All our courses are engaging, interactive and fun! Whether formal training or simply looking to brush up, we take online learning to the next level.
Sailing EssentialsFreeA free course great for anyone who spends time on the water.
Essential Navigation & SeamanshipRYA course for beginners. Learn charts, tides, pilotage, and core seamanship with simple practice tasks.
Day Skipper TheoryMost PopularRYA course for inshore skippers. Plan day passages using chartwork, tides, weather, and COLREGs.
Coastal Skipper / Yachtmaster® TheoryComing SoonRYA course for advanced navigation and passage planning, secondary ports, tidal streams, and offshore weather.
SRC (VHF) Marine Radio CourseRYA Short Range Certificate radio course. Study online, then take the practical exam with an RYA assessor.Are you looking for something nautical related? Our directory is an extensive list of courses and places associated with the marine industry. Hop over and search now.
We believe every day’s a school day on a boat! That’s why we built Nautical Know-How, dedicated to answering your questions. Even better, if it can’t answer your question immediately, you can request it, and we’ll add it to our knowledge base.
Nautical Terms & TerminologyUnderstanding the language of the marine world is like trying to learn a pirate’s secret code while juggling fish. Let us explain why a sheet isn’t for your bed, why “heave ho” doesn’t mean throw up (most of the time), and why “dead reckoning” is surprisingly less ominous than it sounds.
Why do we have tides?Have you ever wondered what causes the tides? Check out this video, which introduces the forces that create the tides we experience on Earth.
What causes our weather?A video introducing the drivers behind our weather, part of our RYA Day Skipper & RYA Coastal Skipper / Yachtmaster® Offshore theory courses.
Buoyage FlashcardsFlashcards designed to help remember the buoys in the IALA system. If you want to learn them in detail, our module ‘Getting in and out of harbour‘, covers the IALA system and different buoys used.
Interactive Rule Book (COLREGs / IRPCS)Whether you’re a novice sailor or a seasoned skipper, we can help you navigate the IRPCS confidently and clearly. Our easy-to-use, easy-to-understand, plain English rule book with helpful interpretations of what each rule means.
The Salty Sea BlogFrom salty old sea dogs to fresh-faced deckhands, this blog is for anyone who finds peace, adventure, and a bit of mischief on the water. So hoist the main, set your course, and let’s sail into the stories, lessons, and musings that make life on the sea so irresistible.Understanding the language of the marine world is like trying to learn a pirate’s secret code while juggling fish. You’ll wonder why a “sheet” isn’t something you sleep under but a rope that controls a sail. “Bowsprit” sounds like a sneeze, “booby hatch” isn’t a bird’s hideout, and “port” doesn’t come in a glass—it’s just left. If someone yells, “Man overboard!” don’t ask which direction they swam. And heaven help you if you think “scuttlebutt” is gossip—well, actually, you’d be right about that one. By the time you’ve figured out that “head” means toilet and “galley” isn’t an alley with gourds, you’ve already been hit with a wave and lost your hat to the wind they call a “nor’easter.”
Let us explain why a sheet isn’t for your bed, why “heave ho” doesn’t mean throw up (most of the time), and why “dead reckoning” is surprisingly less ominous than it sounds.
To slow until a vessel has little or no movement through the water. As a vessel loses way, the flow of water over its rudder and other control surfaces decreases, so conventional steering normally becomes less effective. The point at which useful control is lost depends on the vessel, propulsion, wind, current and available manoeuvring…
The lowest tidal level predicted to occur under average meteorological conditions from any combination of astronomical influences.
The fixed reference mark on a compass that represents the vessel’s fore-and-aft heading line. The heading is read where the lubber line intersects the graduations on the compass card. The line and compass must be installed in known alignment with the vessel’s heading reference; an installation error becomes part of the compass error. Some compasses…
The leading edge of a sail. On a mainsail it normally runs between tack and head beside the mast; on a headsail it lies along or ahead of the supporting stay or foil. The luff may contain a bolt rope, slides, cars, hanks or a shaped tape according to the attachment system. Halyard, cunningham and…
To steer a sailing vessel closer towards the wind. Luffing up reduces the angle between the vessel’s heading and the true or apparent wind and normally requires the sails to be trimmed for the new course. The term describes a heading change, whereas a sail itself luffs when its leading edge loses smooth airflow and…
A temporary reduction in wind speed. A lull may last only a few seconds or persist for longer between gusts or during a broader change in the weather. It can alter sail force, apparent wind, boat speed and balance, particularly when the surrounding wind is variable. The term describes a decrease rather than a forecast…
The northerly reference direction indicated by a magnetic compass free from local compass error. Magnetic north follows the local direction of the Earth’s magnetic field and differs from true north by magnetic variation, whose size and direction change with location and time. It should not be described simply as pointing directly at the moving north…
To set or increase sail in preparation for or while proceeding under sail. Making sail can include hoisting, unfurling or setting one or more sails and trimming them for the intended course. The expression may describe getting under way under sail, but it can also mean adding sail after the vessel is already under way….
The sail set on the mainmast and normally regarded as the principal sail of that mast. On a modern sloop or cutter it is usually a fore-and-aft sail with its luff attached to or close to the mast and its foot on a boom or loose-footed. Other rigs use gaff, lug, square or multi-masted arrangements,…
An adjustable fitting or car that moves the mainsheet’s effective deck attachment across or along the vessel. On many yachts the car runs on a transverse track and changes the boom’s lateral position without the same change in sheet tension that would occur by easing the mainsheet. This allows angle of attack and leech tension…
If you belive the Earth is flat, you're about to fall of the end...
If you belive the Earth is flat, you're about to fall of the end...
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