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.A line or wire supporting or controlling the height of a boom, yard or pole. A mainsail topping lift supports the boom when the sail and halyard do not and may be eased once the sail carries the load. A spinnaker-pole topping lift controls the pole’s vertical position together with a foreguy or downhaul; the…
The exterior sides of a vessel’s hull above the waterline. Topsides extend from the waterline region towards the sheer or deck edge and may include plating, planking or moulded laminate, coatings, rubbing strakes, ports and fittings. The term usually excludes the deck and superstructure. The actual waterline changes with loading, heel and waves, so part…
A formally adopted routeing measure that separates opposing or crossing streams of vessel traffic into defined lanes and associated areas.
The observed alignment of two charted or identifiable objects from a vessel. When the nearer and farther objects lie on the same bearing, the vessel is on the straight line through them. A charted transit can mark a channel centreline, clearing line or position line, while an uncharted pair can provide a useful repeatable reference….
The structural surface or framing forming the after end of a hull. A transom is commonly flat or slightly curved and may be vertical, raked or stepped. It can carry an outboard engine, rudder fittings, boarding platform, drains, exhausts or other equipment when designed and reinforced for those loads. Not every vessel has a transom;…
A movable car, ring or fitting that changes the position from which a sheet or control applies its load. A mainsheet traveller commonly runs across a track to alter the boom’s lateral position while retaining chosen sheet tension. Travellers are also used on headsail tracks, horse arrangements and other rigging systems, with adjustment by tackles,…
A single navigation-light fitting that combines red and green sidelights with a white sternlight. The three sectors are arranged around one lantern, normally mounted at or near the masthead of an eligible sailing vessel. From ahead it shows the appropriate red or green sidelight sector and from astern it shows white. It is not itself…
The adjustment or resulting condition of a vessel’s fore-and-aft attitude, weight distribution or sail settings. Vessel trim describes the difference between forward and aft draught and can be changed by loading, ballast or fuel distribution. Sail trim describes adjustment of sheets and controls to shape and orient sails for the desired drive, heel and balance….
Adjustable surfaces at a powerboat’s stern used to alter its running trim and side-to-side attitude. Conventional trim tabs are hinged plates on the transom. Lowering a tab creates lift at that part of the stern, which can lower the bow, help the vessel reach or maintain planing attitude and correct an uneven running angle caused…
A multihull vessel with one main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls. The outrigger hulls, often called amas, are connected to the central hull by transverse structures known as akas or crossbeams. Their spacing gives the vessel high initial stability compared with a similar-width monohull. Trimarans may be sailing or powered and range from folding…
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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