Sailing & Yachting

Yes. The Royal Yachting Association is the national governing body for water sports such as dinghy sailing and yachting. If you're looking to book a sailing course, always make sure the centre is RYA accredited as an indication of quality. That way you know the teaching follows a curriculum that's laid out for them by the RYA and a certain quality of tuition has been attained.

Contrary to what you might think, there is no legal obligation to have a licence or any qualification to sail in the UK, be it on the sea or on lakes. However, if you want to hire or charter a boat, in British waters or abroad, you will need to prove your competence with an RYA certificate, such as the RYA Day Skipper qualification.

There's no law that says you need a qualification to be part of a yacht crew in the UK. However, if you are part of a group hiring and sailing a yacht, you will need to have at least some of the crew (along with the skipper) who have a qualification. In most cases, sailors go for the RYA Competent Crew course.

A dinghy is a light boat for one or two people and is generally between two and four metres long. These are used for day sails and are taken out of the water at night. As they are much smaller rigs, you'll really be engaged in their handling and you can risk a dunking in the water - but they are great fun and will bring on your seamanship skills by leaps and bounds.

In comparison, a yacht is much larger and heavier. They can be more like keelboats that are used mainly for racing, or proper ocean-going yachts that have accommodation onboard, so you could set your course for a sail around the world if you wanted to. These vessels often sail with a crew made up of several people, each of whom has their own role to play. The boat leans, but you're less likely to get a dipping and the movements are a lot slower than on a buzzy little dinghy.

Sailing centres around the UK offer RYA Competent Crew courses. They usually last two consecutive days and they cover everything you need to know both about crewing a boat. Training takes place both on and off the water, with both theory and practical sessions. By the end of it you should have learnt enough to be awarded your RYA Competent Crew certificate so you can go sailing with confidence.

Absolutely! Most of our courses are aimed at those who have always 'fancied having a go' at sailing. A lot of clients sign up for RYA courses because they want to join friends and family who already sail, but we also have two hour and one-day taster sessions that give you a great value insight into sailing.

You can certainly get a good grounding in the basics of sailing in a day, or even a half-day course. By the very nature of the dinghies being small, group sizes are kept small (usually two or three students), so you get loads of hands-on time learning to sail.

There are lots of different dinghies out there, but the most popular small training dinghies for training in are Pico, Wayfarer and Hartley boats. They're easy to handle, agile and responsive. Larger vessels used for training include Laser dinghies, again a very popular make of boat for beginners to learn how to sail.

Yes you can! There's something quite magical about setting sail on a tall ship. It evokes the bygone days of pioneering voyages across the high seas to discover new lands. Now you can join the deck of a fully restored tall ship and enjoy a short sail. You can be as hands-on as you like, or just kick back and relax. No qualifications are needed and all experiences are suitable for beginners, as there's always an experienced crew on board.

You can indeed charter your own private yacht for a little sailing expedition for you and you and your group. They make for a fabulous day out for families, groups of friends or even as a work outing with colleagues. For more info get in touch with us by 'phone, email or using the on-line chat window that appears when you're looking at any experience page.