Learning to sail and undertaking quality sailing training are so important. I think that a sailor never stops learning. Here you’ll find details of some of the sailing training I’ve undertaken, as well as my stories as an RYA Cruising Instructor and Offshore Yachtmaster. Wherever you are on your ‘learning to sail’ journey, you’ll find lots of hints and tips here
After a hugely successful drills and skills day, I decided to run another day. Following the same format as before, I chartered a yacht from Elite Sailing, and recruited 4 crew via the Elite Sailing Club (3 of whom I’d sailed with previously).
A couple of weeks ago, I arranged a day charter; a cost effective way to get on the water, hone some skills and build up my skippering experience. The sun shone, but the wind was non existent. All in though, it was a great day.
A couple of weeks ago, I went back to the classroom. With a daunting 6 days of theory, and 3 written exams ahead of me I was apprehensive for several reasons. Firstly, I haven’t sat in a classroom for a solid week in nearly 15 years – how would I cope?! Secondly, this was for my Yatchmaster theory. The standard of which is incredibly high – would I be up to the right standard? How tough is tough? Am I actually capable of this?
I did my theory course with Elite Sailing, a fantastic RYA training centre based in Chatham. I’ve done other courses with them in the past, including my VHF, Radar and Diesel Engine courses. But the Yachtmaster is in a very different league to any of those!
Continue reading Back to the classroom for Yachtmaster Theory
