Since they changed the rules at DOSC, I now need to find a cheaper way to get sailing experience.

I heard about the Jebel Ali Golf Resort having a sailboat rental facility, so I figured I’d try it out.

The company’s name is “Water Cooled”. They don’t have the Laser boats there, but the RS line. So I showed up and they let me pay $145/hr for a 2 hour session on an RS Quba. Sailing was fine on the Quba, in fact it feels very similar to a Laser Pico. Out on the water it was not overly exciting– I was more interested in just seeing what sailing in the resort’s private cove was like. Pretty weak. Looking out towards the sea from the shore, you see a long sand bar, which is about 1 km away from the shoreline. And from the launch point, if you head towards Abu Dhabi along the shore, you reach the end of the cove in about 15 minutes moving at a slow clip. Then if you turn around to head back the way you came, you end up looking at the Jebel Ali port’s terminus. So not a very scenic cruise. And they do not allow you to go into the open sea– probably a prudent move as I imagine there may be huge incoming vessels at any time coming in to port.

As for the sailing, I did a bit of experimenting in trying to catch the wind in seriously low wind conditions. Found out that when i let out the sail a bit, and tilt the boat away from me, that tilt sometimes allows you to fill in the sails a bit and get moving. So the day was not a total waste.

So all in all it’s a bit of a crappy venue, but if I really am aching to get in some sailing time, it is definitely an option.