Course Description

The RYA Start Yachting course is designed to give you a taste of sailing, the course is normally run over two days and nights and don’t worry you don’t need any previous experience.

The skipper will welcome you and get you relaxed and comfortable from the start it is for beginners who are interested in sailing.

You will live on board Stravaigin, with a maximum of four other crew members. There maybe a mixture of experience which means we will all learn from each other while covering all aspects of the course. All duties are shared giving a typical experience of life at sea.

By the end of the two days, we hope you will be enthused to take your learning to the next level or just happy to go along on that further sailing holiday you will have experienced and be able to helm the boat and keep a steady course, handle the lines even unravel some of the terms and words sailors seem to like, tie knots - and, most importantly, find out that you just love sailing!

What's included in the price

• 2 nights/days on board
• All on-board meals and snacks
• All harbour and marina fees
• Fuel
• Gas
• No hidden extras!

If you are keen progressing your qualifications you could to use your weekend towards the next stage our competent crew course.

Have any questions about our Start Yachting course? Please feel free to contact us, remember there is no such thing as a silly question!

Course Description

The RYA Competent Crew course is a great starting point for your sail training. If you have done some dinghy sailing, have been on board a yacht before and would like to learn some more to enjoy or just be able to help out, or are a complete beginner.

The course can be completed in five days however we regularly run this course over 6 days as we feel this “extra” day is well worth it; after all putting things into practice is the best way to consolidate that learning and will give you the skills and the confidence to crew a yacht.

 In our Competent Crew course, you'll learn about:

• Knowledge of sea terms and parts of a boat, her rigging and sails,
• sail handling,
• ropework,
• safety equipment, personal safety equipment,
• man overboard, emergency equipment,
• Meteorology
• helmsmanship
• general duties, manners and customs, rules of the road, dinghies
• Helming
• Anchoring
• Preparing the boat for harbour
• Row a dinghy
• Tie knots, and loads more!

You will live on board Stravaigin with a maximum of four other crew members and the skipper. All food will be provided and the cooking/clearing duties will be shared between the skipper and the crew.

Aside from learning the skills to be a competent crew member, you will visit anchorages in and around Oban and the sound of Mull, anchoring some nights and tying alongside on others to enjoy shoreside facilities.

What's included in the price

• 5or 6 nights/days on board
• All on-board meals and snacks
• All harbour and marina fees
• Fuel
• Gas
• No hidden extras!

Course Description

Take your sailing and training to the next level, this qualification is the normal requirement to enable people to charter their own boat either in the UK or further afield.

By the end of this course the successful RYA Day Skipper will be able to undertake short coastal passages by day, in both tidal and non-tidal waters.

Before commencing this course, you should have some previous experience this is;

• five days on board a yacht
• 100 NM
• 4-night hours
• and basic knowledge of navigation and seamanship - this can be obtained from the RYA Day Skipper Theory course, or self-study.

Minimum age 16

The course can be completed in five days however we regularly run this course over 6 days as we feel this “extra” day is well worth it, after all putting things into practice is the best way to consolidate that learning and will give you the skills and the confidence to skipper a yacht.

Topics we cover include

• Preparation for sea
• deck work
• navigation & pilotage
• Meteorology
• rules of the road
• Maintenance, repair work & engines
• victualling
• emergency situations
• yacht handling under power& sail
• passage making & night cruising

You will live on board Stravaigin with a maximum of four other crew members and the skipper. All food will be provided and the cooking/clearing duties will be shared between the skipper and the crew.

Aside from learning the skills to be a skipper, you will visit anchorages in and around Oban and the sound of Mull, anchoring some nights and tying alongside on others to enjoy shoreside facilities.

What's included in the price

• 5 or 6 nights/days on board
• All on-board meals and snacks
• All harbour and marina fees
• Fuel
• Gas
• No hidden extras!

Course Description

What are ‘Mile Builders’ and Who are They For?

The RYA has devised a very well thought out and progressive set of sailing courses and certificates aimed at taking the complete novice right up to and beyond the Yachtmaster Ocean certificate in a structured and logical way.

Every step of the way along this training plan, it is expected that the candidate will continue to build on their taught skills, thus broadening their experience. Yet simply attending the courses will not deliver you to Yachtmaster Offshore - or Coastal Skipper come to that. Nothing beats real time live experience those all-important sea miles. Of course, that is easy to say harder to put into practice especially if you don’t own a boat and if you need experience and confidence as skipper. 

We at Stravaigin sailing school understand the needs and concerns of most sailors without their own boat or other like minded friends and colleagues with whom to gain that experience.

Whether you’re looking to build skippered passages and/or miles or simply fancy a no-hassle week on the water, our milebuilder trips are ideal for you. Where the emphasis is on the sailing, and getting in those sea miles. Many of our customers use the mile builder to practice skills taught during a previous RYA course, including passage planning & pilotage, night sailing, crew management and boat handling. It’s also a great way to build the required 2,500 logged miles and 5 x 60 mile passages necessary before you can take your Yachtmaster Offshore examination. You can even undertake your skippered passages with an experienced instructor there to oversee you and give you that extra confidence you might need when skippering on longer passages for the first time.

Who Is This Event Good For ?

Any sailors looking to improve skills before moving up to the next RYA level.
Any sailors looking for a great way to get on the water with like minded people.
Students wanting to complete RYA sailing action plans.
Individuals wishing to consolidate the learning they have had on a previous sailing course.

Course Description

Although RYA certification is one of the most widely recognised set of qualifications worldwide we have found in many countries the International Certificate of Competence (ICC) is required in preference to some higher certificates most European countries (excluding the UK) it is used as evidence of a basic level of competence.  We regularly find most European country officials refuse to recognise our much higher qualifications and in practice we just show them our ICC whenever we are chartering for example.

The RYA are the UK’s authorised issuing authority.  There is actually no internationally agreed competence certificate, although the ICC is widely recognised, member states are not obliged to accept the ICC. We would suggest you check the requirements of the state/country to be visited. The ICC cannot be issued by the RYA to nationals of UNECE Member countries unless they are British Nationals or Residents of the UK.

If you hold an RYA Day Skipper Completion Certificate, you can apply and receive an ICC certificate. However, if you do not hold the above certificate you will need to carry out a test of basic boat handling, navigation ability and knowledge of the Collision Regulations to gain the ICC. Stravaigin Sailing School will be happy to assist and can carry out this test in order for you to obtain an ICC.

The certificate is available to a person who:

has reached the age of 16;
is physically and mentally fit to operate a pleasure craft, and in particular, has sufficient powers of vision and hearing.
presents one of the specified UK certificates or has successfully passed an examination to prove the necessary competence for pleasure craft operation; and
who demonstrates their nationality or residency to show that their nationality does not preclude them from being issued with an ICC by the RYA.

Should you wish to undertake the ICC test please contact us so we can make arrangements for you to either take the test directly or have some direct training to fine tune those skills needed.

The test can be taken over two or more days with the first part being dedicated to training and the final day to the exam.  Alternatively if you feel that you have the pre-requisite theoretical knowledge and can demonstrate the practical tasks required by the exam syllabus you can book a one day exam.

A link to the RYA site giving further information about the test and the application form can be found here.

We do not have specific dates within our programme dedicated to ICC courses however we will try and fit ICC courses or Days in to fit your requirements.