RYA Cruising Scheme Sail

RYA Sail Yachting Scheme Courses

In most parts of the World you do not need a boating or yachting qualification to skipper your own yacht or to charter a yacht. Some countries like Greece do require that you have either an RYA Day Skipper Certificate or an International Certificate of Competence (ICC) )which you can get through a days assessment on the water by an RYA Cruising Instructor) to charter a cruising yacht in their country.

So why bother spending money and time on formal training, qualifications and certification beyond Day Skipper level?

In my early days as a novice sailor I spent a lot of time cruising many 1,000s of miles on sailing yachts with owner / skippers who had no formal training. Knowing what I know today and having had some very scary experiences with those individuals, would I ever do it again, the answer is most definitely NO.

The only proper way to find out the things you need to know to get things right is to get some proper training and proper experience over an extended period of time. This is where our YachtMaster Fast Track program comes in. Here you immerse yourself in a cruising lifestyle travelling with the yacht to where ever she may go. We show you the proper, RYA recommended acceptable safe ways of doing things in a time frame that doesn’t leave your head spinning.

Book week to week or confirm your place on the yacht by booking an extended stay, check out our itinary.

The RYA Start Yachting 2 day course does exactly what it says on the tin. It offers an introduction to spending time on a cruising sail yacht giving you a chance to get your bearings and perhaps gain some sea legs.

The RYA Competent Crew is an expanded 5 day live-aboard program that extends upon the 2 day Start Yachting Syllabus. By the end 5 days you should be able to step upon a sailing yacht and be a valuable part of the crew. Being able to helm the yacht and take commands to help safely maneuver the vessel as required.

What does RYA Day Skipper level mean? It means that you have spent 5 days on a yacht with a Cruising instructor and up to 5 other candidates. The instructor would have demonstrated each of the maneuvers outlined in Day Skipper Practical Syllabus. Tested and coached you with your Day Skipper Theory knowledge and let you have one or two attempts at each of the practical exercises. At the end of the week you should have some idea how to safely command a yacht in and out of ports, get to where you are going and drop the anchor in conditions up to around a Force 6.