RYA Day Skipper - Practical
RYA Day SkipperThe RYA Day Skipper course, or courses, are the least you need in the way of qualifications and skills to skipper (and charter) a yacht, at home or abroad. There is more to it than that, but essentially that is it. RYA Day Skipper is a group of courses designed to impart the basic, essential skills of navigation and boat handling in all their various forms to equip the skipper with the skills neccesary to make the right decisions to keep his/her yacht and crew safe in familiar waters under benign conditions. The RYA Day Skipper practical certificate entitles the holder to an International Certificate of Competence (ICC). The ICC is a legal requirement in most popular sail cruising areas and is generally required to charter a yacht 'bareboat', along with a VHF Radio Licence. Participation in any of our practical (on the water) courses entitles the student to attend an RYA VHF Radio licence course (or any other one-day course) without incurring further cost. Day Skipper practical (on the water) courses are underpinned by the Day Skipper theory course (class room based). The RYA Day Skipper theory course is 40 hours of shorebased study followed by two exams. See our Day Skipper theory course page for the full RYA Day Skipper theory syllabus The Day Skipper practical course is taken aboard a sailing yacht undertaking a short cruise, in our case a voyage around the Solent. The practical course covers pilotage, navigation, seamanship and boat handling. On course completion the successful candidate is considered to have the skills required to skipper a small sailing yacht around familiar waters by day. Day Skipper theory and Day Skipper practical can be taken individually as 'stand alone' courses or taken together as a Day Skipper combined or fast track course over 9 days - Saturday to the following Sunday, or 10 days over 5 weekends. Shorebased theory is taught at our RYA training centre in Ringmer nr Lewes in Sussex (BN8 5SE). Our boats sail from Universal Marina on the Hamble river giving easy access to
the central Solent.
Useful LinksFormat - Combined courseThe combined (theory & practical) Day Skipper course is structured so that we spend the first and last two days in the classroom. You don't necessarily have to do consecutive days, the first and last class room weekends can be moved to suit your schedule. Splitting the theory into two, two day blocks at the beginning and end of the course is by far the most effective way of learning the syllabus. The initial theory sessions equip you with enough chartwork skills and tidal theory to make best use of the practical part of the course without drowning you in theory. Effective training is about learning by doing, not memorising dry facts and then trying to apply them after the event. 9 day combined course. Two weekends in class, sail all weekWe join the boat on Sunday evening and sail all week, finishing the practical on Friday afternoon. After a week on the water the last two days in class are spent polishing off the theory and taking two papers. The exams are no problem after what has been an extended opportunity to absorb and apply the syllabus. 10 day combined course. Five weekends. Six days afloatAfter one weekend in class we sail for three consecutive weekends, six days of quality tuition. The final shorebased weekend is spent finishing the theory and taking the papers. Format - Day Skipper practical onlyFor students with a grasp of the theory just the practical element of the Day Skipper course may be undertaken. Available either from Sunday evening to Friday or over three full weekends. Associated courses
Day Skipper students may like to consider the following one day RYA courses.
