RYA Coastal Skipper

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RYA Coastal Skipper Course

A coastal skipper is a yachts person who has the ability to skipper a yacht in coastal waters by day or night.

During your RYA Coastal Skipper course we aim to put miles on the clock with the longer passages from our base in Brighton. You will plan and execute coastal passages along the South Coast of England, often with the Solent as a destination or even across to France. Students will have the chance to navigate and skipper by both day and night thus ensuring you are a confident skipper when you leave the boat. Skills and drills will also play an important part of the week, practiced until you feel confident about all manoeuvres.

The course criteria is:

  • Passage planning: Can plan a coastal passage including a consideration of the capabilities of the yacht, navigation, victualling, weather, ports of refuge, tidal heights and tidal streams, publications required and strategy. Know customs procedures for most common circumstances.
  • Preparation for sea: Aware of safety equipment required for offshore passages, and can prepare a yacht for sea including stowage, safety briefing, watch keeping, delegating responsibilities and equipment and engine checks
  • Pilotage: Preparing a pilotage plan, with consideration of soundings, transits, clearing bearings, buoyage, port or harbour regulations and tidal considerations. Able to pilot a yacht by day and night.
  • Organisational and skipper skills: Can take charge of a yacht and direct the crew, organise the navigation, deckwork and domestic duties of a yacht on passage, awareness of the significance of meteorological trends, aware of crew welfare and can use electronic navigational equipment for planning and undertaking a passage, including the use of waypoints and routes.
  • Yacht handling under power: Able to control the yacht effectively in a confined space under power, including all berthing and unberthing situations in various conditions of wind and tide.
  • Yacht handling under sail: Can use the sails to control the yacht in a confined space, and capable of anchoring and mooring in various conditions of wind and tide.
  • Adverse weather conditions: Understanding of preparations for heavy weather and yacht handling in strong winds, and navigation in restricted visibility.
  • Emergency situations: Recovery of man overboard under power or sail, actions to be taken when abandoning to the liferaft and during helicopter and lifeboat rescues.

Steve was a great skipper in the practical course, he was very enthusiastic but also patient and tolerant when were we berthing the boat! Both Steve and Simon delivered the theory in a clear and concise way. Great course!

Cameron Hatrick

10/10. Couldn’t have wished for a better instructor

Stephanie Grice

Over all a great course. Ollie was the perfect blend of authoritative, helpful, informative and fun

Brian Stampford

Very professional tutor and great fun

Steve Pile

Course objective:

By the end of this course you will be able to skipper a yacht in coastal waters by day or night.

Prerequisite:

RYA Day Skipper & 15 days sea time (2 days as skipper) – 300 miles, 8 night hours.

Duration:

5 days.

Where:

Brighton Marina, BN2 5UP.

Availability:

Courses are run  from Febuary to the end of November. If you cannot find a date please contact us. Private tuition and own boat tuition is also available.

This RYA Coastal Skipper Course is also available in Barcelona

Booking:

Book online from the dates below or call 01273 42 48 42 option 1 or email us.

If you cannot find a date please contact us. We also run the RYA Dayskipper from Barcelona

Booking terms and conditions apply and rebooking fees are charged for cancellations made with less than 4 weeks notice.

Map / Directions
What to Bring
Membership
Cancellation Policy

Lagoon Watersports @ Brighton Marina
Pontoon 6
Western Concourse
Brighton Marina
BN2 5UP
UK

We have two centres in Brighton. This activity take place from Lagoon Watersports in Brighton Marina DO NOT go to Lagoon Watersports, Hove Lagoon. If you are taking a taxi please make this clear to the driver.

Finding Lagoon Watersports once you are in Brighton Marina
Head towards the waterfront where you will see all the cafes and restaurants. Walk to the end of the boarded walk way where there will be a large bridge heading down towards the pontoons. We are the first set of pontoons on the right. Pontoon 6.

