looks after our customer enquiries and will help you to find the course that best suits your needs.

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Testimonial

St Patrick's weekend Competent Crew and Day Skipper Yachting courses

Absolutely brilliant weekend. Very, very windy, fantastic to sail nearly all the way into Cork City. The dinners were incredible, no shortage of food ! We managed to avoid every drop of rain, excellent weekend. Sam (helper)

Great Weekend and introduction to sailing. A lot learnt and great experience all round. Thanks. David

Absolutely brilliant weekend. Very, very windy, fantastic to sail nearly all the way into Cork City. The dinners were incredible, no shortage of food ! We managed to avoid every drop of rain, excellent weekend. Had a great weekend, enjoyed the instruction very informative looking forward to doing it again. Noel

Fantastic weekend out sailing in great weather and good company. Many aspects of sailing covered comprehensively. Have a lot more confidence in my own ability having completed the competent crew course. Thanks. Sean

Magnificent weekend, with the weather god having an eye on us, and sailing with amazing crew. Once again learned a whole lot, and discovered new places, learning new technics. Finally finished my day skipper. Thanks everybody, and special thanks to the crew. Jan

A thoroughly enjoyable learning experience, fantastic sailing, great company and teamwork, lots to learn and great food. Plus we beat England! Thanks to Eddie, Jo and all on board for a wonderful St Patrick’s weekend. We even got the weather. John.

Caribbean Sailing Adventure 2017

Eddie & Jo

Again you have surpassed all expectations even though I have done this trip before, it is a dream each time. Eddie’s local knowledge is as if he has lived there all his life. Seeing locals coming to the boat and welcoming Eddie back again is a very special experience. Jo’s hospitality aboard is 5 star and adds so much to the whole experience, long live SailCork !

Claire

Eddie, Taking this trip was initially about experiencing sailing. I thought it would be good to choose a memorable destination and SailCork certainly provided that opportunity !

Seeing our Skipper, Eddie plan, anticipate and co-ordinate our adventure was a rich learning experience. I like the idea of learning to do something the right way and being around Eddie gives me the confidence in that aspiration. Approaching a sailing trip with a sense of adventure in the way we did is to me an absolute pleasure. The sense of being looked after and minded at all stages of the trip by Jo was lovely. The atmosphere of friendship onboard was fantastic, better than I could ever have imagined.

Rosemarie

Hi Jo & Eddie,

I had a great weekend and I know the rest of the guys did too, it really was great fun and a great way to start the season. I’ll stick something on trip advisor when I get a quiet moment.

Thanks for organising the weather also, does Eddie get to claim “weather god” status on facebook now...? Food was also great and is a nice piece of competitive advantage for you.

In particular can I highlight how great Peter was, he was a great coach for the weekend which is so much different that “ acting as an instructor”. Please pass on my thanks to him.

Cheers,

Colin.

Dear Jo & Shirley
I just wanted to say that I had a fabulous weekend on the sailing course.
I was a complete beginner and I cannot believe how much progress I made in less than 48hrs.
Peter was a fantastic instructor and my fellow crew members were great company.
Jo - your gastronomic delights made the task of galley-slave a real treat and we each tried (in vain) to take credit for your efforts.
I have not stopped singing the praises of Sail-Cork since I disembarked yesterday and I know you will have at least one customer as a result.
Thank you both for your excellent service. The 'competent crew' manual has not arrived by post as yet but if/when it does I will return it to you as Jo gave me a copy on Friday.

Thanks again and continued success to you & your team.
best regards,

Deirdre CurranNUI Galway

‪‪Congratulations on the last 40yrs . Without your guidance and lessons years ago I would not have had the success I have in the marine industry.‬‬

Willie Lynch

There are a lot of us out there making a living from the sea who wouldn't be where we are today if it hadn't been for the outstanding seamanship and knowledge gleaned from Eddie and co. at Sailcork.

Mark Richards

Hi Eddie & Jo

I must say I thought the weekend sailing course to Baltimore was great and I enjoyed every minute of the whole experience. Great weather, sailing and good company.

Eddie was a great sailing instructor and fountain of knowledge on the whole trip from Cobh to Baltimore. The food was good, it was amazing what Ian did is a small galley.
I could highly recommend the course to anybody who wants to get the full sailing experience. I learned an awful lot by doing sailing tasks and listening to the theory (weather) during the course. I will have to book myself on for part 2 of the competent crew later in the year.

Many thanks

Gary HorganEHS

Hi folks , I just wanted to thank you all for making this course so enjoyable. Sean had a fantastic time and really appreciated the quality of instruction, the knowledge and experience of the instructors and above all the fun he had during the week.

I was also struck by the "extra" knowledge given to the participants when they were between tuition sessions, such as trip on Holy Grounder, Ribs etc. This added greatly to Sean's enjoyment of the course as they were constantly learning new skills. The fact that he come home every evening exhausted but happy with the days activities bare testament to how full you made their days.

Please pass on my thanks to all, and I am sure we will be in touch again!

Regards,

John Hudson

Peter is an excellent instructor and would love the chance to sail with him again sometime in the future. His knowledge and experience is very evident and he has a nice way about him. His instruction was top class and was very grateful to have had the chance to sail with him The rest of the crew were all very nice and we got on well together (even with the Kerryman!). Holygrounder is a fantastic boat, well equipped and comfortable. It was a perfect day for sailing on the Sunday and she really showed off her attributes. Jo, by the way the food was excellent also and I'm looking forward to your blog ...... Coming soon I'm told

John O’Sullivan

Jo,

It was fabulous weekend, a great time was had by all. Peter was a great instructor very patient and excellent at passing on his vast experience and knowledge. Thank you for the fantastic food very tasty! Can’t praise the weekend enough.

Best Regards

Martin

ICC Prep and test April 2015.

Many thanks for looking after us so well on our ICC prep and test.
It helped sharpen my boat handling, and remind me that I need to practice a lot
of core skills. The food was top class as well - I will be certainly be recommending
SailCork.

Tony O'Mahony.

Jo

Just a note to say thank you for a glorious June Bank Holiday Weekend. I really appreciate you fitting me in. I had a great time and will be back for more. Eddie asked us to send in our thoughts on the trip and how it went. Here’s my go at it.

I’ve just had a hugely enjoyable weekend aboard the Holy Grounder. Anchoring at midnight under the stars, slipping out to sea in early morning, rounding the Old Head so close you feel you could touch it. You have breakfast on deck imagining all the land lubbers still in their beds while you have already explored miles of coastline. Then there’s the huge excitement of sailing and learning the ropes (literally). Finding a secret cove to anchor in for lunch and developing a ferocious appetite for sausages. You feel like you have already lived several days in one. There’s the joking and camaraderie of an unlikely group of people - linked by a common interest - age and occupation irrelevant.

For me Eddie and the Sail Cork crew got the ingredients right. For a beginner there is the comfort of the full confidence you feel in the ability and experience of Eddie and his crew but at the same time you are not mollycoddled or pandered to - you have work to do too. There is an immense sense of satisfaction to be had from tasks mastered and learnt by doing. All the while flying along the Cork coast at speed. Eddie himself is generous with stories, anecdotes and personal experience and manages to be continually teaching without making you feel you are in class. He also takes into account important things like food and socialising on shore!

I would recommend everyone to try a weekend away with a difference. Trade the airports, taxis and hotel rooms for a trip with Sail Cork. If you don’t have a boat of your own and are not lucky enough to have a family tradition of sailing it is a fantastic way to discover how great it can be out on the water.

Eddie, Jo and all the team – thanks for a brilliant trip.

Una

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