RYA Sailing courses

The RYA Yacht Cruising scheme provides courses and qualifications enabling you to progress from a complete novice, to captaining a vessel of up to 200 gross tonnes. At the top end, the scheme feeds in to the Marine Coastguard Authority (MCA) courses for professional seamen.

You can join the scheme at any point, though if you join mid way, it will be assumed that you have the knowledge and skills imparted in the lower courses. For the higher courses there are also minimum experience requirements.

The scheme courses are of two types, theory courses taken ashore, either in the classroom or on line, and practical courses taken afloat. The culminate in Yachtmaster qualifications. There are also a number of short courses covering topics such as VHF usage, First Aid, Diesel Maintenance and Sea Survival. Though some schools in the Med do offer shore based courses, these run infrequently – who wants to spend an air fare to sit in a classroom. So we’ll focus here mainly on the practical courses.

The practical courses draw on the theory course content. So for example, the Day Skipper Practical course uses information from the Day Skipper Theory course. You do not need to have taken the Theory exam before you take the Practical course. However, you must have knowledge of all aspects of the Theory course as you will need to use it and will be tested on it during the Practical course.

Of the five RYA practical courses, for most, the choice will come down to the Competent Crew or Day Skipper courses. The advantage with these is that students can be mixed on the same yacht so if members of the party are at different stages, some can take Competent Crew, others Day Skipper, whilst still sailing together.

There are some contraints to bear in mind:

• The Competent Crew course can be taken by people of any age, though some schools may point out that the very young will struggle with the sheer weight of ropes etc. Schools may also have a minimum age as they deem that young children can be hazardous and detrimental to the learning of others.
• The Day Skipper is limited to those over 16 years of age.
• The Day Skipper assumes knowledge of the material covered in the associated theory course If you arrive without these skills your chances of passing are severely reduced as there simply isn’t time to cover the theory and the practical aspects in the same week.
• Numbers are limited to 5 people per yacht plus the instructor. This is an RYA limit and is not negotiable.

RYA courses are offered by affiliated schools which may be offshoots of a yacht supplier or a UK based tour operator, or stand alone operations. Whatever their business footing, all have to comply with the RYA’s rigorous standards and pass annual inspections which cover not just the yachts but safety and administrative procedures. 

Instructors all have to be certified by the RYA though are employed by the schools, and it is the schools or the RYA, not the instructors that issue the certificates. This does limit the choice of yachts to those offered by the sailing schools. You can’t just hire a yacht from anywhere then employ an instructor yourself.

In the UK, the practical courses generally run over 5 days (Mon – Fri) or three weekends.  In the Mediterranean it is more usual for courses to be 6 days long (7 nights on board) which fits better with weekly charter flights and allows a bit of extra time to squeeze in some swim stops and general relaxation.

Courses operate two ways:

1. Sold by the berth or cabin, with up to 5 students per yacht, plus the  instructor.  Breakfast and lunch are usually included, with dinner taken ashore, unless you particularly want to cook on board.
2. By the boat, where you hire the yacht and instructor for yourself and up to 4 friends or family.  This has the advantage that you have the instructor to yourself and will know everyone else on board.  If there are more than five in your group you will need a second boat (the limit of 5 students is an RYA rule).
   Yachts have to be equipped to a certain standard that exceeds most normal charter specs, but some schools have organised themselves so you can have a choice of yachts from their fleet.  This can be useful if you want a second week without instructor on the same boat your learned on, or if you want a bigger (or smaller) yacht to better suit your party size.  Remember in picking your yacht that the instructor will need his own cabin.
   When booking by the boat you will be responsible for providing food, and for feeding the instructor, as on a skippered charter. You will usually be responsible for fuel and any mooring fees too.

RYA coverage in the Med is a bit patchy – after all it is a UK organisation.  For example, Spain and Greece have a number of RYA schools but there are very few in France where (not unreasonably) they prefer their own national body.

There are four recognised practical courses though a fifth is often advertised so is included here for completeness:

1. Start Yachting (2 days). This is a taster course intended to give you a chance to see if you like sailing (or cynics might argue, to enable sailing schools to sell empty spaces on yachts at weekends). I don’t know of anyone actively promoting these courses overseas. But if you wanted to see if sailing is for you before booking a holiday, why not do one in the UK. However, if you don’t take to it, sailing overseas may still be to your liking – it doesn’t rain as much and it’s a lot warmer!!
2. Competent Crew (5-6 days). Intended to take you to the point where you can crew for any competent skipper. Includes rope handling, knots, basic sail setting and helming (steering). No theory knowledge assumed so a good course for beginners.  You are assessed by your instructor. There is no minimum age, though younger children are likely to struggle with the physicality of some tasks. Otherwise, it’s very straightforward and rarely needs the full time allowed.
3. Day Skipper (5-6 days).  This aims to equip you to skipper a small yacht in familiar waters in daylight but is also accepted in most places as the minimum requirement to charter a yacht you will be skippering yourself, be it a Bareboat or on Flotilla, (but read the section on Skills and Qualifications for more details). Many who have spent a few days afloat are tempted to start with this course but be aware that you need theory knowledge to the level covered by the Day Skipper theory course – there isn’t time for the instructor to cover this in the practical course. The suggested minimum pre course experience is 5 days at sea, 100 miles and 4 night hours, co-incidentally, the same as the school is required to cover during the course! You are assessed by your instructor. The minimum age for this course is 16.
4. Coastal Skipper (5-6days). After this course you should be able to skipper coastal passages by day and night, and be prepared for the Yachtmaster Coastal exam. The exam is not included in the course but is usually tacked on the end in the UK.  The suggested minimum experience for the course (the exam is different – see below) is 15 days including 2 as skipper, 300 miles, and 8 night hours. A course completion certificate is issued, whether or not you take the exam.
5. Yachtmaster (5 days). This is not a recognised RYA course but many schools offer it as a preparation for the Yachtmaster Offshore exam.

