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.The process of arranging a knot’s parts neatly in their intended positions before it is fully tightened. Correct dressing removes unintended crossings, distributes load as designed and makes inspection easier. A poorly dressed knot may capsize, jam unevenly or lose strength even when the nominal knot has been tied correctly.
A fore-and-aft stay fitted abaft the main forestay to support the mast or carry an inner headsail. It may be permanent or removable and is commonly used for a staysail or storm jib. Its load, attachment points and interaction with running backstays or swept spreaders depend on the rig design and should follow the designer’s…
The adjustment of a sail’s angle and shape to suit the apparent wind and the vessel’s intended course. Sheets control angle of attack, while halyards, outhauls, vangs, travellers, cars and other controls alter draft, twist and leech tension. Effective trim produces useful drive with manageable heel and must be revised as wind, waves, course or…
A point of sail with the apparent wind forward of the beam but far enough abaft the bow for the sails to draw without close-hauled trim. It lies between close-hauled and a beam reach. Sails are eased somewhat from close-hauled, and many vessels make good speed with less heel and leeway than when sailing as…
The prow is the forward-most part of a ship’s hull, also called the fore or stem. Shaped to cut through water, it plays a key role in speed, stability, and manoeuvrability. Once decorated with figureheads for luck and protection, the prow is now designed mainly for performance and function.
A readily accessible emergency bag containing selected survival, communication and essential personal items for abandoning or evacuating a vessel. Contents may include portable distress beacons or radio, flares, torch, water, food, first aid, thermal protection, medication, documents and equipment that supplements the liferaft or survival craft pack. It should be waterproof or protected, identifiable, portable…
An instrument displaying water depth or the measured distance beneath a vessel from an acoustic transducer or other sensor. Most small-craft depth instruments are echo sounders that time a sound pulse reflected from the seabed. The display may be offset to show depth below the transducer, below the keel or an estimated total depth. The…
Attached to a stay by individual hanks that slide or clip around the stay as the sail is raised or lowered. Headsail hanks may be piston, snap, soft or other designs spaced along the luff. They keep the sail connected to the forestay while allowing it to be changed, reefed by substitution or lowered to…
A small, strongly built storm sail set abaft the mast in place of, or independently from, the mainsail. A trysail has reduced area, heavy cloth and reinforced corners and is normally set without the main boom or with the boom secured. A dedicated track can allow it to be hoisted without removing the mainsail from…
A sector-shaped fitting on a rudder stock that converts steering-cable movement into rudder rotation. In a cable-and-quadrant system, wire or rope runs around the quadrant to the wheel steering mechanism. The quadrant’s radius provides leverage and determines cable travel for a given rudder angle. Fastenings, key or clamp, cable tension, sheaves, end stops and emergency-steering…
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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