Plan around the water
Keep local wind and tide information close to the session plan, so decisions start with the conditions that matter.
For sailing schools
Irish Sailing Notes brings the practical parts of a sailing school into one place, so instructors can spend less time chasing information and more time teaching on the water.
Built from the water up
I am James Cassidy, a sailing instructor, and I built Irish Sailing Notes around the practical problems instructors and schools deal with during real sessions. The aim is to make planning, teaching, and keeping useful records a little easier.
I will offer as much help as I can with setup and questions. This is an instructor-built project rather than a large support team, so response times and the amount of support available may be limited by my other teaching and work commitments.
Keep local wind and tide information close to the session plan, so decisions start with the conditions that matter.
Give the team a shared view of availability, boats, weekly plans, resources, and handover notes.
Record student notes and skills consistently, making it easier to see what each sailor should work on next.
Put the everyday information in one familiar workspace instead of spreading it across messages, notebooks, and spreadsheets.
A practical start
Going live happens in two halves: first you send a short request from this site, then the school account is set up for you on the platform side. You never need to touch a database or a settings panel — everything technical is done by James after your request arrives. Here is exactly what happens from the moment you submit the form.
Step 1
Use the school creation request page and fill in your name, email, the school's name, and a short message about how you currently run sessions. If you would like to earn commission by referring other sailors and schools to the platform, tick the affiliate partner option while you are there. The request lands directly with the site admin, along with an email notification so it is seen the same day.
Step 2
The request is reviewed, and you get a reply by email — usually with a couple of follow-up questions about your location, which courses you teach, and who your first instructors will be. This is also where we agree the smallest useful starting setup, so nobody is buried in configuration before the first session.
Step 3
On the platform side, your school record is created with its own identity in the shared workspace, including a latitude and longitude for your home sailing area and a tide station ID so weather and tide checks are correct from day one. You are then registered as the school's admin, which means you can approve instructor applications and manage your own team without needing to come back to us for every change.
Step 4
Once your account exists, sign in to the instructor workspace and your school will be available in the school selector. Colleagues can sign up themselves and apply to your school, or you can invite them directly — you approve the requests, so you stay in control of who sees your students.
Step 5
Import students from Checklick by searching your organisation, or add them manually at the right sailing level. Load your boats, set up weekly plan templates, and save the weather and tide spots your team actually checks before launching. None of this needs to be complete before you start — it grows around your first real sessions.
Step 6
Use the workspace for one normal week of sessions — weather checks in the morning, attendance and notes on the water, handovers at the end of the day. After that week it is easy to adjust the layout, templates, and responsibilities around what your school actually needs, and to ask for changes to your setup if something is missing.
Your first week
You do not need to move everything at once. Start with one real week and build from there.
Common questions
Sailing instructors and schools that want practical tools for students, sessions, weather, tides, and progress.
Yes. Search your Checklick organisation, check name matches, then link or create the student record.
James can help where possible, although support and response times are limited by other teaching and work commitments.