And we were off. A small tug on the rope in my right hand, a rock of the hull underneath my feet and the gentle wind filled out the white sail above my head, sending the wooden boat skidding across the water somewhere in the direction of Holland.

It had taken just a few hours of straight-forward tuition for me, a true landlubber, to master the first steps of taking control of my own sea-going, wind-fuelled craft - and with the breeze at my back and sun shining on my face it felt fabulous.

The golden sands of the beach one mile south of Bridlington were glistening off to my right and I had to concentrate hard to keep the sail at the correct angle to keep us on course for the distant hills, somewhere further south.

Sailing is one of those beautifully simple pursuits, such as brewing or gardening, that takes a few basic and wholesome ingredients, wraps them together and given time and some gentle persuasion, creates a truly remarkable product.

There is something undeniably romantic about travelling by wind power, the lack of engine noise and unavoidable physical forces that control your passage leave you very much in the back seat, with Mother Nature taking the wheel.

Catherine and I had travelled to Bridlington for a day-long introduction to sailing with the Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club. The club has two bases in the town, a large clubhouse in the centre of the port where many keel boats sail from and a second outpost at the sandy Blyth Park where dinghies and other craft, including wind surfers and catamarans, are kept.

Bridlington-born Gordon Baines was our host and instructor. With more than a decade of watersports experience behind him, and many seasons of work at holiday resorts around Europe under his belt, we could not have been in better hands.

Gordon has been brought back to Bridlington to take the helm as chief instructor at the club and he fills his time showing groups of school children the ropes of life at sea on small craft.

There were no small children about when we visited, just two overgrown teenagers who weren't very good at knots, or working out which direction the wind was coming from for that matter.

It didn't matter, because Gordon, who looks like he's just stepped out of a bizarre north of England version of Baywatch, is more passionate about sailing than he is brown-skinned and blond-haired.

We went through the basics on dry land before taking to the shore to learn how to tie knots that had not been thought of since scouting days and generally rig the boat safely and securely, sails, rudder, ropes and all.

Then we took to the water and although it took just seconds for the boat to start moving, it took us little longer to work out how to make it go in the required direction through tacking and gybing, or turning the front or back of the boat through the wind.

As the day wore on we worked further and further up the coast and were becoming quite proficient at turning the boat without virtually capsizing every time as we tried to co-ordinate the direction change, swinging sail and new seating positions.

In fact by the afternoon we had grown confident enough to steer the boat closer to some other members of the club. This proved a mistake as Gordon promptly jumped ship on to another boat, leaving Catherine and I to our own devices and an argument about whether the small brown figure in the distance was shouting "tack" or "gybe".

Thankfully we worked it out for ourselves and although we missed out on an unscheduled trip to Holland, the sailing club did get its dinghy back in one piece.

Back on the shore, sailing club member Paul Wells said the club was working hard to attract new people to the sport. The club is particularly keen to give groups of youngsters the opportunity to explore this enormous blue playground on their back door.

Paul says: "It's like many things - if you don't know anyone who already does it then it is difficult to get involved yourself. That's a great shame because sailing is great fun, people tend to see new horizons once they are aboard."

Fact file

The Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club was established in 1847, has 650 members and offers a wide range of sailing activities and opportunities.

Tuition and training is available year-round under the Royal Yachting Association National Sailing Scheme.

To contact the club secretary, call 01262 672041 or look up the website www.ryyc.org.uk

Updated: 16:46 Friday, July 25, 2003