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.