Am I ready for RYA Day Skipper?The RYA's suggested minimum pre-course experience is 5 days sea time, 4 night hours and 100 sea miles with an assumed knowledge of RYA Day Skipper theory and basic sailing ability (from the RYA logbook, G15). Minimum age 16. If you're unsure of your skill level, simply phone us for a chat on 08456 80 90 69 and we'll make sure you choose a course that's right for you. What should I do if I don't fit the above criteria?The RYA Competent Crew course is a great way to get to grips with the basics of cruising under sail and will comfortably enable you to log the required times and distances. So Comp Crew for the basic sailing but what about the Day Skipper theory?The best way to absorb RYA Day Skipper theory is alongside the practical as a 9 or 10 day combined theory and practical course. The combined course is very efficient in terms of both time taken and the end result. The theory can be taken as a stand-alone intensive course over 5 full days or several months of evening classes. The RYA stipulate 40 hours of study plus exam time. Distance learning packages are also available. The problem is that some of the theory is quite abstract and better learned in a mixed theory/practical environment. There is nothing as reassuring as doing a tidal height calculation and having the answer confirmed by a tide gauge when leaving harbour, for example. 9 days is too long to be away...The course is broken into three blocks of 2 days, 5 days and 2 days. The first and last two days (Saturday and Sunday) are in class. The practical sailing is from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon. The 'blocks' of days don't have to be consecutive, we can spread them out to suit your needs. What about weekends?Yes, we also run the course entirely over weekends, five of them. The first and last are theory, the three in the middle are practical sailing. This gives you an extra day on the water compared to the weekday course. You can do just the practical Day Skipper over three weekends as well. How many students do I share the boat with?As a school we are almost unique in putting only four students aboard on a practical course, and on a big boat too. You get more room aboard and more time doing, less watching. The only exception is when a group of up to five friends choose to take an RYA course with us. The boat is coded for ten but that's a crowd. Do I need to bring my own wet weather gear?We provide you with high quality Oilskins for all practical courses, so don't worry we'll take care of it! Your training centre is in the country, is it easy to get to?Yes, we chose our location very carefully. As well as being local to sailors in Sussex we are located on major road routes out of London and Kent. Our postcode is BN8 5SE - pop that into your Tom Tom and see how easy it can be. We are under an hour from London by train from Victoria to Lewes with a ten minute taxi ride to our centre. For students coming from abroad we are well placed for easy travel from the London airports. Do you have any testimonials?Yes, click on the Testimonials tab to read comments from our past students. Where do I find course dates?Click on course dates How do I contact you?Call us on 08456 80 90 69 Or go to our contact page TestimonialsThe prepared meals were delicious and thoroughly enjoyed - well done to the chef! The Instructor was great and encouraged me throughout which gave me confidence (I was the least experience from the crew) and made the whole week a great learning experience and fun.Angeliki, June 2011 The course was excellently structured, I believe Paul has put a lot of thought into the best way to organise the course to get the most out of people.Paul, May 2011 It was all good but just being at the helm and sailing were great. Touring the Solent was also an added bonus. Night sailing into Yarmouth in a 5 - 6 was exhilarating.Graham, March 2011 The instructor was patient and unflappable! Good at explaining what was required of each of us and made something positive out of our mistakes which encouraged us to approach new tasks without fear of failure.Simon, April, 2011 The boat was in excellent condition, very very impressed, a much needed improvement from the school boats I have been on with other companies. When we arrived onboard it was clean and tidy with everything stowed away neatly. The outside of the boat was shiny and well washed, the cared for image of the boat sets the right impression of Mustang Sailing before even leaving the marina. All the equipment on the boat worked perfectly with no technical problems.Paul, May 2011 Just a few words to thank you again for the very enjoyable Day Skipper theory/practical course I completed recently. I particularly appreciated your focus on the essentials. The relaxed learning environment did not compromise on the need for good navigation and safety at sea, while avoiding the "boot camp" feel often experienced in the business world. Much credit to our skipper, John Roe, for leaving us the space to learn by doing, despite the inevitable mistakes, while stepping up firmly on the odd occasion when there was no room for error.Martin C. Paul. Just a short note to thank you for last weeks course which I enjoyed immensely. Both in the class room and on the water Fab was great fun and managed to combine what for me was a holiday whilst at the same time ensuring the very serious subject of learning to navigate and sail safely was never treated flippantly. I should be grateful if you would thank Fab for helping to expand my limited leisure sailing knowledge.Michael D. Emily and I want to thank you, Fab and Trevor for a wonderful course. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and learnt so much. It was exciting, fun and very worthwhile. We were even lucky with the weather too!Martyn & Emily D. Having completed the day skipper's course with my son and also benefited from the diesel engine course via two of my sons, I just wanted to say thank you on behalf of myself and the boys for a thoroughly instructive and enjoyable time. Cooped up on a boat with people one has never met can potentially be a recipe for disaster, however, our experience was quite the opposite - great company, excellent tuition, not to mention sumptuous meals - and an experience I would have no hesitation in recommending to friends.Roddy B. |
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