Shorebased RYA Courses in English

~ Online Courses to be followed on any computer or laptop at your own pace ~

Online Essential Navigation and Seamanship

The Essential Navigation and Seamanship course is the basic introduction for anyone looking to spend time on the water. It introduces the essential knowledge which will allow you to have fun whilst staying safe. This course provides a solid foundation in concepts which later RYA qualifications will expand upon. It teaches the basic essentials of navigation and chart-reading, how to recognize navigation buoys at sea, how tides and weather forecasts work and how to get started planning routes across the water.

Basics of inshore navigation and safety including tidal awareness, charts, almanacs and the use of electronic navigation aids such as GPS. You will be taught about harbour entry and departure pilotage including knowledge of buoyage and a basic understanding of the Collision Regulations. Time will also be spent looking at sources of weather information and what impact this could have on your passage. Towards the end of the course you will put all this information together to plan an actual passage. You will also learn more about what safety equipment you should carry and how it is used.

The Essential Navigation and Seamanship course does not assume any previous knowledge of chartwork or boat-handling, making this an ideal course for anyone who is new to the world of navigation or looking to learn the theory essentials to support their practical experience. Now available as an interactive course.

If you already have some basic understanding of some of these topics and are keen to progress to higher qualifications, we recommend this course as a good starting-point to ensure the foundations of your knowledge are solid before building in the complexities of the science of meteorology and more complex navigation.

online Dayskipper Theory

When you aim to acquire the Dayskipper certificate, this is the right course for you. This course is a comprehensive introduction to cruising for inexperienced skippers and also includes the Essential Navigation and Safety theory.
This course equips you with enough knowledge to navigate around familiar waters by day. A basic knowledge of lights is also included to introduce you to night cruising. There are no pre-course requirements for the RYA Day Skipper theory course but some sailing knowledge is helpful. Ideally some sailing experience on an RYA practical course such as competent crew or some dinghy sailing is sufficient but not essential. Even a flotilla holiday with friends is enough to give you a good idea why you should enroll in the RYA Day Skipper theory course. Includes RYA Certificate upon successful completion.
Plotter and dividers can be ordered separately for this course if needed.

online Yachtmaster / Coastal Skipper Theory

Advanced training for more experienced skippers building on the Day Skipper course. This course equips you to navigate safely on coastal and offshore passages. Day skipper level theory is required for this course.
This course will take your theory knowledge to the standard required for the Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster Offshore practical exams, concentrating on advanced navigation and meteorology skills. As with the Day Skipper shorebased course, the RYA’s specially designed chart plotter software will be used during the course to give you a realistic taste of modern electronic navigation. Includes RYA Certificate upon successful completion.
Plotter and dividers can be ordered separately for this course if needed.

First Aid

Our one-day classroom course covers all the usual first aid subjects, but from a boating perspective. It is aimed at anyone who goes afloat, whether on inland waters, rivers, estuaries or on cross channel passages. In a medical emergency a little first aid knowledge and immediate action can save lives, especially in remote locations. This one-day course is designed to provide a working knowledge of first aid for people using small craft and to support skippers. It fulfils the requirements for professional skippers working under the Maritime and Coastguard Agency Codes of Practice for Small Vessels Operated Commercially; the Senior First Aid certificate needed by offshore racers subject to World Sailing's regulations on first aid training (OSR 4.08.4); the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations, 1981 for the purposes of Emergency First Aid at Work.
The subjects specific to boating include:

• the recovery position in a confined space
• CPR, including the drowning protocol
• cold shock and hypothermia from immersion and/or exposure
• seasickness and dehydration
• medical assistance or advice by VHF and helicopter rescue

online Yachtmaster Ocean Theory

Advanced training for more experienced skippers holding a Yachtmaster certificate. Unravel the mysteries of astro navigation, using a sextant, ocean passage making, worldwide meteorology and electronic navigation aids.
This course is for those aspiring to blue water cruising and is ideal for holders of the Yachtmaster Offshore certificate who are preparing for their first ocean passage.
Topics covered include: The earth and the celestial sphere, Practical guide to use and care of sextant at sea, Meridian altitudes, Sun, star and other sights, Ocean passage planning.
Prior to the course your navigation skills should be at the standard of the Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore shorebased course.

online Professional Practices and Responsibilities

Each year approximately 4,500 people apply to the RYA for a commercial endorsement in order to use their RYA qualifications professionally as skipper or crew. You could be doing anything from delivering a new 35’ yacht or driving a workboat with lifting and towing gear, to running a superyacht in the Med. Whatever your job is on board, in the commercial world you are a professional seafarer. As such, you are no different from the captain of a cruise liner – you have a duty of care to crew, passengers, and other water users, and you will be held to account if things go wrong. You can take this course anytime prior to your Commercial Endorsement application or renewal. Your PPR certificate will be valid either for your first Commercial Endorsement application or a next renewal.

Online CEVNI Test

CEVNI stands for Code Europeen des Voies de la Navigation Interieure which translated into English is 'European Code for Navigation on Inland Waterways'. It is the European code for rivers, canals and lakes in Europe (not the UK). A boat captain is required to have a CEVNI endorsement on his / her International Certificate of Competence (ICC) to be allowed to navigate on most European waterways. This requires a test on the code, organised by the governing body of boating of each European country. In the UK this is the Royal Yachting Association, in the Netherlands this is done by the CBR (in Dutch).