Sailing Courses for Intermediates

If you have done the Competent Crew course or a lot of sailing but not much navigation then the Day Skipper theory course is probably the next step for you. It is a class in navigation, weather, rules of the road and safety. It gives you all the necessary navigational knowledge you need to safely skipper a yacht on short passages. You need to do this course (or have knowledge to the same level) before taking the Day Skipper Practical course.

The course is run over 7 evenings (1 evening a week) and a weekend. Or over 2 and 1/2 weekends.

If you have done a bit of sailing and are at least at a Competent Crew standard and have done the Day Skipper theory course then the Day Skipper practical course is the course for you. The Day Skipper practical course teaches you to skipper a yacht. It combines your sailing experience to date with what you have learnt on the Day Skipper shorebased course and turns you into a novice skipper.

The course takes place on a yacht and is 5 days long. It can be taken either over 5 consecutive days or over 2 weekends (a short and a long). Accommodation is on board and all meals are provided for on board. At the end of the course you will be able to skipper a yacht in familiar waters (this would include somewhere like the Mediterranean) in day light hours.

If you have done a fair amount of sailing and navigating or have done the Day Skipper Practical course then you may want to jump straight to the Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster theory course. This is an advanced navigation course and builds on that which is learnt in the Day Skipper theory course.

The course is run over 8 evenings (1 evening a week) and a weekend. Or over 3 weekends.

If you have done the Day Skipper practical course or a bit of skippering perhaps on something like a flotilla holiday or on one of our weekend Channel Hops then the next intermediate level course is the Coastal Skipper course.

It is assumed you will have already done a couple of days as skipper and have 300+ miles. It is also assumed you will have done the advanced Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster shorebased theory course.

The Coastal Skipper course focuses on skippering techniques for passage planning. So at the end of the course you should be able to skipper a yacht on coastal passages by day and by night.

The course takes place on board a yacht and is 5 days long. Due to the emphasis on passage making and planning the course cannot be split up and taken over 2 weekends. It must be taken over 5 consecutive days.

If you have done the Coastal Skipper course or have done more sailing and skippering than that required for the Coastal Skipper course then one of the more Advanced Courses would be more appropriate for you.