Overview
Currently in Britain, no formal qualifications are required to skipper a boat. If you're looking to charter a yacht in the UK however, you will find that charter companies either look for relevant previous experience or, an RYA course Qualification.

What is an RYA Qualification?
An RYA Qualification is much more than simply a piece of paper. It means that under the guidance of an experienced skipper you've been put through your paces in a whole range of areas. The beauty of this is that you get to try things your probably wouldn't otherwise, you also get to learn things you simply didn't know.

As with all things, practice makes perfect and hence experience counts for a lot, however, an RYA course will ease the path and teach you things you didn't know before.

Course Duration
Courses are split between theory (shorebased) and practical. Generally they last for 5 days or 3 weekends. In the case of shorebased courses though you have the added options of attending evening class (40 hours tuition + 4 hours for the exam) or even one of the new raft of Distance Learning Courses which may be internet or postal based.

Selecting a Sailing School
All RYA Approved sea schools adhere to the same syllabus - your main considerations therefore come down to:

1. Which sailing schools operate in similar sailing environments to where you plan to sail? If you plan to sail primarily in the Solent, then it would be valuable to gain some experience in the area itself, in the main due to the volume of craft you will encounter here which you won't elsewhere. The same is true of the East Coast but in this instance due to it shoal water. Aside from that, take your pick! RYA Sea Schools are even beginning to appear in the Med and Europe generally hence you could decide to go to warmer climes if you prefer. Certainly within the Med these courses will be non-Tidal though, hence if you plan to sail in the tidal UK waters too, bear this in mind.

2. Personal preference! Do you like the look of their boat, are they convenient for you to get to, always liked the area, or maybe their Company Profile simply gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling!

We're currently reworking our RYA Guide section, and more comprehensive information will follow shortly. We apologise for any inconvenience.