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To Brighton Marina by car
Approaching the marina from the A27 take the B2123. Turn right at first set of traffic lights, signposted Brighton Town Centre, Racecourse and Marina Village. Turn left at second set of traffic lights, pass the Racecourse and follow the signs for the Marina Village where there is free parking for 1500 cars in the multi-storey car park. From the car park you can either go across a linking bridge on level 6 or from the ground floor of the car park towards all the waterfront cafes and bars. Walk to the end of the boarded walk way where there will be a large ramp heading down towards the pontoons. We are the first set of pontoons on the right. Pontoon 6.

By Bus
Brighton and Hove bus service operates a number 7 bus approximately every 15 minutes 24 hours a day, from Brighton Town Centre (North Street or Queens Road), to the Marina Village.

By Bike
Brighton Marina has a bike share station which is either pay per minute or a yearly membership, go to https://www.btnbikeshare.com for more information. For your own bike, racks are available on the main concourses of the pontoons. You must use the racks and not leave bikes on the pontoons otherwise Premier Marina will take them away.

On foot
Brighton Marina is a pleasant walk along the seafront from the centre of Brighton, it is 20 minutes walk from the main West Pier. During the summer you will also find the Volks electric railway operates along the front.

By train 
The nearest main line station is Brighton with regular connections to Chichester, Portsmouth and London is under an hour away. nationalrail.co.uk

By Air
Brighton is within easy reach of Heathrow and Gatwick international airports. Follow the A23 from Gatwick to Brighton. Shoreham airport is also available for private light aircraft.

What to Bring

  • Be prepared for changeable weather, bring plenty of layers
  • Quick drying clothes can be very practical, avoid jeans
  • There is limited space on board, only bring one large bag
  • Gloves for warmth and rope friction protection
  • Sunglasses, sunhat and suncream for summer months and woolly hats, thermals and layers for winter months
  • Deck boots and non-slip deck shoes or trainers that don’t mark
  • We can supply waterproofs for hire, Musto BR1s. You will need to order these in advance so we can have them ready for your arrival. If you have your own waterproofs, please bring them, they are a necessity
  • Sleeping bag, pillow and towel
  • Passport as you may go to France
  • If you are worried or unsure whether you suffer from seasickness then pills and wrist-bands work well. Don’t arrive on an empty stomach and take tablets with breakfast if you have never been sailing on the sea before, sometimes the motion takes a while to get used to
  • The marina fees are not included and vary and are shared during the week. Please allow £25 for the week
  • Over 5 days and 4 nights we supply: Four breakfasts, five lunches and one dinner. Meals will be nutritious with a few treats thrown in. Feel free to bring any extra food you may want
  • RYA Coastal Skipper requires a photo with the certificate so please bring two passport photographs

 

Our Coastal Membership Club gives you unique and exciting opportunities out on the sea from Brighton Marina. Our aim is to offer people easy access to boating without all the hassles and fees of owning a boat.

  • Practice sailing on a regular basis and improve upon your skills
  • Access to yachts, keel boats and jet skis
  • Attend our weekly RYA Instructor led clinics and social events
  • Partake in mile building, yacht trips or racing events
  • Meet new people that you can sail with
  • Get out on the water independently or as part of a team
  • Introduce friends and family to the sport
  • 15% Discount on RYA Training Courses

 

Changing Bookings

When you make a booking with us we assign staff and equipment to deliver the booking. That means we are unable to offer that space to anyone else.

If you cancel that space we are likely to incur a loss.  We will have already made commitments to staff and we may have turned away other bookings. We are unable to get insurance that covers us for this loss.

We therefore do not offer refunds for cancellations. If we did not do this we would have to put up our prices for everyone.

Our cancellation policy applies in all circumstances including no shows, illness, relocation, transport failure and bereavement.

Course Cancellation Insurance
You can take out insurance to cover the cost of your course against cancellation through CancelSure. Guide cost is £12 for the first £100 of cover and then £6 per additional £100 of cover.

Our Advice

  • If you pay by credit card your cancellation may be covered by your credit card provider.
  • Consider taking out course cancellation insurance.
  • Your holiday insurance may cover you for course where you stay on our boats.

