Day Skipper Course Practical

Skippering a yacht for the first time can be a daunting yet exhilarating experience. The RYA Day Skipper practical course is designed to teach you to "Take Charge" safely and confidently. A skipper does much more than navigate. They are responsible for the complete safety and wellbeing of the yacht and crew. These responsibilities include weather forecasting, victualling, engine maintenance, sail selection and handling, passage planning, watch keeping, navigation and pilotage.

Your experienced and patient instructor will teach you these skills and you will put them into practice as you skipper the yacht on short passages around the Solent. There is particular emphasis on boat handling for Day Skippers and during the course you will practice mooring under various conditions. Students live aboard for the duration of the course and visit many different harbours and anchorages to practice pilotage techniques which, like boat handling, is an essential skill for the aspiring skipper. You will complete at least 4 night hours sailing to experience night pilotage and identify lights.

At the end of the RYA Day Skipper course you will be confident to skipper a cruising yacht on short passages by day. Students who successfully complete the Day Skipper course are awarded the RYA Day Skipper practical course completion certificate and can charter from the school.

This course will also enable you to apply for the ICC (International Certificate of Competence). This qualification is required by most European countries to validate your competence to own or charter a boat. The ICC, obtained by presenting your RYA Day Skipper certificate, will cover sailing yachts up to 24 metres in length in coastal waters. If you are looking for a commercial endorsement you will also need to complete the PPR course.

We are fully flexible according to our clients demands.

Weekends: 1830 Friday until approximately 1600 on the last day. Weeks: 1830 on the first day until approximately 1600 on the final day. Click here for an example schedule of how you will spend the week or weekend.

All food except the evening of joining, wet weather gear and accommodation onboard. Mooring fees are an extra and we suggest that you budget approximately NOK 400 per weekend and NOK 1500 for 3 and 5 day courses. For details of what you should bring please refer to the FAQ's section.

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After completing the Day Skipper practical course it is really worthwhile consolidating what you have learnt by completing some more sea miles. This could be achieved by chartering a yacht from us, joining a distance cruise or just coming along for another week or weekend of refresher/consolidation training. Following this you should look to join the RYA Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Theory Course