RYA Yachting Qualifications and Sail Training Courses
Gain your RYA yachting qualifications aboard a traditionally rigged sailing vessel with an experienced and friendly RYA Training Centre in Plymouth. Our hands‑on RYA sailing courses focus on practical seamanship, confidence at sea, and real experience in tidal waters.
We offer RYA sail training courses for all levels, from beginner to advanced. Entry‑level options include Start Yachting and Competent Crew, followed by Watch Leader and Day Skipper Practical. More advanced training includes Coastal Skipper Practical and Yachtmaster Preparation and Examination, ideal for those working towards professional or private skipper qualifications.
If you are looking to build sea miles, improve sail handling, or gain experience towards higher RYA yachting qualifications, you can join any course for structured mile building and skills development.
Our courses operate from late March to late October, taking advantage of the best sailing conditions in the South West of England. Whether you are new to sailing or aiming for Yachtmaster, our Plymouth based RYA sailing courses provide the training and experience you need. Our team of professional sailing staff will instruct you every step of the way through the course requirements.
An overview of the RYA yachting qualifications can be found further down the page.
RYA Courses for Adults
During the sailing season we run a number of RYA Competent Crew, RYA Day Skipper Practical, and RYA Yachtmaster Preparation & Exam courses for adults aboard our gaff yawl, Moosk. Anyone seeking to undertake their RYA Coastal Skipper Practical can do this on our Yachtmaster courses.
Built as a classic gentleman’s cruiser in 1906, Moosk still looks beautiful – timeless and elegant. Gaff yawls are particularly noted for their seaworthiness, handling, balance, manoeuvrability, comfort and speed.
RYA Courses for 16 – 19 year olds
We run a small number of RYA Competent Crew and RYA Day Skipper Practical courses specifically for young people aged 16 – 19 years aboard Moosk, which follow the full adult syllabus, but are taught with others your own age. The RYA Competent Crew qualification can also be achieved on our Adventure Sailing weeks.
School, Group, DofE and Teenage adventure sailing weeks
Beginners practical courses are delivered on board our Sail Training vessels Johanna Lucretia and Moosk, with most weeks offering the opportunity to work towards an RYA Certificate, either:
• RYA Start Yachting, or
• RYA Competent Crew
In addition, DofE Gold Residentials can be fulfilled on our Adventure Sailing courses for individuals, and on other sail training voyages lasting at least 5 nights – always check with your DofE Leader first – plus anyone aged 18 to 25 can fulfil their DofE Gold Residential on one of our Adult RYA courses throughout the sailing season.
We also run several voyages exclusively for home educated students, which follow the same itinerary as our Adventure Sailing voyages. Please Contact Us for more information.
Once you have achieved your Competent Crew certificate, you can also come back time and time again to build up nautical miles and to work towards Watch Leader or higher:.
• RYA Watch Leader (age 14yrs+)
• RYA Day Skipper Practical (age 16yrs+)
• RYA Yachtmaster Preparation and Exam (age 18yrs+)
Course dates
All course dates for individuals can be found on our availability page.
Schools and Groups please Contact Us for more information and availability.
Course overview
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| RYA Start Yachting | Basic knowledge and sailing skills; ropework, underway, rules of the road, man overboard recovery, clothing and equipment, emergency equipment and precautions, meteorology. |
| RYA Competent Crew | Knowledge of sea terms and parts of a boat, her rigging and sails, sail handling, ropework, fire precautions and fighting, personal safety equipment, man overboard, emergency equipment, meteorology, seasickness, helmsmanship, general duties, manners and customs, rules of the road, dinghies. |
| RYA Watch Leader | The role of Watchkeeper allows you to supervise and lead a Watch team during a passage. During this course you will learn about watchkeeping, seamanship, navigation, meteorology amongst other subjects. Full details of the syllabus and requirements can be found in the RYA Yachtmaster Scheme and Logbook (G158). Minimum age is 14 and minimum qualification required is Competent Crew. |
| RYA Day Skipper Practical | Preparation for sea, deck work, navigation, pilotage, meteorology, rules of the road, maintenance and repair work, engines, victualling, emergency situations, yacht handling under power, yacht handling under sail, passage making, night cruising. NB: To gain your Day Skipper Practical qualification you will need to have completed the Day Skipper Theory course beforehand, and sailed a minimum of 100 nautical miles on board a sailing yacht. |
| RYA Coastal Skipper Practical | Developing skills and techniques to safely skipper coastal and offshore passages by day and night. NB: you will need to have sailed 15 days, 2 days as skipper, 300 nautical miles and 8 night hours. |
| RYA Yachtmaster Preparation Course and Exam | Full details of the Yachtmaster Coastal and Yachtmaster Offshore exam syllabus and requirements can be found in the RYA Yachtmaster Scheme and Logbook. Note: The course price does not include Exam fee* – exam fees are payable to the RYA directly (currently £230 for Yachtmaster Coastal and £266 for Yachtmaster Offshore). |
Handy learning aids for RYA courses
Before you embark on your RYA course you could buy yourself some easy to learn marine Flip Cards. A handy pocket size learning aid to teach yourself about the codes and nautical rules. We suggest these, which can be purchased direct from Flip Cards or from any chandlery in-store or online:
- Rule of the Road
- IALA Buoyage – Area A
- Lights and Shapes
RYA Yachtmaster Scheme Syllabus and Logbook
An RYA logbook can be purchased from us during your voyage, currently £8.50. If buying from elsewhere you will need the G158 version.
For more information
Please call 01752 823007, email info@theislandtrust.org.uk, or get in touch using the form on our Contact page.
We can also assist you with other RYA sail training courses, such as Advanced RYA Theory, RYA Basic Navigation, Coastal (YM) Theory, RYA Radio License etc.
All courses and voyages are operated by The Island Trust’s trading subsidiary Island (Cutter) Ltd.
