RYA Day Skipper Practical

During your RYA Day Skipper Practical course you will cover practical navigation, pilotage, boat handling, seamanship, skippering techniques, customs and sailing etiquette and the all-important berthing in marinas. You will also potentially cover rafting alongside another vessel, which is common during high season.

All Students will live on board the yacht for the duration of the course. 

Fancy going VIP and having your own exclusive private course for you and your friends or family? You can book the whole yacht just for your own exclusive course from only £749 per person. Enjoy the course in style, with up to five people on the boat being taught by one of our friendly, experienced RYA Yachtmaster Instructors.

What a way to start your sailing adventure!

The RYA Day Skipper Practical Course Includes:

• Preparing the yacht for sea:
  • Engine checks
  • Sail & rigging checks
  • Securing and stowing all kit and equipment
  • Preparing mooring lines to depart the berth
  • Organising the crew to their respective roles
• Deck work
• Navigation
• Preparing and executing a pilotage plan for entry into, or departure from, harbour
• Meteorology (weather!)
• Rules of the road
• Maintenance and repair work
• Engines, including basic checks:
  • Oil level checks
  • Coolant level checks
  • Alternator belt checks
  • Fuel filter checks
  • Water pump impellor checks
  • Basic engine servicing
• Victualling (stocking the boat with provisions, supplies etc)
• Emergency situations
• Yacht handling under power
• Yacht handling under sail
• Sail handing, including reefing and how to change sails to suit prevailing conditions
• Preparing an anchor, mooring warps and taking charge when mooring alongside, coming to a mooring buoy, anchoring, weighing anchor and slipping from a buoy or an alongside berth
• Chartwork and routine navigational duties on passage including:
  • Taking and plotting visual fixes
  • Use of electronic navigation equipment for position fixing
  • Use of waypoints
  • Working up Dead-reckoning and Estimated Positions
• Estimating tidal heights and tidal streams
• Working out course to steer to allow for tidal stream, leeway and drift
• Knowledge of IALA buoyage
• Maintenance of navigational records
• Use of echo sounder and lead line
• Understands the use of leading and clearing lines
• Use of transits and soundings as aids to pilotage
• Sources of forecast information
• Interpreting shipping forecasts and the use of a barometer as a forecasting aid
• Working knowledge of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (Col-Regs)
• Carrying-out basic maintenance tasks on board the yacht
• Knows the properties and uses of common synthetic fibre ropes
• Taking the correct action as skipper for recovery of man overboard
• Distress flares and how to use a liferaft
• Operating a VHF in an emergency and sending a distress message
• Principles of towing a yacht
• Rescue procedures including helicopter rescue
• Bringing a yacht safely to and from an alongside berth, mooring buoy and anchor under various conditions of wind and tide
• Steering and trim sails effectively on all points of sailing
• Compile a simple passage plan, taking account of relevant navigational hazards and limitations imposed by the type of boat and the strength of the crew

Please be aware that RYA Day Skipper Courses completed in the Solent and other tidal waters can be demanding.

This course is held in high regard with yacht charter companies worldwide due to the challenging waters, winds, tides and busy waterways you will encounter.

Courses run in the non-tidal waters of the Mediterranean are generally not accepted by the UK yacht charter industry. Our RYA Day Skipper course also qualifies you for the International Certificate of Competence (ICC).

Our RYA Day Skipper courses have 4 to 5 students. We aim it at a mixture of RYA Competent Crew and trainee RYA Day Skipper students per boat. All Students are able to live and stay on board the yacht for the duration of the course.

In some instances sharing a cabin may be required.

Sailing is always about having fun, visiting new places, meeting new people and building links with fellow sailors. You are going to be put under some pressure, and your knowledge will be tested but also built up and improved. There will be some long days, and something will always not quite work, but always remember to have fun and be safe.

We also offer our Complete RYA Day Skipper Combination Package which includes both the theory and practical courses. This will take you from having a little sailing experience through to passing your RYA Day Skipper first time round.