Start Sailing and Basic Skills Course 

As announced at the RYA Yachtmaster Instructor Conference we have two new courses available to be delivered by sail cruising RTCs.

Both courses are standalone courses and as such could not be run with any other sail cruising courses.

The Sail Cruising Start Sailing Course is an entry level course which can be run in conjunction with a Basic Skills Course. It is great for families or individuals who would benefit from being trained in the basics of sail theory and manoeuvring a cruising yacht under sail.

The course covers the basics of sailing a yacht, the primary focus of which is getting the sails up as soon as is practical and focusing on sailing skills and manoeuvres. It covers all the basic sailing techniques and manoeuvers on a yacht under sail.

The syllabus includes personal safety, slipping and coming alongside, sailing theory, yacht handling under sail and basic safety at sea.

The Sail Cruising Basic Skills Course is designed to build on the skills gained during the Sail Cruising Start Sailing Course. The main focus remains on the skills required to sail a cruising yacht.

This course is great for families or individuals who wish to improve their existing yacht handling skills under sail. Although primarily aimed at improving the skills of someone who has completed the Sail Cruising Start Sailing Course, if a student has completed a Start Sailing course under the National Sailing Scheme they would be eligible to attend this course.

This course would also be very useful to improve an existing Competent Crew or Day Skipper's ability to handle a yacht under sail. It covers all the sailing techniques and manoeuvres on a yacht under sail both as crew and helm, including slipping and coming alongside under sail, some basic yacht handling under power, sailing theory and basic safety including personal safety at sea, and sailing a yacht in tide or current.

Your existing recognition and instructor qualifications will automatically cover you for running the new courses, and there is no additional investment required. You will however need to email training@rya.org.uk to add these courses to your RYA recognition and for them to show on our 'Where's My Nearest' web search.  

The Start Sailing and Basic Skills course can be taught by Cruising Instructors, Yachtmaster Instructors and holders of Commercially Endorsed Yachtmaster Coastal or Yachtmaster Offshore Certificates of Competence with a Keelboat Instructor qualification.  

Please note the G15 logbook is in the process of being re-written and should be completed in 2014. It will show the flow diagram of the courses. These courses, although counting towards Competent Crew, will be seen as outside of the flow from Start Yachting to Yachtmaster Ocean.  

Click here for the full syllabus