RYA Competent Crew

Price: from £649 (Finance now available)

Location: The RYA Competent Crew beginners sailing course starts from our base at Premier Gosport Marina, and visits different ports around the Solent and adjacent waters around the South Coast.

Duration: 5 days

The perfect sailing course for beginners all over the UK, the five day RYA Competent Crew practical RYA course will give you the best building blocks to start your sailing journey with.

Take a look at our live course calendar for dates for the RYA Competent Crew course at Gosport Marina!

RYA Competent Crew Training Course Information

Joining Instructions: Please click here for instructions on how to join our competent crew training course

What is included in the training course cost:

  • Yacht / boat hire
  • A very patient, understanding and experienced RYA Qualified Sailing Instructor
  • RYA Competent Crew training course materials and certificate
  • The course includes FOOD! Yes, unlike others we include breakfast, lunches, snacks and three evening meals – Evening meals are usually simple yet really tasty and filling “one pot” dishes which are easy to cook on board like curries, chilli-con-carne, pasta & casseroles etc. We include a lot of fresh fruit, vegetables and bread (One evening meal is taken ashore at the students own cost)
  • Tea, coffee, water & soft drinks, squash etc
  • Accommodation on board
  • Diesel
  • Cooking gas
  • Wet weather jacket & salopettes hire (not footwear)
  • Hire of a Baltic automatic life jacket which has been serviced and maintained by our expert technicians

About Your Home on the Water

During your course, you’ll be sailing aboard one of our well-equipped Bavaria 38ft cruising yachts—renowned among sailors for their comfort, reliability, and roomy design. Each yacht features three cosy double cabins plus two single berths in the saloon, so there’s plenty of space for everyone to settle in comfortably after a day on the water.

The generously sized galley makes whipping up those hearty one-pot meals a breeze, while the spacious bathroom ensures you can freshen up with ease. With ample room both above and below deck, you’ll have everything you need to enjoy each moment of your sailing adventure—whether that’s sharing stories around the saloon table or relaxing with a cup of tea as we cruise through the Solent.

We can accommodate most dietary requirements, such as vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian or gluten free. Just let us know when you fill out the booking form.

Recommended Reading: Sailing magazines and newspapers, but this is not essential

Training course prerequisites: No assumed knowledge

Minimum Age: No minimum but Under 16’s must be accompanied by adult. Persons aged 16+ can be unaccompanied subject to other pre-requisites having been met

Marina Facilities During Your Course

During your RYA Competent Crew training, you’ll spend nights moored at a variety of welcoming marinas around the Solent, including well-known spots like Yarmouth Harbour, Cowes, Hamble, Ocean Village Southampton, Lymington and Chichester. Each stop offers more than just a place to tie up—expect modern shower and laundry amenities, well-stocked shops, and convenient access to bars, cafés, and bistros. Whether you want a hot shower after a blustery day or fancy stretching your legs ashore for a coffee and a snack, these marinas ensure comfort both on and off your yacht. Enjoy the blend of onboard camaraderie and shoreside treats that make our courses so memorable.

Holiday Insurance: We would advise ALL our customers to ensure they have suitable holiday insurance in-place. Yachtsman’s insurance is available from a variety of souces like Topsail Insurance and can cover things like customer cancellations and personal effects cover.

Weather and Tidal Conditions Policy

Your safety is always our foremost concern. All our courses and events are carefully planned with current weather and tidal conditions in mind. On occasion, we may need to adjust schedules or activities to ensure optimal safety and comfort onboard. Our experienced instructors keep a close watch on the forecast and will never compromise your wellbeing for the sake of sticking to a plan—if conditions aren’t suitable, we’ll adapt accordingly. Rest assured, every decision is made with your security and the best possible learning experience at heart.

Six newly certified RYA Coastal Skippers celebrating with certificates after successful practical exam completion
Two people wearing jackets and sunglasses stand on a boat. Background shows a modern building and rigging. Sky is overcast.

RYA Competent Crew beginners sailing training course formats & details:

Sailing training courses from our south-coast base are run in a choice of three formats:

  • 5 consecutive days: (Monday to Friday)
  • 5 consecutive days: (Wednesday to Sunday)
  • 2 consecutive Weekends: (Usually over a bank holiday & one other weekend)

During your RYA Competent Crew Practical Course, you’ll cover essential hands-on skills including practical navigation, pilotage, boat handling, seamanship, and watchkeeping techniques. We sometimes combine students taking their RYA Day Skipper or RYA Coastal Skipper courses alongside students on the RYA Competent Crew training course, so you will get to experience a wider range of sailing on one of our owned boats. This blend of abilities on board means you’ll gain insights from both sides: learning from those with more advanced skills and sharing the excitement with fellow beginners as you all develop your confidence and competence at sea.

