RYA Sailing Courses
Our yacht Blue Planet is one of the most spacious and comfortable training yachts working in the Ionian.
We have been running RYA courses from the sunny island of Corfu in Greece for over 13 years.
RYA Courses Courses: Competent Crew or Day Skipper
Dates: May-October
Days: Monday–Sunday.
Introducing our sailing courses
What will learning to sail with us be like? And what are the main things you need to know? Here’s a quick introduction.
Highly-qualified instructor, high-quality comfortable yacht
Your sailing instructor in Greece is Captain Rick Driscoll – a commercially-endorsed RYA Yachtmaster and RYA Cruising Instructor who has gone through the very highest levels of training, including reassessment every 5 years (most recently in March 2017).
RYA qualifications are a badge of quality. The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) delivers over 170,000 training courses worldwide, and has worked with the Royal Navy, RNLI, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the MoD, the Police and the Fire Service.
RYA Instructors like Rick are not just experienced sailors: they’ve passed rigorous training courses that not only fine-tune their seafaring but also instruct them in clear, concise teaching and group dynamics. As a result, Rick runs practical, effective and enjoyable sailing courses aimed to help everyone get the very best from their course.
Our Yacht Blue Planet is considerably more spacious, and comfortable than many training school yachts, working in the Ionian. At 14 meters long, she is at the top end of the recommended size for RYA courses. So as well as the highest standards of safety, Blue Planet also guarantees you a comfortable holiday experience.
RYA Certificates can only be issued by official training centres, so although you’ll be training with Captain Rick on Blue Planet, sailing courses are booked through an RYA training school. RYA training schools must meet the most rigorous standards, employing only fully-qualified instructors and using vessels that are fully certified to the highest safety standards – such as the Blue Planet, the yacht you’ll be training on. All of which is to reassure you that you couldn’t be in better hands.
The practicalities of a sail cruising course
Exertion - Sailing can be quite physical, so although you don’t need to be an athlete you should be prepared for a bit of effort!
Yacht - The sail cruising yacht Blue Planet is fully equipped with toilets, showers and cooking facilities, but is obviously less luxurious and spacious than a home. The best way to think of it is as camping on the water! We ask our guests to limit what they bring and help to keep the boat tidy.
Area - There are no fixed routes or itineraries: Rick knows Corfu and the surrounding islands inside out, so he’ll decide where you sail based on weather conditions and training requirements, while making sure you visit as many places as possible.
Nights - Throughout your course you’ll live aboard (your accommodation is included in the price). At night we moor up in a series of delightful ports and sleep on board. We don’t offer the option of overnighting in hotels, as a very important part of what we teach is how to live aboard a cruising yacht.
Mornings - We know that this is a holiday for many people, but we do have to cover the full training programme so we start at a reasonable time every morning. It’s no hardship when the scenery’s this beautiful.
Teamwork - These are practical sailing courses designed to train you in the realities of sailing, so everyone takes a turn at all the jobs on board including cooking, washing-up and cleaning. Don’t worry, it’s more fun than doing it at home!
Learning - For many people, a training course with us is their first formal learning experience for many years. Don’t let this bother you! We all learn in different ways, so feel free to take notes, ask questions and go over what you’ve learned each day with Rick. RYA courses build on the knowledge you learned in previous sessions, so this will help you master each stage as you go.
Interested? Great! Now take a look at our Competent Crew and Day Skipper sailing courses.
