All activities / Sailing / Enkhuizen
Sailing in Enkhuizen
A Golden Age harbour town on the west shore of the IJsselmeer in North Holland, once one of the ports of the Dutch East India Company and now a sailing centre. Its old harbours, the Zuiderzee Museum and the sheltered inland sea make it a natural base for learning to sail and for the historic flat-bottomed fleet.
Why here
Enkhuizen sits on the IJsselmeer, the great freshwater inland sea walled off from the North Sea by the Afsluitdijk in 1932, and there is no better place in the country to learn to sail. The water is enclosed and shallow, so there is no tide and no serious swell, but it is open enough to give real wind, real distance and a proper horizon, which is exactly what a beginner needs and what makes it a lifelong Dutch sailing ground. From the town's old harbours you can take a course on a small centreboard dinghy or step up to a cabin yacht and sleep aboard, working through the national CWO grades with an instructor, then reach across to Medemblik, Stavoren or the locks into the Wadden Sea. This is also the heartland of the brown fleet of restored historic sailing barges, so the same water carries absolute beginners and century-old klippers at once. For anyone who has always meant to learn, the combination of safe water, strong sailing culture and short distances is close to ideal.
Best months
The season runs from about April to October, with the warmest, steadiest sailing from June to September. The IJsselmeer has no tide, but it is shallow, so wind builds a short, sharp chop quickly and afternoons can pipe up; mornings are usually gentler. Courses are graded to the Dutch CWO system, from first dinghy handling to cabin-yacht cruising and the vaarbewijs boating licence. Spring and autumn sailing is cooler and needs proper layers. Locks at Enkhuizen and Kornwerderzand link the IJsselmeer to the Markermeer and the Wadden Sea.
Getting there & around
Enkhuizen is about an hour by direct train from Amsterdam, at the end of the line, with the harbours a short walk from the station. Sailing schools run day and multi-day dinghy and cabin-yacht courses; cabin courses include berths aboard, so pack for nights on the water. Bring warm, windproof and waterproof layers and non-marking soft-soled shoes whatever the season. Book courses ahead for July and August. The Zuiderzee Museum and the historic harbours are worth time ashore between sessions.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (2)
Happy Sailing
SchoolHappy Sailing teaches cabin-yacht sailing on the IJsselmeer to the Dutch CWO system, running CWO 1, 2 and 3 courses aboard keel sailboats where students live and sail together over several days. Its home ports are Medemblik and Hoorn, with a two-masted vessel also sailing from Medemblik and Enkhuizen, and its cruising grounds take in the IJsselmeer, Markermeer and Wadden Sea. Courses cover boat handling, navigation and seamanship from first-time sailor upward.
Zeilschool Zuiderzee
SchoolZeilschool Zuiderzee is a small sailing school running high-quality courses from Enkhuizen on the IJsselmeer, Markermeer and Wadden Sea. It was founded by Jochem Ploegmakers and Jaap Blok, both CWO examiners, and its instructors hold at least a CWO 4 grade. The school teaches beginners through advanced sailors, along with the vaarbewijs boating-licence and navigation theory, and deliberately keeps groups small, prizing the quality of teaching over volume so students can make mistakes safely.