Commodore Yachting

French milebuilding Cruise

We have a full programme of milebuilding trips and cruises this year with an exciting list of destinations including London, the Channel Islands, Cornwall, St Malo and the Brittany coast. Our next Cross Channel sailing trip is coming up at the end of this month leaving Gosport on Friday evening 26th March for an overnight sail to Cherbourg. This is a perfect opportunity for anyone wishing to take  Yachtmaster to gain experience of the Channel traffic separation shemes and build quality logged miles. In April we have what is becoming termed here on the marina ‘ Commodore Yachting annual Summer Holiday’. We will be taking our 4 cabin Bavaria 44 off on a four week trip around the Channel Islands and Brittany to combine a holiday cruise with some serious mile building and passage making. Sailing in some extremely challenging coastal waters, pilotage in and out of the many ports and harbours will provide the perfect training opportunities for anyone wishing to move on to Yachtmaster Coastal or Yachtmaster Offshore or to take the Coastal Skipper course completion certificate. Stops have been planned to enable people to sail for between 1 and 4 weeks leaving or joining at either Gosport, St Malo or Roscoff where there are regular ferry crossings to Portsmouth and Plymouth. For more information contact us.

Easter RYA Courses

We are running the RYA Day Skipper practical course over the Easter break making the most of the four day holiday and requiring only one day to be taken off work. The RYA Competent Crew course is run at the same time so you can expect a mix of experience and abilities on the boat ensuring that everyone receives training at their own level.  For those without Day Skipper Theory we can offer a 9 day combined Day Skipper course, the perfect fastrack sailing course to get you qualified this season. Contact us for further details.

Three Men in Another Boat

A milebuilding trip from London to Gosport has been planned for June after the success of a similar sailing trip which takes place each January when we take a one of our RYA sailing school yachts up to London for the London Boat Show.  After a running a winter mile builder for the last 6 years we have decided to add a summer cruise to the Commodore Yachting programme to include two five day legs and a weekend Thames cruise. This cruise is sutable for anyone wishing to gain the RYA Competent Crew qualification or to build miles before taking the Yachtmaster Preparation course. The trip is emulated on television tonight with the second episode of Three Men in Another Boat on Dave at 8PM. The programme features Griff Rhyss Jones and his crew of Dara O’Briain and Rory McGrath as they undertake a sailing trip from Tower Bridge to Cowes on the Isle of Wight on his classic sailing yacht Undina.

Further details of this and other milebuilding cruises can be found on our Milebuilding page.

Boat Handling Course

We are running a Solent Boat Handling Course on Monday 29th March to prepare skippers for their first sailing trip if the season over the Easter holiday. Before we moved to Commodore Corner at Gosport Marina our RYA Sailing School and Yacht Charter was based opposite the fuel pontoon on the edge of Portsmouth Harbour. Each weekend we would watch yachts coming in to refuel and were tempted to score skippers out of ten for their boat handling skills when approaching and leaving the pontoon. The most common scenario was husband on the helm shouting instructions to their wife on the foredeck often culminating in an instruction to take a leap of faith from the still moving yacht  three feet onto the pontoon with the bow line. All this could be avoided with a little help from a professional skipper with  tips for getting in and out of tight berths or in difficult conditions. The cost of the boat handling day is £99.00 including lunch and refreshments.

Competent Crew in The Solent

RYA Competent Crew courses in the Solent. Take this RYA Competent Crew course on one of our luxurious Bavaria yachts setting sail from Gosport marina only a few minutes from the sheltered waters of the Solent. This 5 day RYA  course will enable you to learn how to helm a yacht, trim the sails and handle all the lines when arriving in the marina. The emphasis is on having fun and building up confidence and skills to enable you to move on to Day Skipper Theory and Day Skipper Practical.

VHF Radio Course

VHF Radio, Day Skipper Theory and Diesel Engine Maintenance courses mean that it has been a busy week at Commodore Yachting. With the cold wind blowing outside winter is the perfect time to come down to our classroom at Gosport Marina and take some RYA shorebased courses. It is illegal to operate your VHF radio without a licence except in cases of emergency and so it is vital that skippers and crew attend this course. You are taught how to send a mayday, a DSC alert and all the correct procedures for radio use including GMDSS, enabling you to become a confident user both when calling the marina requesting a berth and when sending a distress alert.

Those students who attended our RYA Diesel Engine Maintenance Course last Saturday left at the end of the day far more confident in their ability to maintain a marine engine that before they took the course. During the RYA shorebased course they learned how to troubleshoot possible problems and minimise the chance of breakdowns and costly repair bills.

This weekend students have their heads buried in charts as they take the RYA Day Skipper Theory course. At the end of the 5 day course they will have sorted their latitude from their longitude and learnt how to plot fixes, work out a course to steer and figured out when how much water they will require to set an anchor in a chosen bay. The Day Skipper Theory course teaches essential navigation skills required before students can move onto the RYA Day Skipper Practical course. Our full course calender can be found by visiting our RYA Course Dates and Fees page www.commodore-yachting.com/rya-course-dates-and-fees

RYA Start Yachting

Start Yachting is the first course in the RYA cruising scheme and is aimed at complete beginners or anyone just wishing to get out on the water for a refresher. You will be accommodated on one of our comfortable  Bavarias complete with central heating  and our experienced instructor will be there to help you gain confidence  throughout the weekend. By the end of the Start Yachting weekend you will have steered at the helm, winched in the sails and tied the yacht up on the pontoon. The emphasis throughout the weekend is on having fun and the chances are you will want to come back and further your sailing experience.

Our next Start Yachting course is 27th and 28th February and costs just £179.00. For further details call us on 02392504443 or visit our dates and fees pagewww.commodore-yachting.com/rya-course-dates-and-fees

Milebuilding Trip

Milebuilding trips are an essential part of the RYA training programme even they are not actually run as RYA sailing courses. They offer the chance to get out on the water, experience offshore sailing and put into practice both navigation and practical sailing skills. Our mile building cruises take place on one of our modern Bavaria yachts with an experienced RYA instructor on board and all start from our base on the edge of the Solent at Gosport Marina. You will have the chance to undertake a 60 mile skippered passage, build up experience or just relax and enjoy sailing to new places. This years programme includes and Cross Channel trip in March, a cruise to the Channel Islands and around the coast of Brittany in April and May and a trip up to London In June. We are also repeating our highly successful South Coast Cruise over the late May Bank holiday with the chance to visit the beautiful Isles of Scilly. Further information can be found on our website www.commodore-yachting.com/milebuildingor by calling our office on 02392504443

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RYA Day Skipper Course

RYA Day Skipper is the qualification you need for yacht charter in the UK and abroad. It is internationally recognised as the benchmark standard with the RYA syllabus covering all the skills and techniques required to skipper a yacht. Commodore Yachting are a RYA recognised sailing school based in Gosport Marina with easy access to the Solent. Day Skipper and Competent Crew courses are run all year round and as a London Boat Show special offer they are offering 10% discount off all RYA courses and yacht charter booked at the show.

Where in the World is this?

Win a free ticket to the London Boat Show by entering our ‘Where in the World’ Competition. RYA Sailing School,  Commodore Yachting are exhibiting on stand N67G, drop in an see us if you are visiting the show. Our staff will be there to discuss your Solent yacht charter and RYA sailing course requirements for 2010.