RYA Day Skipper Course Sail
For aspiring skippers with basic navigation and sailing skillsThe 5-day RYA Day Skipper (Sail) course teaches pilotage, navigation, seamanship and boat handling up to the standard required to skipper a small cruising yacht safely by day in waters with which the student is familiar.
This is an intermediate-level sailing course. If you’re looking for a beginner-level course, check out The Boat School RYA Competent Crew course. If you want to learn to drive a powerboat, have a look at The Boat School RYA Powerboat level 2 course.
Taught in English
All RYA courses are taught in English. We recommend a minimum level of B1 for 1-day and 2-day courses and a minimum level of B2 for longer courses, theory courses and specialised training, such as SRC (VHF) radio.
RYA Day Skipper Course quick facts
Here’s a summary of what you need to know.
5-day intensive practical course
All teaching takes place on-board
Expect to sleep aboard
Taught by a qualified RYA Instructor
Qualifies you to skipper a sailing boat
Our boats
The boats we use for training are all commercially coded and inspected by the RYA.
RYA Day Skipper Course the details
Click on the tabs for more detailed information.
The Boat School course to obtain the RYA Day Skipper (Sail) certificate is taught in small groups with a maximum of five students. The course lasts 5 days. Open group courses normally run from Monday to Friday.
Is this course for me?
The Boat School’s RYA Day Skipper (Sail) course aims to provide aspiring skippers with the skills and confidence they need to take charge of a sailing yacht. The course focuses on developing the practical skippering skills of crew management, boat handling, practical pilotage and passage making.
On successful completion of an RYA Day Skipper course, UK nationals and nationals of certain other countries automatically qualify for an ICC issued by the RYA. The ICC is widely recognised as evidence of competence in most European countries.
Spanish law allows charter companies to rent sailboats to UK nationals or residents in possession of the RYA Day Skipper certificate. UK nationals and residents can also use the Day Skipper certificate as proof of competence for skippering their own boat; however, in this case, you will need to apply to the Spanish maritime authority for permission (we can help with that). If you have any doubts about the recognition of this certificate, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Open groups
With an open group booking, you book a place on a course and we’ll admit up to a maximum of five students onto that same course. This is the most economical option; however, it’s also the least flexible option if your availability is limited. The price of a seat on an open course includes fuel and mooring fees away from our base.
We publish regular course dates and you can book the course directly online.
Price per person in open group: €995
Rental & course pack
With this option, you charter a sailing yacht and we provide the instructor and teaching materials. This option gives you the maximum flexibility in terms of dates and the kind of boat we’ll use in training (subject to availability). With the rental and course pack, you’ll also have more say in the itinerary. As with any charter, you’re responsible for paying the fuel for the boat as well as mooring fees away from our home port.
The RYA Day Skipper course can be combined with other RYA courses in the sail cruising scheme. This means that you can choose a rental and course pack and have, for example, two participants preparing for the Competent Crew certificate and two students preparing for Day Skipper.
Please contact us for the price of a rental & course pack.
Own boat tuition
If you already own a yacht, or if you have a friend who owns a sailboat, we’re more than happy to run an RYA Day Skipper course on your own boat. This option is significantly cheaper than open groups and charters; however, you do need to make sure that your boat is up to the standard required by the RYA for training.
Please contact us if you’re interested in own-boat tuition.
- Preparing a yacht for sea, including engine, sails and gear
- Deck work (reefing, shaking out reefs, mooring, anchoring, weighing anchor, …)
- Practical navigation (visual fixes, electronic navigation, leeway, …)
- Pilotage, including pilotage plans for entry or departure from a harbour
- Meteorology, including weather and forecasts
- Maintenance and repair work
- Engines, refuelling and emergency maintenance
- Victualing
- Emergency drills (man overboard, distress flares, life rafts, VHF radio, …)
- Organising and keeping a watch
- Yacht handling under power
- Yacht handling under sail
- Passage making – planning and making a coastal passage
The RYA Day Skipper qualification has two parts: the 5-day practical course and a 40 hour theory course. Holding a shorebased course completion certificate is not a prerequisite to attend this course, but it is essential that you have the same knowledge level as somebody that has completed the Day Skipper shorebased course. There simply isn’t the time to learn all the theory whilst putting it into practice. You can do the shorebased course with The Boat School either in the classroom or online.
The minimum age for the award of the certificate is 16. You can do the course with family members under the age of 16; however, we will only be able to issue the RYA Start Yachting certificate or Competent Crew certificate to more junior participants.
You won’t need a medical certificate but you should be in reasonable physical shape.
Book your RYA Day Skipper Course
995€ per person in an open groupIf you choose to book a place on an open group, we’ll put a maximum of five people on your course. Click on the “Book Now” link to get course dates and prices. We run Day Skipper sail courses at least once a month, except in the months of July and August. During these months, we only do charter and training (see below).
The option of chartering one of our sailing yachts or running the course on your own boat gives you maximum flexibility whether you’re looking for a small group (up to 5 students) or you want one-to-one training. You can choose between:
- Renting a sailing yacht and doing the course on this boat
- Getting training aboard your own boat
Day Skipper
Ready to book? Got any questions?
If you’re interested in a Day Skipper sailing course with The Boat School, please complete the form below and we’ll get back to you.
Or give us a call on:
00 34 651 956 208 for a call in English or
00 34 695 11 65 59 for a call in Spanish
The Boat School
Recognized by the Royal Yachting Association to conduct Powerboat Training, Sail Cruising courses in the Yachtmaster (sail) scheme and Shorebased (theory) courses.
Recognized by the Spanish Directorate General for Merchant Shipping, the Comunidad Valenciana and the Region of Murcia to conduct sail, motor, powerboat and VHF training.
Operational Base Denia
Marina de Dénia (Sail courses)
Darsena de babor s/n
03700 · Denía
Alicante · Spain
Marina El Portet (Powerboat courses)
Moll de la pansa, s/n
3700 · Dénia
Alicante · Spain
Classrooms & pick up for certificates
Carrer de Fora Mur, 12
03700 · Dénia
Alicante · Spain
Madrid Office
Greenwich Náutica
C/ Marqués de Lema 7, Local 6
28003 · Madrid · Spain