RYA SAIL TRAINING - learn to sail with the RACYC

RYA Competent Crew and Day Skipper Courses

The Club is running RYA sailing courses, instructed by the Bosun. Courses run Monday to Friday but a group booking could be arranged more flexibly. The cost is £260, approximately half the price 'on the High St', and that includes Club membership for 12 months, publications, certificate, food, fuel and mooring.

Dates for 2023 to follow, but please do enquire as interest will generate courses.

Details on content and character of both courses, plus any pre-requisites, are given below.

RYA Competent Crew

The RYA Competent Crew practical sailing course teaches you the basics of sailing and all the skills you need to be an effective member of a yacht crew. It is a complete basic sailing course suitable for beginners or those with some sailing experience (perhaps in dinghies) who want to ensure a good foundation before the next level. You will learn how to steer the boat on a compass heading and ‘on the wind’, how to set and trim sails, operate winches, how to prepare a boat to enter and leave harbour, how to pick up moorings and anchor, and of course all the ropework and knots. You will live aboard the boat with the instructor and 3 or 4 other students/crew.

Each day will involve a mixture of short passages from port to port and intensive exercises. We will be in harbour or anchorage every night but on one evening you will get a few hours experience of night sailing. The courses are always great fun. All meals are provided aboard but there will be opportunities to go ashore during some evenings.

RYA Day Skipper

The RYA Day Skipper sailing course covers all aspects of skippering a modern cruising yacht, including boat handling, navigation, pilotage and seamanship skills. You will skipper a short passage during your Day Skipper course under the watchful eye of your instructor and gain the experience and confidence to allow you to skipper a cruising yacht in familiar waters by day. It is recommended that you've already logged over 100NM and have an understanding of basic navigation before booking yourself on the Day Skipper course. This RYA Day Skipper course lasts for 5 days and can be completed over the course of 5 consecutive days.

The RYA Day Skipper practical course is ideal for sailors who are at good Competent Crew level and have either completed their Day Skipper theory or have sufficient knowledge of sailing at that level. The course will give you the confidence to skipper a medium size cruising yacht in known waters, by day and in good weather. It will show the best way to tackle tricky berthing situations and how to get the best out of your crew and yacht.
 

During your course you will visit various marinas and anchorages in an around the Solent. All the marinas have excellent facilities and most have free WiFi. You will also have an opportunity to "Skipper" a short passage during your RYA Day Skipper course.

We appreciate you may need a refresher on some things and you should be able to do the following:

• Prepare a boat for mooring (cleats, knots and mooring lines)
• Handle sails and trimming (hoist and lower, use of winches)
• Helming on all points of sail and steer a compass course
• You should also have a working knowledge of chartwork, rules of the road, buoyage, lights and shapes.

RYA Day Skipper Syllabus - what you will learn on the course:

• Boat handling under power and sail
• Mooring buoys and anchoring
• Emergency situations
• Maintenance
• Meteorology
• Pilotage (by day and night)
• Navigation
• Passage planning and passage making
• Crew management

General Information

What's included:

• All Meals, snacks & drinks on board.
• Berthing fees
• Use of foul weather gear
• Accommodation on board including comfy pillows

Our RYA courses are all inclusive and include accommodation and all meals eaten on board. Our varied menus cater for most tastes and special dietary requirements. We do not charge any extra for marina fees or fuel. We visit various marinas where you will find good quality washing and shower facilities, and most have free WiFi too. Good quality Henry Lloyd foul weather gear is provided free of charge if needed to ensure you stay warm and dry.