All Students are able to live and stay on board the boat for the duration of the training course.

Fancy going VIP and having your own exclusive private training course for you and your friends or family? You can book the whole boat just for your own exclusive sail training course from only £649 per person. Enjoy the training course in style, with up to five persons on the boat being taught by one of our friendly, experienced RYA Yachtmaster Instructors! What a way to start your sailing adventure and learn to sail the right way!

Maximum Group Size for Your Training

For each RYA Competent Crew practical course, we follow the official RYA guidelines and welcome up to five students per yacht. This ensures everyone has plenty of hands-on time at the helm—or, if you prefer, enough space to stretch those sea legs and swap stories over a hearty one-pot dinner.

If you fancy a more personal experience or you’d prefer not to share a cabin with a stranger, you’re welcome to book the entire boat as a private course for just your own group. That way, you and your friends or family can enjoy exclusive use of the yacht, guided by our friendly and experienced RYA Yachtmaster Instructor, and shape your learning adventure just how you like it.

Which marinas might you get to visit during your course

When you join us for the RYA Competent Crew training course, your adventure sets sail right from our Gosport marina base in Gosport Hampshire. Over the five days, you’ll spend your nights on board at a variety of fantastic marinas dotted along the Solent and South Coast. Depending on the week and the weather (and perhaps the mood of the crew!), your floating home might visit marinas such as:

  • Ocean Village Marina
  • Yarmouth harbour
  • Cowes
  • Chichester
  • Southampton Town Quay
  • Hamble River
  • Lymington town

Each of these spots offers excellent shoreside facilities—think cosy bistros, cheerful bars, shops for any forgotten essentials, and the always welcome hot showers and laundry rooms. Of course, your yacht has all the comforts you need on board, but it’s always a treat to step ashore and explore somewhere new each evening.

The Perks of a Lower Student-to-Instructor Ratio

Wondering why we keep our groups small? Here’s the inside scoop: with fewer students on board, you’re guaranteed far more hands-on time at the helm, trimming sails, and practicing those all-important onboard skills. Rather than waiting your turn and watching from the sidelines, you’ll be actively involved in every manoeuvre.

  • More Personal Attention: Our instructors can tailor their teaching to your unique pace and learning needs, making sure no one’s left scratching their head or feeling rushed.
  • Comfort on Board: Smaller groups mean you’re much more likely to have your own bunk rather than sharing a cramped cabin with someone you’ve just met. A good night’s sleep goes a long way toward making those 7am sail hoists much more enjoyable!
  • Faster Progress: You’ll get behind the wheel (or winch!) more often, solidifying your knowledge and building real confidence with each session.
  • A Sociable Yet Relaxed Atmosphere: With fewer people to juggle, everyone quickly becomes part of the crew, making it easy to get to know your fellow sailors, share stories over supper, and create that all-important team spirit.

Put simply, our lower student-to-instructor ratios mean you’ll spend less time waiting, more time doing, and walk away with the practical know-how and confidence you need.

Who is the RYA training course for:

The RYA Competent Crew training course is designed for a complete beginner who wants to learn how to sail and start their exciting and adventurous sailing journey the right way. This RYA Competent Crew training course your perfect starting point for a sailing adventure you’ll never forget.

With little or no prior knowledge of being on a yacht, the five-day RYA Competent Crew training course will give you the building blocks you need to start your sailing journey the right way.

You’ll gain confidence and valuable knowledge and experience that will enable you to be be a very handy crew member on board a yacht.

Our patient and understanding instructors are the best in the South-coast. You’ll learn from their valuable sailing experience, enabling you to start your journey the right way.

Five people sitting on a docked yacht at a marina, ropes visible. The boat displays a website at the top. Overcast sky background.
A book titled "RYA Competent Crew Skills" featuring illustrations of yachts and knots, designed for motor cruising course instruction.

Training Course syllabus:

The RYA Competent Crew training course is a great introduction to sailing. This training course is designed for a complete beginner and teaches all the essential skills needed in order to become a competent crew member aboard a yacht over an exciting 5-day period.

On this training course you’ll gain valuable experience and confidence in how to sail, and become a useful crew member aboard a sailing yacht.

On this RYA training course, we teach you about basic yacht operations, seamanship, helming a yacht, rope handling, personal safety, the sort of equipment you find on board and all manner of other useful things you’ll to master need when you go sailing with friends.

Upon completing this training course, you will become a very useful member of a yacht crew, and be able to be active in sailing the boat!

