The RYA sail cruising scheme is designed to allow entry at any level allowing flexibility for those who have prior knowledge and experience.

Accommodation is provided onboard the yachts and the fee covers food, berthing, fuel and the use of waterproofs and sea boots.

• Start Yachting Weekends
• Competent Crew, Day Skipper and Coastal Skipper training courses
• Mile Building Cruises
• Preparation for RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Coastal and Offshore examinations
• Cruising Instructor training and assessment

Start Yachting

This course provides a short introduction to sailing for novices. By the end of the course participants will have experienced steering a yacht, sail handling, ropework and be aware of safety on board.

Start Yachting courses can be taken on any of our weekend sail training courses.

Holders of the Start Yachting certificate can obtain a Competent Crew certificate by completing a further 2 weekends of the Competent Crew course.

Competent Crew

Aimed to give an introduction to yachting and, as its name suggests, for the student to work towards becoming a competent crew member in the running of a yacht. The course involves carrying out all the deckwork, steering and basic navigation along with the essential seamanship skills vital to the cruising yachtsman.

Competent Crew courses can be taken on any of our weekend or 5 day sail training courses. To get the most out of the course we recommend that the 3 required weekends are completed within 3 months of starting the course.

Day Skipper

The aim of this course is to achieve a standard where you can safely skipper a yacht by day on passages in tidal waters familiar to you.

Covering skippering techniques which include victualling, weather forecasting and safety, seamanship, boat handling under power and sail, pilotage and navigation, this qualification puts you on passage for owning and skippering your own yacht.

Day Skipper courses can be taken on any of our weekend or 5 day sail training courses. To get the most out of the course we recommend that the 3 required weekends are completed within 3 months of starting the course.

Day Skipper Combination

Our Day Skipper Combination course covers both the shorebased and practical Day Skipper courses. Be prepared to study a little harder but the reward is that you can complete 2 courses in a brief period. Accommodation is provided onboard the training yacht for the duration of the course.

Mile Building Cruises

Our Mile builder Cruises are aimed at those who already have some sailing experience and would like to sail a bit further than the Anglesey Coast.
The trips are ideal for logging longer passages - we aim to complete some RYA/MCA exam qualifying passages during each cruise. We will also try to include a night passage subject to suitable weather conditions.

Coastal Skipper

The Coastal Skipper practical course prepares those with previous experience to undertake longer passages. This course concentrates on skippering techniques, leadership, seamanship, boat handling under sail and power, pilotage, navigation, IRPCS and meteorology.
The holder of an RYA Coastal Skipper Tidal certificate is able to skipper coastal passages safely and confidently.

RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Coastal/Offshore Exam Preparation

Conwy School of Yachting offer a structured preparation course for those due to take either the Yachtmaster Coastal or Yachtmaster Offshore RYA/MCA Certificate of Competence Exam. The course is intended to hone your techniques as a skipper and includes:

• crew management
• crew safety
• seamanship
• boat handling
• pilotage
• navigation
• chartwork

Cruising Instructor

The doorway into the world of instructing cruising courses. This 5 day course with the Chief Instructor shows you how to teach the RYA cruising syllabus. During the course your sailing and communication skills will be under assessment.

On completion of the course you will be able to teach Competent Crew and Day Skipper practical courses at RYA Training Centres.