Sailors will skipper more challenging passages with the help of experienced instructors. Your navigation and passage planning skills will accelerate and prepare you to undertake longer coastal passages by day and by night.

The Coastal Skipper course equips students with strong navigational and boat-handling skills in tidal waters, providing them with the knowledge and experience to handle longer offshore passages. Sailors learn advanced passage planning, detailed yacht preparation, engine checks, safety briefings, and how to handle emergency situations at sea. Most important, sailors increase their leadership skills to become a safe, confident skipper.

The Coastal Skipper course counts toward the eligibility requirements for taking the Yachtmaster™ Coastal exam, if that’s what you want to do. Coastal Skipper will give you a boost toward the 30 days sea-time, including two as a skipper, with 800 miles and 12 night hours required for that higher level certification. Students who have earned an RYA Coastal Skipper course completion certificate will receive a partial reduction to the sea-time of 400 miles and 20 days at sea.

If you are ready to advance your sailing training to the next level, the RYA Coastal Skipper course is the obvious next step for you. Get ready to tackle challenging weather conditions and develop competency on coastal night passages as you prepare for the more advanced Yachtmaster classification, if that’s what you want to do next.