The RYA Competent Crew training course Includes:

  • Knowledge of sea terminology, parts of a boat, including rigging & sails
  • Sail handling
  • Rigging & controls
  • Ropework
  • Fire precautions & fire fighting
  • Personal safety equipment
  • Man-overboard:
    • How to recover a man-overboard
    • Actions following recovery
  • Emergency equipment
  • Manners & customs
  • Rules of the road
  • Inflatable tenders, their safe use and operation
  • Meteorology (Weather!)
    • Forecasting services
    • Knowledge of the Beaufort Scale
    • What to do when the weather turns bad and how to prepare the boat and crew
  • Sea sickness
  • Helmsmanship, sailing and wind awareness
  • General duties on board a yacht
  • Sufficient knowledge to understand orders given concerning the sailing and day-to-day running of the yacht, including:
    • Setting, reefing and the general handling of sails
    • Use of sheets and halyards and their associated winches
    • Handling ropes, including coiling, stowing, securing to cleats, single and double bollards
    • Handling warps & fenders
  • Ability to tie the following knots and to know their correct use:
    • Bowline
    • Figure-of-eight
    • Clove hitch
    • Rolling hitch
    • Round turn and two-half-hitches
    • Single and double sheet bend
    • Reef knot
  • Awareness of the hazards of fire and the precautions necessary to prevent it
  • Knowledge of the actions to be taken in event of fire breaking-out on board
  • Safety equipment, such as life rafts, safety harnesses and lifejackets
  • Flares and when they should be used
  • Procedure for launching and boarding a liferaft
  • Environment responsibilities in the marina and at sea
  • Keeping an efficient lookout when at sea
  • The basic principles of sailing including steering and trimming sails on all points of sailing
  • Steering to a compass course/heading, under sail and power
  • Carrying out general duties on and below deck when at sea and at a berth on the boat

The next steps:

Following completion of your RYA Competent Crew training course, you may be thinking about your next steps and how to best put your new skills, knowledge and confidence into action.

Depending on where you want to eventually go with sailing, we’d heavily recommend the following:

  • Go sailing! -Yes, just get out there and go sailing with friends. Enjoy it and get some experience under your belt. We also offer our very popular Mile Building weekends which are great fun, and you’ll get to meet other like-minded sailors, all under the watchful eye of one of our RYA qualified instructors
  • VHF/SRC training course. Well worth doing, as this will give you confidence and a whole range of new skills to properly operate a VHF radio. Carried out over one day in our dedicated VHF classroom.
  • RYA Day Skipper Theory. This can be done in the classroom over 5-days, or as part of the very popular 9-day RYA Day Skipper Combination training course, which includes the 5-day practical side of the course. The theory course can also be done online.
  • RYA Day Skipper Practical. This is done over 5-days, either over two split weekends or 5-days in a row. Once you’ve qualified you can also apply for your ICC with the RYA, which you’ll need if you want to charter a yacht abroad.

From there on, the sky is the limit!

You may want to go all the way up the sailing ladder to RYA Yachtmaster, or perhaps even become an RYA Cruising Instructor which we can advise you on.

No matter what you want to do in sailing, we love a chat and will give you the best training advice possible. So please either give us a call on 023 9250 4443 or contact us via email.

RYA Coastal Skipper candidate winching jib sheet to trim sails during coastal navigation
Seven people sitting on the side of a sailboat, smiling and enjoying a sunny day on the water.

Our Chief Instructor says this about the RYA Competent Crew training course:

This beginners sailing training course is a fantastic entry into the world of sailing, enabling you to become a safe and competent member of any yacht crew. You’ll be learning to sail in the vibrant and varied waters of the Solent, the heart of sailing and boating in the UK, you’ll get to visit lots of different marinas and experience yacht sailing at its best.

Learning to sail in the Solent is both challenging and rewarding. The ever-changing conditions and the bustling waterways of Portsmouth, Southampton  and the Central Solent offer a truly unique environment. Each day brings new sights—busy shipping lanes, picturesque harbours, and lively marinas—so there’s never a dull moment. You’ll gain hands-on experience navigating the area’s famous tides and currents, all while building your confidence and practical skills as part of a supportive crew.

 You’ll be in safe hands throughout the course with one of our Yachtmaster Instructors on hand to ensure you get the best out of your five days with us. So what are you waiting for? Set sail on your boating adventure to sail the seas!

Remember, unlike a lot of training centres in the Solent, we provide food during your course. So you’ll get breakfast, lunches, snacks and three evening meals (One evening meal is taken ashore at the students own cost, along with unlimited tea, coffee, water, hot chocolate and soft drinks, squash etc.

Our boats also include heating – we still aren’t sure why other training centres don’t want warm happy customers! So not only do we feed you (overfeed usually!), we also make sure you’ve got a warm comfortable boat to sail in.

Ask other centres what they provide against what we give you. You won’t find better value in the Solent for a comprehensive course package.

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