Day Skipper Practical Sailing Course 18/19 & 25/26/27 Aug, Southampton

Day Skipper Practical Course
£579.00

Code:	72
Dates:	18/19 & 25/26/27 August 2012 See different dates
Format:	2 day w/e + 3 day w/e
Location:	Shamrock Quay, Southampton (See Map)
Places Available:	Yes

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Description

What To Bring

Course Content

Testimonials

Other Courses on the Boat

The RYA Practical Day Skipper Course is about learning to skipper a yacht. It is often the minimum qualification required by yachting companies if you want to charter a boat.

Experience being in charge on a yacht, taking credit when all goes well and being responsible when it doesn't. Learn to skipper a short passage with the instructor on hand to give advice and encouragement and ensure your safety.

The RYA Practical Day Skipper Course lasts for five days and like the Competent Crew Course it can be carried out over two weekends (a short and a long) or five consecutive days.

You sleep and eat on board.

Minimum Pre Course Experience: 5 days, 100 miles, 4 night hours.

Recommended Knowledge: There is not time on the Day Skipper Practical Course to cover all the navigation skills required to skipper a yacht, so you need to know these or have done the Shorebased Day Skipper Course in advance.

You also need to have a good basic sailing ability. It will be assumed that you know how to sail to the level of Competent Crew standard.

Course Content: Basic Pilotage, boat handling, seamanship and navigation

Ability after the Course: You will be able to Skipper a yacht in familiar waters by day. Or charter a boat in somewhere like the Med. The qualification is a "tidal" qualification so is recognised in tidal and non tidal waters.

What to expect

You can expect to be maneuvering the boat under engine on and off pontoons. You can expect to have a go a planning and conducting a short passage. You can expect to have a go at calling the shots. You can expect a friendly instructor keen to teach you everything you want to know. You can expect like minded people. You can expect tasty fresh food. You can expect lungfuls of fresh air! It is very, very rare that you will have to share a cabin with someone you don't know, even if you come by yourself. You will learn lots and go home at the end of a weekend or course feeling happy and pleasantly tired.

Each day of the course is packed with activity. Breakfast is usually at 8am or earlier, depending on the wind and tide. At the end of the day, you will normally be in a marina ready for a hot shower and a trip to the pub by 6pm. Sometimes you may drop anchor for the night, other times you may tie on to a buoy. On one evening of the course you will probably go sailing in the dark to see how fun that can be.

Where will you sail?

You will sail mainly in the Solent. Here is a map of the Solent. You may go out of the Solent as far as Poole to the West and Chichester to the East but there is plenty of places to visit within the Solent without going to the same place twice in a week.

The Solent is a great place to learn to sail and get qualified. There are numerous harbours, bays, creeks, rivers, marinas and anchorages making it ideal to practice a whole range of yachting skills. Because of the large volume of other boats and busy shipping activity, the Solent is always fun and interesting.

The Isle of Wight provides some protection from the worst of the Channel weather, meaning the sea within the Solent can stay relatively flat compared with conditions in the open sea. But at the same time the tides in the Solent provide students with a challenge to their seamanship and navigational skills.

Accommodation

Accommodation during a sailing course is on board the yacht. There are almost always three double cabins and two single berths which provide accommodation for eight people. However, there would only ever be a maximum of five students on board, plus the instructor.

Showers/Facilities

There are showers on board, but most nights you will be in a marina with good hot showers and shoreside facilities.

Food

Except for supper on the evening you join the boat, we cater on board for all meals. We provide food that is healthy and nutritious, including salads, vegetables, white and wholemeal bread, chicken, lean minced beef, muesli, cereal, yoghurt and good quality orange juice. In fact, just the kind of food that you might buy yourself. For snacks there is plenty of fruit, but also a supply of chocolate and biscuits.

If you have any special dietary requirements, we can normally accommodate these. Just let us know when you fill out your booking form.

Location

Our boats are based in Shamrock Quay, Southampton. Getting to Shamrock Quay is very easy. It's about an 8 minute taxi ride from Southampton Central Station, or 15 minutes from Southampton Airport if you are coming from abroad. If you arrive by car there is plenty of free parking and there is security 24/7.

Occasionally a course may start on one of our boats when it is not at Shamrock Quay. It may be very close to Shamrock Quay or in Portsmouth. We will give you plenty of notice when this is the case.

Start/Finish Times

We find it is better if you arrive the evening before your course starts. This way you can start getting to know the yacht, the skipper and your crew mates before the course really gets under way. If this is not possible then you need to be at the boat by 8.30 a.m. on the first day of the Sailing Course.

You can expect to get away by 5pm on the final day of your course. If you are catching a train we recommend you do not book a ticket in advance as we can't guarantee you will get away at 5pm on the dot. It may be a bit earlier it may be a bit later.

Day Skipper Practical Course