Our History

Premier Sailing was founded in 1998 by Irish sailors Phil and Arabella Denvir. Their sailing history includes years of cruising and racing in Ireland and England. Both classic boat enthousiasts, they owned and restored boats like the famous Merle of Malham, and the 1900 classic cutter Rowena. In 1993 they moved to Malta and founded Malta Sailing School and the Malta Young Sailors Club, which is a thriving Optimist and Laser racing club for young sailors. In 1998 they moved to the USA to establish Premier Sailing at THE TIDES INN in Irvington.

Arabella races on the women’s match racing circuit and has been ranked in the ISAF World ranking list. With great regret we have to say that Philip Denvir passed away in July 2011. He is deeply missed by all of us, instructors, staff and customers alike.

The school continues in the same tradition which is to give high quality personalized instruction in a safe, friendly, and fun environment, and to encourage our students to pursue excellence.

Our instructors are chosen not just for their qualifications but also for their experience, their teaching manner and their general outlook on sailing. As a result of this we have a wonderful variety of personalities who are our instructors.


Premier Sailing P.O. Box 779 Irvington, VA 22480 | (804) 438-9300 | info@premiersailing.com

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