TRAINING - from Complete Beginner to Yachtmaster Ocean

Aztec Sailing is a Royal Yachting Association (RYA) approved Training Centre. The RYA has established a training scheme for yacht cruising, consisting of a number of courses and qualification levels. Each of the courses has a defined syllabus and objectives to take you to the next stage of crewing or skippering a sailing yacht.

We provide the full range of practical courses, and a range of other training initiatives which fit in with the RYA’s scheme, to take you from complete beginner to Ocean Yachtmaster. Have a look at the menu on the top of this page for details of the courses, and at the training programme for course dates and prices.

The full RYA Cruising scheme looks like this:

Of course different people will have different levels of sailing experience & knowledge, and won't always need to do the courses in the "right order". The best thing is to discuss your particular needs with us and we will help you select the right course.

For example:

Bob has his own boat but needs to gain confidence in taking it on and off the mooring before he can comfortably go for day trips with his family.

He probably needs a couple of days tuition on his own boat, and may not be interested in all the other RYA courses & certificates.

Jenny has been sailing yachts for 15 years but never had any qualifications, and is a bit rusty because she didn't sail much last summer. Now she needs to get her Yachtmaster Offshore, because she plans to do some commercial skippering.

She probably needs 3 or 4 days Yachtmaster Preparation before taking the exam (which we will arrange to follow on from the course).

James and Jean have sailed their 33 ft yacht on the south coast for 8 years, and their ambition is to go long distance sailing on a new 51 foot yacht.

A Large Yacht Conversion course would help them to select the right yacht for their needs and have confidence in the upgrade – and an Ocean Passage would give them a lot of confidence in planning longer passages and give them the experience of being at sea for up to a week - even though the YMO “qualification” is unimportant to them.

Your RYA logbook (which we can provide) allows you to record all the things you have had "signed off" (in whatever order) along with all your sailing experience (whether gained with a school or sailing with friends). You will get a certificate on successful completion of each course.