The week will be broken into short passages and skills and drills.

You will learn essential boat handling skills, how to steer and trim the sails and how to manage safety and seamanship on board. 

By the end of the week you will be a confident crew member ready to join a crew on a short passage.

Course content

• Knowledge of sea terms, parts of the boat etc
• Sail handling (bend on, set, reef, trim, flake)
• The use of winches, clutches and halyards 
• Ropework (coiling, stowing, use of cleats, knots)
• The points of sailing, upwind and tacking, downwind and gybing
• The five essentials of sailing, helming and trimming on all points
• Steering to a compass under power and sail. 
• Crew duties during mooring, berthing, and anchoring. 
• Personal safety, man overboard and other emergency situations. 
• Rules of the road, basic meteorology and chart-work
• Night sailing exercise. 

Location and sailing conditions 

You will sail around Sydney Harbour, and sometimes north to Pittwater or south to Port Hacking. We plan the itinerary on the first day to take best advantage of the weather.

The sailing conditions are generally excellent alternating between warm 'Nor-easter' sea breezes and cool, fresh Southerlies. 

During July and August we run a number of courses in the Whitsunday Islands

The scenery and anchorages are magnificent and the weather is superb with tropical trade wind sailing the order of the day.

You can expect to see dolphins, whales and of course Flying Fish!

The yacht and the instructor 

This course will be run on board one of our comfortable, fast Beneteau yachts by an accredited RYA Yacht Cruising Instructor.

You, and your fellow students, take part in all aspects of running the boat. 

Private course - great fun, great value 

Arrange your own group of up to 5 people, and pay for 4 places. 

This is a great thing to do with family or friends and kids are welcome too.

Enquire above 

Due to Covid 19 restrictions our RYA practical courses are currently non live-aboard. But please contact us if you would like to stay on board in the marina for your course.

• Tuition, logbook, pre-course reading.
• Life-jackets and safety harnesses are provided and we can loan you wet weather clothing if required.
• All vessels have an enclosed bathroom on board.
• Please bring your own lunch and snacks.
• We provide tea and coffee and pizza takeaway before the night training exercise. 

Qualifications and experience

• 150 sea miles logged
• RYA Competent Crew

No prior experience is needed.

This course is suitable for newcomers to sailing.

Once you have completed the Competent Crew course you are ready to start taking control and learning the role of the Day Skipper. 

Join Day Skipper Shore-based, for a comprehensive introduction to the underlying theory knowledge you will need as a Day Skipper. 

Then go on to the Day Skipper Practical course. 

If you don't have time for the full shorebased theory course you could complete Essential Navigation and Seamanship self paced online course, and then go on to Day Skipper Practical

Once you have your RYA Day Skipper you are ready to charter your own yacht.