Completed by: 1x 5-Day Sailing School or 3x Weekend Sailing Schools
This course is designed for the newcomer to sailing or for someone who has dinghy, but no cruising experience. Our students will gain a basic understanding in all aspects of running a cruising yacht and will have enough knowledge to be a useful crew member on future sailing trips, and equally important, shall leave us having had a great time. The RYA Cruising scheme is designed around students' pre-course knowledge and experience; so having completed the Competent Crew course students shall then be eligible, in terms of practical experience, for the next step - Day Skipper.
The course is conducted entirely on board one of our Sail Training yachts, which offer comfortable accommodation for 4/5 students and 1 instructor. Being a small company we can assure all our students first class instruction within an enjoyable, fun atmosphere. Your instructor freshly cooks all evening meals; so don't expect to lose any weight!
We have set out here to describe a typical Competent Crew course, which in practice is virtually impossible as sailing is always weather dependant, however, there are certainly many constants.
Join us on the yacht at Neyland Marina and meet your fellow crewmembers. Your skipper shall discuss the forthcoming days and what we propose to achieve. We should have a good idea of the forecast at this stage, so a rough itinerary will be discussed. We strongly believe that mixed ability courses work well, so you may find that there are a couple of Day Skipper candidates on board. This encourages those students to share and enforce their own knowledge and also clearly demonstrates the requirements of the Day Skipper course to their fellow crewmembers. We shall enjoy our first meal together and then possibly try one of the local hostelries before jumping into our sleeping bags.
Your skipper shall show you right through the boat from stem to stern, pulling everything out of the cupboards and lockers and describing how/when and why it all works. Safety gear, which is all provided, will be carefully considered and fitted correctly for each crewmember for future use. The day is then spent in the estuary, which offers us a huge expanse of relatively sheltered water so that everyone can familiarise themselves with how to work the boat - putting sails up & down, reefing or reducing sail and of course steering the yacht. We shall eventually find ourselves at anchor or swinging on a mooring for the night close enough to take the dinghy ashore for a refreshment.
As mentioned earlier this is difficult to describe as our destinations will be weather dependant. We must introduce our students to cruising, so we shall be looking to complete some interesting passages to several of the harbours and islands around the Pembrokeshire coast. Everyone shall be involved with the sailing of the boat, though one of our Day Skipper candidates may well be skippering the passages and navigating the yacht during the passages. Though not specifically in the syllabus, we are keen to introduce navigation into the Competent Crew course on a fairly informal level, but nevertheless achieving a good basic understanding.
RYA Cruising Log Book. Contains all syllabi for the courses which will be duly signed off by your instructor and will also be your personal log of sea miles, night hours etc. £4.99
RYA Competent Crew practical course notes - £9.99
Both available from ourselves, plus p&p.
For more info on our courses, contact us