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.To secure an item with lashings so that it cannot shift beyond acceptable limits. Lashings may use rope, webbing, chain, wire or purpose-made restraints attached between suitable strong points. The arrangement must resist loads in all relevant directions, including acceleration from pitching, rolling, slamming and collision avoidance, rather than merely hold the item down vertically….
A storage or service compartment in the after part of a vessel. A lazarette is commonly beneath the cockpit or aft deck and may contain steering gear, batteries, pumps, fuel-system components, shore-power equipment or general stores. Its exact position and use vary, and it is not necessarily a simple locker at the extreme stern. Stored…
Lines rigged on each side of a boom to guide and contain a sail as it is lowered. They normally lead from the mast or upper rigging to points along the boom, forming a cradle for a mainsail or similar fore-and-aft sail. They may be fixed, adjustable or integrated with a sail cover and are…
A marked line with a weighted lead used to measure water depth and, in some forms, obtain a seabed sample. The line carries distance marks that are read when the lead reaches the bottom and the line is approximately vertical. A hollow or tallowed recess in the lead can bring up material indicating whether the…
The trailing edge of a sail between its head and clew. On most fore-and-aft sails the leech is the aft edge, but ‘trailing edge’ is the more general definition and also applies to sails whose orientation is less conventional. Its shape may be supported by battens and controlled by sheet tension, twist, mast bend, vang…
A secured line, wire or webbing arranged to guide, support or provide attachment for people or equipment aboard a vessel. On yachts, deck jackstays commonly run fore and aft so a clipped-on crew member can move while remaining attached. The same word also has rigging and working uses, including supporting sails or guiding equipment, so…
A triangular headsail set forward of a mast, normally with its luff supported by a stay or foil. A jib is generally non-overlapping or less overlapping than a genoa, although terminology and size conventions vary. It may be hanked to a forestay, set in a luff foil or roller-furled, and specialised forms include working, storm…
The lines attached to or led from a jib’s clew to control its angle and shape. One sheet normally leads to each side of the vessel. The working sheet is tensioned on the leeward side while the lazy sheet remains ready on the opposite side, and their roles exchange when the boat tacks. Lead position…
An anchor carried or laid away from a vessel so that hauling on its rode can move, turn or assist the vessel. A kedge is often smaller and easier to transport than the main bower anchor, but small or lightweight is not its defining property. It may be used for kedging, warping off a grounding,…
A principal longitudinal structure along the lower part of a vessel’s hull. In traditional construction, the keel forms the backbone from which frames and other hull members are built. On many sailing yachts, the term also refers to a fixed external fin or deeper hull structure that provides lateral resistance and may contain ballast to…
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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