Hitching up the sails

20 years ago Gail MacAllister hitchhiked across the Atlantic on a yacht – now she’s back home teaching TY students how to sail

AFTER READING the story of a wildchild, tamed only by the ocean waves on a sailing boat, Gail MacAllister made her decision. She sold her portion of a successful advertising agency in the UK and found a new home for the cats. Then, still in her early 20s, she hitchhiked across the Atlantic with a Japanese family who had given up everything to sail the world in a home-made junk rig.

It was the beginning of MacAllister’s passion for sailing. In 1999, this grá led her and husband Niall to park their camper van at the end of a lonely pier and set up the West Cork Sailing School in a dilapidated old shed. Since then, MacAllister has taught hundreds of Transition Year students. Several local schools have taken part in the centre’s five-day cruising course, with instruction provided in small groups of six to eight.

The West Cork Sailing School started with eight dinghies, no running water, and no heating. In 2001 the school moved into a purpose-built facility, complete with hot showers, toilets and heating. She insists that sailing is not an elitist sport, with the bulk of her transition year students at the centre coming from community or public schools. “Sailing is open to any age group,” she says. “You don’t have to own a boat; I proved that by hitching across the world with very little money, and we have a career course that provides guidance on a career at sea.”

Employment at sea might sound like a ropey prospect, but MacAllister believes that jobs are available. One of her former clients has just begun work on a 70-metre superyacht;another is working in Alaska on a cruiser.

“When I quit my job and decided to take up sailing on a full-time basis, nobody disapproved. They all said they’d love to pursue a dream like that. I hightailed it to France to get a bit of experience, then hitched my lift from Gran Canaria. I was seasick, so seasick, for the first week, but then became part of this ocean family – mum, dad, and three children – and learned so much. In the Caribbean I continued hitchhiking, but eventually I ran out of money and had to come home. I haven’t got around the world yet, but I’ll get there.”

MACALLISTER’S enthusiasm is mirrored by 16-year-olds Lucas Moran, Conor Corcoran and Coen Heslop, all students at St Mary’s College in Rathmines. They were attending a sailing course at the Irish National Sailing School (INSS) in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, which facilitates up to five transition year groups every day; one boy in particular was almost breathless with enthusiasm after his day on the waves.

“Irish sport is quite biased towards rugby, soccer, and GAA,” says Niall Martin, manager of the INSS. “With sailing, it’s not such a physical sport so everybody starts on a level playing field. It’s also more gender neutral.” The transition year girls of Muckross College echo this sentiment.

Leaving the INSS at the end of their sailing lesson, the students agree that sailing is ideal for both sexes, unlike some other sports. “It’s proven really relaxing,” says 15-year-old Emma O’Brien. “It’s something that most students wouldn’t think of taking up without transition year.”

Get on board

Courses at the Irish National Sailing School(INSS) cost €15 per student for a three-hour session, including all gear and facilities.

Phone: 01-2844195.

A five-day course at the West Cork Sailing and Powerboating Centrecosts around €220 per student, although prices vary.

Phone: 027-60132

Participants on the Tralee Bay Sailing School's transition year programme can opt for instruction in sailing and sea kayaking, with prices from €30 for a day's instruction.

Phone: 087-7606795