Complete your RYA Competent Crew or RYA Day Skipper on Moosk

Full Voyage Description

Whether you’re on your RYA Day Skipper course or Competent Crew, your skipper will help you work towards parts of the RYA logbook and syllabus. Signing up to this course is by no means a guarantee that you will achieve your Day Skipper or Competent Crew qualification as there are many factors which could affect completion, including weather conditions, student preparation and competence. The crew will try their utmost to work through all of the appropriate parts and award you with a certificate you can  be proud of by the end of the course. 

Please note
This is a six-day course. The minimum age is 18.
Maximum 5 students to one instructor on this RYA course.

RYA Competent Crew

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. On the RYA Competent Crew course, you will learn 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 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.

Previous experience needed for the RYA Competent Crew Course

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.

RYA Competent Crew Course Content

• Knowledge of sea terms and parts of a boat
• Rigging and sails
• Sail handling
• Ropework
• Fire precautions and fighting
• Personal safety equipment
• Man overboard procedure
• Emergency equipment
• Basic meteorology
• Overcoming seasickness
• Helmsmanship
• General duties

Your Ability after the RYA Competent Crew course

Upon completing the course, you will be able to steer the yacht, handle sails, keep a lookout and assist in all of  the day to day routines on board.

 

RYA Day Skipper

Skippering a boat is fun, and this RYA day skipper course is about taking your first steps towards taking charge, with the safety net of an instructor on board. Everyone will be given a chance to navigate and take control of “Moosk” on short coastal passages. You will also have plenty of practice at coordinating manoeuvres under sail and power, and learning how to cope with emergencies. Learn big boat watch leader skills on deck, and navigational techniques below with GPS and radar and a large chart table.

Successful completion of the RYA Day Skipper course means you should feel confident enough to tackle short day passages as skipper in tidal waters. It is important that you complete your RYA Day Skipper theory course before starting your trip in order to make the most of your time afloat, practising what you have learnt. 

Previous experience needed the RYA Day Skipper Course

Basic sailing ability. 5 days, 100 miles in your logbook and 4 night hours onboard a sailing vessel. Navigation and theory knowledge to Day Skipper Theory level.

Our view at Classic Sailing is that you should be happy tacking and gybing a boat and understand the difference. You need enough wind awareness to trim sails on all points of sailing and steer by the wind, not instruments.

You need a good level of understanding of how to navigate, even if you have not had much chance to put it into practice at sea. The sort of things you will be expected to know will be fixing positions on a chart, working out tidal heights and streams, looking up port information, setting courses to steer, making ‘rules of the road’ decisions based on the COLREGS. If you have experience of this already or have been taught a lot by other sailors, you don’t have to complete a Day Skipper Theory Course to sign up for a Day Skipper Practical Course,  but it increases your chances of passing hugely.

Book your RYA Day Skipper Theory course here, with our partners at Ardent Training

RYA Day Skipper Practical Course Content 

See the RYA Day Skipper Theory Syllabus here

Need a ‘Commercially Endorsed’ RYA Day Skipper qualification? Contact us

Wind, Waves & Weather

You can do a RYA Course in the UK or abroad, but the Devon and Cornwall coast takes some beating for variety, scenery and challenge. Off the coast of South Devon and Cornwall, the water is deep with a few rocky hazards, but none of the complexity of the Solent sand bars and busy shipping.  Day Skippers can can dip into more challenging pilotage when you enter the ports and estuaries.

Whether you are at beginner level or learning to be the skipper or navigator, this coastline will give you a broad education. The courses are 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, night sailing. 

What to pack for a sailing holiday on Moosk

What's Included

• Sailing Instruction
• Safety Equipment (Life Jackets and harnesses)
• Waterproof jacket and trousers if required.
• Pillows and bed linen (Not day sails)
• All Meals, Cooked Breakfast, Lunch , Dinner and Refreshments throughout the day.
• Day sails include lunch and refreshments on board

What's Not Included

• Travel to and from the start and end port.
• You need to bring a sleeping bag (Not day sails)
• Optional trips or tours taken ashore
• Meals ashore
• Alcoholic Beverages (Not day sails)
• For RYA Day Skipper you will need to bring a passport sized ID photo in preparation for your RYA Certificate. (Not day sails)

What to bring for overnight voyages

• A big soft bag, no suitcases please!
• Pyjamas 
• 2 pairs of warm trousers
• 2 long sleeve t-shirts
• 2 light sweatshirts or similar
• A fleece jacket
• Plenty of underwear and socks
• Warm hat and ordinary gloves
• Wellies or waterproof boots
• A pair of trainers
• Swimming kit (if appropriate)
• Glasses or contact lenses
• Anti seasickness tablets
• Wash kit and towel
• RYA logbook if you have one
• Sun cream and Sunglasses

What to Bring for a swim and day sail.

• Towel and swimming costume
• Clothes for a day outside (Waterproofs are provided)

RYA Day Skipper and Competent Crew Course Review

Very knowledgeable skipper who took the time (with enthusiasm) to impart his knowledge of passage making, pilotage, weather etc.

Anonymous happy customer- July 2023

RYA Courses

What was the best bit?

Everyday there was something to learn and practice

What was the worst bit?

Going home

Why do you sail?

I love the feeling of the wind pushing the sails and being surrounded by traditional design. Learning the ropes and exploring the outdoors is my passion and if there’s wildlife involved I’m in heaven!!

Any other comments

Ollie is an extremely talented instructor. His temperament, knowledge and sense of fun, adventure and humour kept us all motivated. He never made me feel silly for getting things wrong or asking too many questions and I felt very safe at all times. - Jennifer F. RYA course in April. 

Yachtmaster Course Review

The instructor Dom was fantastic he had so much energy, we were usually going from 8 am to 10pm as the syllabus is so big and he was always enthusiastic and feeding us bits of info at any opportunity. He had a good method of demonstrating first and then explaining and he was very good at giving useful feedback. 
Moosk is a good boat for this course as she’s small and manageable (at least compared to what Kathryn and I are more used to). The food was plentiful and Ollie the skipper was incredibly knowledgeable. 
I’d recommend this prep week to anyone interested in doing the YM especially if they are more familiar with traditional boats or a gaff rig rather than plastic boats.

- Isabelle Howells - Moosk October 2018 - RYA Yachtmaster Student

Edwardian yawl Moosk in action and images. Photos from Classic Sailing customers, ships crew and professional photographers. We hope it gives a flavour of her sailing, life on board, the people that come, her beautiful sailing grounds and what it is like to live below decks.