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 small, usually open boat used independently or as a tender to a larger vessel. A sailing dinghy is a lightweight craft sailed for training, recreation or racing and may be designed to capsize and be righted by its crew. A tender dinghy carries people or stores between a parent vessel and shore and may…
To lower or take in a sail, or in another context to extinguish a light or flame. Dousing a sail means removing its driving effect and bringing it under control, often before harbour entry, a sail change or worsening conditions. The method differs for a mainsail, headsail and spinnaker and need not always be rapid….
A line or tackle used to pull a sail, spar or fitting downwards or towards a lower control point. Its function depends on the rig. A mainsail downhaul can tension the luff or pull a sliding gooseneck down; a jib downhaul can help lower the sail; and other downhauls control poles, tack lines or retrieval…
In or towards the direction to which the wind is blowing. A position downwind lies on the lee side of the reference point. A vessel travelling downwind is making progress generally in the same direction as the true wind, although its exact point of sail may be a broad reach or a run rather than…
A point of sail on which a vessel sails as close to the wind as it can while keeping the sails drawing effectively. The sails are trimmed in and the vessel makes progress to windward on one tack. The closest useful angle varies with rig, sail condition, hull and appendages, wind strength, sea state and…
A fore-and-aft sailing rig whose mainsail is triangular, with its luff set along the mast and its foot usually controlled by a boom. Also called a Bermuda rig and historically a Marconi rig, it commonly includes one or more headsails set before the mast. It may be used on sloops, cutters, ketches and other arrangements,…
The airflow component attributable to a vessel’s own motion through the surrounding air. It is a teaching term used when constructing apparent wind. The motion-wind vector acts opposite to the vessel’s velocity through the air; during ordinary forward motion it therefore appears to come from ahead and becomes larger as that velocity increases. Boat wind…
A spar attached to or associated with a mast that controls the foot and position of a sail. On a conventional mainsail the boom extends aft from the mast, supports or tensions the sail’s foot and transfers loads from the mainsheet, vang or kicking strap, outhaul and reefing systems. It pivots across the vessel as…
To hold a headsail out to windward, usually with a pole, when sailing downwind. When a boat is running, the mainsail can shield the headsail from the wind. Holding the headsail’s clew out on the opposite side can keep it filled, creating the arrangement commonly described as goosewinged. A properly rigged whisker pole or spinnaker…
A spar projecting forward from a vessel’s bow to support rigging or the tack of a forward sail. On traditional rigs it may carry forestays and stays for jibs, increasing the foretriangle or spreading the standing-rigging loads. Modern yachts may use a fixed or retractable bowsprit primarily for an asymmetric spinnaker or other reaching sail…
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...
Our 1% commitment
My Sailing Course contributes 1% of every Stripe payment to help promising carbon removal technologies move from the lab into the field.
Stripe Climate commitments fund the development and purchase of carbon removal. They are not carbon offsets or credits attached to an individual order.
Welcome to My Sailing Course. Where's this adventure going to take you?
Ahoy there, Visiting Sailor! Ask us anything—whether you need help choosing a course, have a sailing question, or want to speak to the crew.
Scan with your phone to open the My Sailing Course WhatsApp service. You can review or edit the prepared message before sending it.
Your conversation stays with My Sailing Course so our Support team can respond securely.
Enter at least two characters to explore.
Welcome back aboard. Sign in with the email address connected to your My Sailing Course account.
Your account details are encrypted in transit and your password is never displayed or stored by this form. By continuing, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and acknowledge our Privacy Policy.
Join free to save your favourites, unlock bonus learning resources and keep everything nautical close at hand.
Join the My Sailing Course community with one secure account for your courses, profile and support.
We've successfully created your account. Hold station for a few moments and you will be returned to the page.
Already have an account? Sign in
Enter your account email and we will send you a secure reset link.
This reset link is invalid or has expired.
Your new password is saved securely. We are confirming it across My Sailing Course before you sign in.
Please keep this window open. It will change to the sign-in form as soon as every service confirms the update.