The main courses offered in the holiday market are the Competent Crew and Day Skipper, with candidates often mixed on the same yacht. Coastal and Yachtmaster courses are less common overseas, because of issues associated with the exams (see below) which are the main reason most people take these courses.

Courses are often run over 6 days rather than the 5 days that is more common in the UK.  This allows more time for relaxation.  So although you do need to get through the whole syllabus, the courses are not intensive and in the wonderful climate, it’s a very pleasant way to learn.

Practical Exams

Competent Crew and Day Skipper courses are assessed by the instructor – there is no separate exam. Assessments taken by RYA Examiners are:

1. Yachtmaster Coastal. Pre-requisites are 30 days including 2 as skipper, 800 miles and 12 night hours.  Also VHF and First Aid certificates.
2. Yachtmaster Offshore.  Pre-requisites are 50 days including 5 as skipper, 2500 miles, 5 passages over 60 miles including 2 as skipper and 2 overnight.  Also VHF and First Aid certificates.
3. Yachtmaster Ocean. Pre-requisite is an ocean passage as skipper.

The RYA levy a charge for the exam, in addition to charges that the school may make for the use of the yacht and for getting the examiner there.

In many areas outside the UK, there are no RYA Examiners close at hand. This deters many from taking these courses whilst on holiday as the cost of flying an examiner out from the UK can be prohibitive.  They are also rather intensive courses for a holiday. 

The RYA theory courses focus on navigation, though also cover topics such as weather and rules of the road (sea). The four courses, in order of  increasing complexity are:

1. Essential Navigation and Seamanship. This is the beginners introductory course, very much a taster.
2. Day Skipper. This covers the theory needed for the practical course of the same name.  Most people start with this course.
3. Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore.This covers the more advanced techniques needed for the Coastal Skipper practical course and its associated Yachtmaster Coastal exam (previously the Coastal Skipper exam).
4. Yachtmaster Ocean. A study of astro navigation. With the advent of GPS, I suspect the numbers taking this course are now rather low.

The courses are examined at the end though emphasis is placed on trying to get you through so it is not unknown for examiners to assist during the exams. However, there are more hard and fast parameters for the rules of the road section!

The most popular course is the Day Skipper as it provides the theoretical knowledge to back the Day Skipper practical, which is itself the ticket you need to charter!

Few overseas schools offer theory courses in summer – demand is limited and most of the staff are too busy running practical courses at that time.  That said, schools are businesses and if there is a group of you wanting a course they may be prepared to lay one on.

Otherwise, if you want a theory course you have three options:

• Details of all schools offering these courses (including UK schools) can be found on the RYA website.  Courses are usually run over a week.
• If you can’t make it to a school, or prefer studying on your own, on line courses are available, both free and paid for correspondence style courses.
• If you are not bothered about the certificate and just want the knowledge, there are a number of good books available.  If you grasped simple vectors, interpolation and basic maths at school you should find it pretty straightforward, if not there are graphical solutions to avoid these!

Remember, you do not need the theory certificates to take the practical courses, only the knowledge. But however you plan to gain that knowledge, if you are thinking of taking a Day Skipper practical course in the summer, then the sooner you sort out your theory, the better.

The International Certificate of Competence (ICC), or to give it it’s proper name, The International Certificate for Operators of Pleasure Craft, arose from a UN European Committee. Not all European nations have signed up to issue it, though often yacht suppliers in places that haven’t, like Greece, will happily recognise it!

There are two ways to get an ICC:

1. Take an assessment
2. It is issued without assessment to holders of RYA Practical certificates from Day Skipper upwards. This service if free to RYA members, otherwise there is a charge of about £50.

There are two limitations of the ICC compared to RYA certificates:

• They are time limited, needing to be renewed every 5 years
• There are restrictions on eligibility based on nationality and country of residence

However, there are a couple of advantages:

• If you want to get skippering quickly, the ICC is an easier qualification that the Day Skipper
• Most charter companies in Greece will no longer accept the Day Skipper but will accept the ICC

I offer courses in Greece, Turkey, Croatia and the UK. Those in Greece and one of the options in Croatia are with schools run by flotilla operators. With these, there is the chance to sail with the flotilla.

The courses in Greece run from Poros in the Peloponnese, and from Lefkas in the Ionian. The flotilla based school in Croatia is based in Split. They offer:

• RYA Competent Crew and Day Skipper Practical courses.
• Coastal Skipper preparation
• ICC training and assessments
• Milebuilder trips (no certificate)

These are available on Tuition Yachts, where you book by the cabin, or as whole yacht courses where you book the whole yacht and an instructor. You are not guaranteed to spend the whole week with the flotillas as the instruction must take priority.

Sailing from Sibenik in Croatia I can offer the same courses but without flotilla participation and on a whole yacht basis only

In Turkey the same courses are available, without flotilla participation but on a Tuition Yacht or whole yacht basis.

In the UK, sailing from Southampton there’s a choice of:

• RYA Competent Crew and Day Skipper Practical courses.
• Coastal and Yachtmaster preparation and exam
• ICC training and assessments
• Milebuilder trips (no certificate)
• Rusty skipper courses (no certificate) for those wanting a refresher

These are available on a Tuition yacht or whole yacht basis (there are some limits on the permutations of courses that are possible on a single yacht).

You can see list prices for these course on the Sailing course prices page. However, special offers come in faster than I can add them to the website so if in doubt contact me to check the latest rates and availability.