+44 73 89 13 14 15 tw@whitetipsailing.com

Intermediate

 5 days afloat

£1,250

RYA Coastal Skipper Practical

The Coastal Skipper Practical is where comfortable sailing becomes confident passage-making. If the Day Skipper course taught you to skipper a yacht, the Coastal Skipper course teaches you to do it in more demanding conditions and over greater distances — by day and by night, and passages up to 60 nautical miles from the coast.

This is a course for skippers who are ready to be stretched. Over five days you will take charge of more challenging passages, make real navigational decisions under pressure, and develop the judgement and authority required from a skipper. It is the final practical stepping stone before the Yachtmaster preparation courses and examination.

Course at a Glance

Level

Intermediate to advanced

Duration

5 days

Format

Practical, liveaboard on the Solent and beyond

Location

Port Hamble Marina, Southampton

Vessel

Beneteau Oceanis 37 or Oceanis 38

Ratio

Maximum 3 students per instructor

Minimum age

17

Price

£1,250 (own boat tuition: contact us)

Prerequisites

15 days, 300 miles, 8 night hours as crew; 2 days as skipper; Day Skipper Shorebased Theory; Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore Shorebased Theory

Certificate

RYA Coastal Skipper certificate

 

Prerequisites

The Coastal Skipper Practical is an advanced course and assumes a solid foundation of practical experience and theoretical knowledge. Before starting you must have:

• A minimum of 15 days and 300 miles at sea as crew, including at least 8 hours of night sailing.
• A minimum of 2 days as skipper in charge of a vessel.
• Navigation and theory knowledge to RYA Day Skipper Shorebased level.
• The RYA Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore Shorebased Theory course completed or in progress.
• Boat handling ability to the standard of the RYA Day Skipper Practical qualification.

Students who arrive without the prerequisite sea time or theory background will not be able to get the full benefit from the course. If you are unsure whether your experience meets the requirements, contact us before booking and we will advise.

What the Course Involves

The Coastal Skipper Practical is structured around progressively more demanding passages. Each student takes the helm as skipper for extended periods, making real decisions about navigation, sail trim, weather assessment, and crew management, with the instructor acting as a watchful adviser rather than the person in charge.

Passages will typically extend beyond the Solent, taking in coastal legs and overnight sailing. Night passages are an essential component of the course and cannot be substituted.

By the end of the week, you will have experienced the full range of situations a coastal skipper encounters and be assessed on your ability to handle them.

What You Will Cover

The Coastal Skipper Practical syllabus builds directly on Day Skipper skills, developing each area to the higher standard expected of a skipper operating on coastal and offshore passages:

Passage planning and navigation

• Planning and executing coastal passages, including tidal strategy and waypoint planning.
• Pilotage in unfamiliar harbours and in restricted visibility.
• Use of electronic navigation systems alongside traditional methods.
• Weather: taking and interpreting forecasts, recognising deteriorating conditions, and making sound go/no-go decisions.

 

Boat handling and seamanship

• Manoeuvring under sail and power in more demanding conditions and confined spaces.
• Anchoring and mooring in a variety of conditions and locations.
• Reefing and sail changes in stronger winds.
• Crew management and skipper communication.

 

Safety and emergency management

• Man overboard recovery: extended drills in realistic conditions.
• Emergency procedures: fire, flooding, engine failure, and distress.
• Night sailing: watchkeeping routines, light identification, and navigating in the dark.
• Collision regulations applied in coastal and offshore contexts.

Life Aboard

You will live aboard the yacht for the full five days, with your own cabin and shared meals with the rest of the crew. At this level, the experience of living aboard — managing fatigue, maintaining watchkeeping routines, and operating as a cohesive crew over several days — is itself part of the learning.

The course runs from 09:00 on Day 1 to 17:00 on Day 5.

What’s Included

✓ Expert instruction at a maximum ratio of 3 students per instructor
✓ Your own cabin aboard the yacht for the full course
✓ Breakfast, lunch, and snacks on all course days
✓ Fuel and berthing fees
✓ Free parking at Port Hamble Marina
✓ RYA Coastal Skipper certificate on successful completion

 

Not included

• Transport to and from Port Hamble Marina.
• Dinners. Students are expected to cover the cost of dinner for the group, including the instructor, as is customary on liveaboard courses.
• Alcoholic beverages.
• Personal insurance.

