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 complete connection between a vessel and its anchor, made from chain, rope or both. An anchor rode may be all chain, all rope, or rope joined to a chain leader. Its size, material, length, elasticity and connections must suit the vessel, anchoring depth, seabed, wind, waves and current. Adequate scope helps the anchor pull…
Reducing a sail’s exposed area to control power and loads as wind or sea conditions increase. A slab-reefed mainsail is lowered sufficiently to secure a new tack and clew at reef points, then retensioned. Roller reefing reduces area by winding sail around a foil, mast or boom, while traditional sails may use other systems. Reefing…
A hook used to secure a mainsail’s reef tack or cringle near the gooseneck. Often called a ram’s horn, it holds the selected reef cringle at the forward end of the boom while the reef clew is tensioned aft. Some systems use a tack line or single-line reefing instead of a hook. The cringle must…
To arrange a line or sail in orderly folds so it can be stored or run without tangling. A line may be flaked in long back-and-forth turns on deck or into a container, especially before it must pay out rapidly. A sail may be flaked in alternate folds along a boom or on deck for…
Laying a line in long, orderly turns so it remains clear and can run out without tangling. The turns are normally placed back and forth on a clean deck or in a suitable container, with the end required first positioned for a clear lead. This is particularly useful for heaving lines, towlines, halyards and other…
To trim or hold a sail so the wind presses on the side opposite its normal driving side. A backed headsail can push the bow away from the wind during a tack, help balance a vessel when hove to, or drive the vessel astern in a controlled manoeuvre. A sail may back unintentionally when the…
To balance sails and helm so a sailing vessel makes little headway and lies relatively steady. A common method backs the headsail, eases or reefs the mainsail and puts the helm to oppose the vessel’s tendency to turn. The vessel normally drifts slowly to leeward and may fore-reach rather than stop completely. Heaving-to can provide…
The condition in which an anchor has dug into the seabed and is resisting the vessel’s pull. An anchor is set by lowering it under control, paying out appropriate rode and progressively applying load so its flukes penetrate a suitable bottom. The crew then checks position, transits, bearings or electronic movement to assess whether it…
A sheltered area of water where vessels can anchor, moor or berth with protection from open-water conditions. A harbour may be natural, artificially protected by breakwaters, or a combination of both. It may contain channels, anchorages, marinas, docks and port facilities, but a harbour is not necessarily a commercial port. Shelter varies with wind and…
A waterborne craft or other structure used, or capable of being used, as a means of transport on water. In the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, the term includes every description of water craft, non-displacement craft, wing-in-ground craft and seaplanes used or capable of being used for transportation on water. The exact legal…
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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