Please see our full Booking Terms and Conditions

Cancellation charges
You may cancel your course/event at any time. Written notification from the Lead Name in your group is required. Cancellation will only be accepted on payment of the cancellation charges as set out below. The following cancellation fees apply :

• More than 8 weeks before course/event – loss of deposit
• Less than 8 weeks before course/event – 100% of price of course/event

At our discretion, we may allow a forfeited deposit to be used towards an alternative course/event run by us or the same course on an alternative date. In each case, such a booking will be at the price prevailing at the time of re-booking and subject to an admin charge of £25 for courses over £150 and £10 for courses under £150. In these circumstances we offer significant discounts on rebooking within 12 months.

The discount is based on how much notice was given for the booking cancellation and non discounted course rates:

• More than 4 weeks before course/event  –  90% discount on full brochure rates
• 2- 4 weeks before course/event – 75% discount on full brochure rates
• 13 days  – 72 hours before course/event –  50% discount on full brochure rates
• 72 hours or less  –  25% discount on full brochure rates

For example if you book a course worth £200 and need to change the date of that course:

4 weeks notice this will cost you an additional £20
2 weeks notice this will cost you an additional £50
3 days notice this will cost you an additional £100
24 hours notice this will cost you an additional £150

Postponement by us due to bad weather
On some occasions courses may need to be postponed due to bad weather. In these circumstances we will offer you alternative dates, no refund will be available.

On some occasions group events may need to be postponed due to bad weather. In these circumstances we will offer you alternative dates.
If you are unable or unwilling to accept these new dates then we will refund you the full cost of the course less 15%.

Coastal Skipper Practical
Coastal Skipper Combined Theory & practical
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RYA Coastal Skipper Combined Course with Lagoon Watersports

The Coastal Skipper combined course means you can complete your Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Theory and your Coastal Skipper Practical course.  When booked together as part of this combined package you will benefit from a large discount, as well as being able to choose a one day theory course, either Diesel Maintenance, VHF or First Aid.

The Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster RYA Theory Course provides advanced training for experienced skippers that builds on the knowledge gained on the Day Skipper theory course.  It is aimed at those who are looking to execute complex sailing passages offshore or at night. This course will take your theory knowledge to the standard required for Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster Offshore practical exams, concentrating on advanced navigation and meteorology skills.

The RYA Coastal Skipper syllabus covers the following:

  • Position fixing
  • Course shaping and plotting
  • Tides, secondary ports, streams, anomalies
  • IRPCS Lights, day shapes, sound signals
  • Pilotage and navigation in restricted visibility
  • Electronic aids to navigation
  • Advanced meteorology; interpreting forecasts, plotting weather systems and predictions through observations and use of barometer
  • Customs and excise regulations for cruising abroad

Experience: You will need to have a good grasp of all subjects covered by the Day Skipper shore-based course, and also of collision regulations.

RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Course we aim to put miles on the clock with the longer passages from our base in Brighton.  You will plan and execute coastal passages along the South Coast of England, often with the Solent as a destination. Students will have the chance to navigate and skipper by both day and night thus ensuring you are a confident skipper when you leave the boat. Weather permitting we include an offshore passage to France.  Skills and drills will also play an important part of the week, practiced until you feel confident about all manoeuvres.

The course content includes: 

  • Passage planning
  • Preparation for sea
  • Passage making
  • Pilotage
  • Emergency situations
  • Yacht Handling Under Power & Sail
  • Adverse Weather
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Contact us…

Yacht Courses at Lagoon Watersports

  • Well maintained yachts with expert tuition
  • Brighton Marina is the perfect gateway to the open sea
  • Less than 3 miles from Brighton Pier right on the sea front at Brighton Marina
  • Suitable for advanced sailors
  • Group sizes are kept to a maximum of 5 people to ensure individual attention
  • Run by highly experienced, qualified and friendly RYA instructors
  • All specialised equipment is provided, including lifejackets
  • Great marina facilities with changing rooms and hot showers as well as restaurants, bars & shops