Which course should I do?

For instance, if you are relatively new to sailing, the Yachtmaster Ocean course would not be a realistic starting point as this course assumes a prior knowledge of coastal and offshore navigation - in effect, you’ll be able to cross an ocean, but you may not be able to find it in the first place!

Better to start with a Day Skipper course and see how things progress from there. However, if you have little experience but are fairly certain that one day you’d like to do some offshore or blue water sailing, then you may well opt for Coastal or Ocean Cruising.

If you have been sailing for some time, perhaps have your own boat or have skippered boats in the past, then you may consider the Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster course. This course assumes a prior knowledge of navigation, but the format is such that the beginning of the course will act as a quick revision of the basics if things are just a bit rusty.

The Day Skipper Course is designed for:

• People who are new to sailing preferably with dingy or crewing experience
• Sailors moving on from the Competent Crew qualification
• Boatowners who have yet to make extended passages at sea
• Beginners and Crew who would like to become actively involved in navigation.

The Yachtmaster Course is designed for:

• People who have completed the Day Skipper course both shorebased and practical
• Sailors and Boatowners with reasonable coastal sailing experience

If you have the Day Skipper certificate (or an equivalent level of knowledge) then this is the right course for you. You will find the course extremely challenging if you cannot read a chart and carry out basic plotting and tidal calculations. If you are a complete beginner then this course is not the right course for you.

"We recommend these CDs for interactive learning...overall this is one of the best we’ve seen"
Sailing Today

“If you want to learn the ropes as a beginner or with an RYA course, it's ideal...it makes learning fun and interesting”
Yachting Monthly

“The CD is user friendly, with clear and concise text...quizzes test how much you have learned”
Practical Boat Owner.

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