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Stepping into the world of yacht sailing is an exciting time and our combined Competent Crew and Day Skipper course enables pupils - with little or no prior experience - to learn and develop the skills to become a yacht skipper in only two weeks. Zero to hero in a two week holiday!
This practical course is mostly ‘out-on-the-water’; and is exciting to do and immensely rewarding. It will start from the beginning and build your confidence, teaching you everything you need to know to become a useful crew member; and then a competent cruising yacht skipper. After your two week course you will gain the valuable Day Skipper qualification and be ready to charter yachts, worldwide.
In your first week, you will take the excellent Competent Crew syllabus. This is an introductory course designed to teach you how to sail a yacht and become a useful and able crew member on any cruising yacht.
During the course you’ll learn sail handling and trimming, nautical terms, useful knots, and how to steer the boat on a compass course with plenty of time at the helm. The course is good fun and a great way to learn how to sail. You will acquire important safety skills such as how to use a dinghy, how to operate life jackets, life-rafts, flares, how to wear safety harnesses and assist the recovery of a man overboard.
In your second week of our fast track course, you will undertake the Day Skipper Practical to enable you to gain this valuable skippers qualification. It is designed to follow on from the Competent Crew and will take you from active crew member to develop your skills in order to skipper a yacht.
During the course we’ll teach you the basic practical skippering techniques to enable you to feel confident to set sail as the Skipper. You will take charge as skipper on a number of short passages, under the guidance of our instructor, looking at topics like passage planning, weather and mooring.
You will need to have a basic knowledge of navigation and seamanship before you arrive in Greece to start our fast track course. We recommend that you take the RYA Day Skipper Shorebased Theory course with our E-Learning package which you can do from the comfort of your own home.
Our online theory course is delivered by Sailing Course Online, an RYA Recognised Training Centre specialising in online training. It can be completed in 30 to 40 hours and you will have the full support from instructors at Sailing Courses Online to help with any questions that may arise.
No prior sailing experience is required for our fast track course. It is designed to be a complete introduction to sailing. The minimum age requirement is 16.
You will be sent the RYA Competent Crew course book to look at before you arrive in Greece so you can practice some skills before you arrive. You will also need to take the RYA Day Skipper Theory course before you arrive, which you can do with our E-Learning package from the comfort of your own home in about 40 hours.
We are not in the business of failing candidates and we say that everyone can pass these courses if they are attentive and willing, and have completed the shorebased theory beforehand. If you get stuck on certain topics then our instructor will spend a little longer with you to ensure you grasp them.
On successful completion you will be awarded the RYA Competent Crew and Day Skipper Completion certificates; and you will then be qualified to charter a yacht on bareboat or flotilla.
Fast track Day Skipper Practical candidates must have completed an RYA Day Skipper theory course before arriving. The RYA Day Skipper Theory course can be taken from the comfort of your home with our E-Learning package in about 30 to 40 hours.
You can book a place or places onto our tuition yacht as a live-aboard pupil in shared cabins. You will learn with your instructor over a week-long course as you cruise the Ionian. You can pay a supplement to book a cabin privately. Which is normally 50%, please call our sales team for options.
You can book the tuition yacht and instructor privately for groups of 2 to 5 persons in order to complete this course. You can choose to follow our flotilla route (which is a sociable option!), and then arrange for the instructor to sleep on our lead yacht when at anchor. If you would like to do this, then please make a special arrangement at the time of booking. It’s a nice idea because it gives you 3 double cabins and some extra privacy while at anchor. As a private yacht charter, you will need to provision the yacht and remember to include your instructor in your provisioning.
We provision the yacht for breakfast and a light lunch on board. You are welcome to purchase any extra nibbles you may require and for the evening meal there are a range of lovely waterside taverna’s to choose from. We do not provision for private yacht charters.
Our tuition yacht will include everything you need for your week, except flights, transfers and evening meals. Solo supplements will apply for pupils wanting their own cabin (normally 50%)
Choosing to self-travel, taxis are easy enough to pick up from outside the airport. The transfer to Lefkas marina is about 25 minutes.
Marina Address: Lefkas Marina, East Shore Lefkada, 311 00 Greece
Our course covers the theory of tidal stream and height calculation. As a newly qualified Day Skipper, after successful completion of our course, we’d strongly advise gaining further experience in tidal waters before skippering any coastal passages in tidal waters.
You will arrive at Lefkas or Vassiliki marina and be greeted by our yacht team and introduced to your yacht. After a short introductory briefing to help you get settled onboard, you will meet the other course members and head for a meal ashore.
Every day will start at about 9am and finishes at approx 5-6pm. One day will be extended to allow for some night sailing. The yacht leaves the marina at 9am on Monday so training can start after a full technical safety briefing from your instructor. The tuition yacht will cruise around the islands as you learn and find an anchorage to break for lunch - so there’s always time for a swim - before arriving at the evening stopover for about 5pm. As a liveaboard-pupil, you will enjoy cruising the Ionian islands as you learn, visiting new anchorages each day - which is a fun and practical way of learning.
There will be one day a week (normally Wednesday) which is taken as a lay day or free sail day. It is a popular option for the yacht to put in to Vassiliki so pupils can enjoy a complimentary day of watersports or biking and fitness classes at our Beach club, for no extra charge. Unless you are privately chartering, the lay-day is often fixed to a Wednesday and it is a great day to explore the island or make use of the Surf Hotel for your complimentary day of activities. Private yacht charters can use this as a free-sail day if they want to keep sailing.
For two week courses, Sunday is your second layday. It is a great day to explore the island or make use of the marina, and its facilities. If your layday is in Vassiliki, you may use the Surf Hotel for another day of complimentary water sports and activities.
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Read MoreLefkada is the fourth largest island in the Ionian Sea of the Mediterranean. The island is located on the west coast of Greece and connected to the mainland by a large causeway and floating bridge.
Read MoreSurf Hotel Beach Club is set in the stunning Greek island of Lefkada, with the finest watersports beaches in Greece: Vassiliki Bay.
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