 

A full kit list is sent with your joining instructions. Bedding and foul weather gear can be hired from us at an additional charge if required.

Where Does This Course Lead?

The Coastal Skipper certificate is a significant qualification in its own right — and the final practical preparation before the Yachtmaster examinations. After this course, the next step is to build sea miles and work towards either the Yachtmaster Coastal or Yachtmaster Offshore examination.

Both Yachtmaster examinations require substantial logged sea time beyond what the course itself provides. The prerequisites are set out in full in the RYA Yachtmaster Scheme Syllabus and Logbook (G158), which every aspiring Yachtmaster should read carefully.

The most important thing you can do after the Coastal Skipper course is sail — as skipper, as often as possible, in as wide a range of conditions as you can find.

Book Your Place

Coastal Skipper Practical courses run throughout the season from Port Hamble Marina. Own boat tuition can also be arranged — contact us for details. Places are limited to three students per course.

To book or ask a question, contact us at info@whitetipsailing.com

RYA COASTAL SKIPPER SYLLABUS (As described in G158)

1. Passage planning​

Knowledge of​

• The effects of fouling on a boat speed and fuel consumption.

Understands​

• Fuel consumption at different speeds and can calculate fuel required for a passage including reserve.
• Custom procedures.
• Stability.

Can​

• Plan a coastal passage, taking into consideration the capability of the vessel, navigation, victualling, weather, ports of refuge, tidal heights, and tidal streams, publications required and strategy.

​

2. Preparation for sea​

Understands​

• What safety equipment required for offshore passages.

Can​

• Prepare a cruising vessel for sea including stowage, safety briefing, watch keeping, delegating responsibilities and equipment and engine checks.

​

3. Pilotage​

Can​

• Prepare a pilotage plan, taking into consideration soundings, transits, clearing bearings, buoyage, port or harbour regulations and tidal factors.
• Pilot a yacht by day and night.

 

4. Passage making and ability as skipper​

Understands​

• The practical uses of integrated electronic aids to navigation, including AIS, radar, electronic navigational charts (ENCs) and raster navigational charts (RNCs)

Can​

• Take charge of a yacht and direct the crew.
• Organise the navigation, deck work, and domestic duties of a cruising vessel on passage.
• Be aware of the significance of meteorological trends.
• Be aware of crew welfare on passage.
• Use electronic navigational equipment for planning and undertaking a passage, including the use of waypoints and routes.

​

5. Yacht handling under power​

Understands​

• How to identify and take into account wind and current conditions when planning and executing manoeuvres (practical experience where possible).

Can​

• Control the cruising vessel effectively in a confined space under power, including all berthing and unberthing situations.
• Pick up a mooring bow -or stern-to.
• Avoid excessive use of power.
• Additional for twin-engined vessels:
o Berth or unberth in simple situations using one engine, including correct use of lines.

​

6. Yacht handling under sail​

Understands​

• How to identify and take into account wind and current conditions when planning and executing manoeuvres (practical experience where possible).

Can​

• Use the sails to control the yacht in a confined space.
• Can use the sails to control the yacht in a confined space.
• Consistently pick up a mooring.
• Sail efficiently on all points of sailing, including downwind techniques.

​

7. Adverse weather conditions​

Understands​

• How to handle a cruising vessel in strong winds.
• General conduct in restricted visibility.

Can​

• Prepare a cruising vessel for heavy weather.
• Navigate in restricted visibility.

​

8. Emergency situations​

Understands​

• The actions to be taken when abandoning to the liferaft and during helicopter and lifeboat rescues.
• How to carry out the aftercare requirements on a casualty who has been in the water.

Can ​

• Describe to a crew member the effects of cold water shock on a casualty who has been in the water.
• Recovery of crew overboard under power and sail.
• Additional for sail recover a crew overboard under sail.