RYA Competent Crew

RYA Competent Crew – a comprehensive ‘hands on’ course for beginners

RYA Competent Crew Course on a Classic Wooden Boat

The RYA Competent Crew Course is very much a hands on course for complete beginners or for those with some experience of yachts and now wish to have a solid foundation of seamanship. If you are a dinghy sailor and wish to cross over to larger vessels the Competent Crew Course will provide that steppingstone.

We want you to develop a love of sailing, and the best way to make a start on any boat is to feel you are a vital and competent part of the crew.  As you would expect from Classic Sailing, the teaching yachts we use are classic wooden boats that turn heads wherever they go! On the RYA Competent crew course, we will teach you the seamanship skills of steering, setting sails, reefing, and tying knots with conviction!

The course is about going places, so you can experience a wide range of sailing experiences: – anchoring in remote bays, mooring in sheltered rivers, coming alongside harbour walls or pontoons and night sailing. The skills you learn will be relevant for modern yachts, but after the RYA competent crew course you should also feel at home on traditional boats and tall ships with blocks and tackles.

There is a whole new language to learn and by the end of the week you won’t be fazed by terms like sheet, fender, windlass or ‘bear away’ and all the things that make going on board a yacht a bit bewildering and intimidating.

Previous experience required

None.

You can be a complete beginner that has never stepped on a boat before. 

It is also good for those who have done a bit of yacht, keel boat or dinghy sailing and want to be sure they have the basics to sail bigger boats where you can go cruising and live on board.

Assumed knowledge     None

Minimum Age   None

Course content

Knowledge of sea terms and parts of a boat, her rigging and sails, sail handling, ropework, fire precautions and fighting, personal safety equipment, man overboard, emergency equipment, meteorology, seasickness, helmsmanship, general duties, manners and customs, rules of the road, dinghies

Ability after the course

Able to steer, handle sails, keep a lookout, row a dinghy and assist in all the day to day routines.

​ RYA Practical Competent Crew  ​on Tallulah

Tallulah has RYA Competent Crew Courses on the South Coast of Cornwall, which offers fantastic sailing waters, friendly ports and secluded locations to explore.

If you want to learn to sail a yacht, but like the look of our vessels, the following the Competent Crew Course would be the best all round option for a newcomer to sailing. The instructor to student ratio on RYA courses is 1 to 5. Tallulah can sleep 8 with standing headroom below decks so with a maximum of only 5 students on board you have a great living space and below decks classroom. We may sail with an extra instructor as the mate so the individual attention is even better.

Tallulah is gaff cutter with a single mast. She can sail with just a mainsail and staysail or spread her wings and set main, topsail, staysail and a jib out on her long bowsprit. She has a long deep keel so sails well and her engine is mounted on the centre-line so she is well behaved under engine too.

Classic Sailing Ltd is the recognised RYA Training Establishment issuing the RYA certificates on Tallulah (if you have completed the syllabus satisfactorily).

These 6 day courses provide longer sea time and less pressure than those schools which offer a 5 day course. A four hour night passage is a compulsory part of the course but it is very often also the highlight of the voyage. It’s a great team effort with pilotage, communication, lookout duty and command skills.

As our courses will often have students learning both at Competent Crew level and Day Skipper, those studying for Competent Crew will be participating in sailing and power handling exercises as the crew for the budding skippers at Day Skipper, as well as gain an insight into navigation. Its a great way of seeing the next step up for ambitious beginners. Equally the professional crew are experienced at sailing with complete novices on our normal charter voyages, and will help you learn by doing every aspect of sailing – from lookout to getting ashore safely by dinghy.