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 strongly constructed headsail intended to help a sailing vessel retain controlled drive in severe weather. A storm jib uses heavy cloth, strong reinforcement and secure attachment and is normally set with a high clew to reduce wave impact. Its area and construction may be governed by a class rule, safety standard or vessel…
To place and secure an item in its assigned location for the vessel’s expected motion and operations. Proper stowage considers weight, access, ventilation, drainage, fire and flooding hazards, compatibility with neighbouring materials and the loads created by roll, pitch and impact. Some items require racks, chocks, lashings, latches or dedicated lockers rather than merely being…
A charted category of unusually large buoy, generally more than five metres in diameter, whose size or function makes it a significant hazard or high-consequence object. IHO chart specifications use the category for items such as offshore loading or single-point mooring buoys and very large ocean-data-acquisition buoys. Their moorings, hoses, chains or operating exclusion areas…
The water area a moored or anchored vessel may occupy as it rotates or moves around its restraint system. For a single anchor it is influenced by deployed rode, vessel length, anchor position and movement caused by wind and current. A mooring’s riser, chain, elasticity and seabed geometry can create a different excursion pattern rather…
To change tack by turning a sailing vessel’s bow through the wind. During the manoeuvre the sails luff and then fill on the opposite side as the vessel passes through the no-go zone. Sufficient momentum, coordinated steering and controlled release and trimming of sheets are needed, with exact timing depending on vessel, rig and conditions….
Changing from one tack to the other by turning the bow through the wind, or progressing by a series of such manoeuvres. A single tack moves the sails from one side to the other; repeated tacking allows a sailing vessel to make progress towards a destination lying within its direct no-go sector. The optimum headings…
To assume responsibility for operating a vessel’s steering control. A proper handover identifies the course or heading, steering mode, traffic, wind and current, vessel response and any current helm order. The person taking over should confirm control and demonstrate that the wheel, tiller or autopilot interface is responding as expected. Taking the helm does not…
A spar used to position the windward clew or guy of a symmetric spinnaker away from the mast. Its inboard end attaches to a mast fitting and its outboard end carries the guy or brace. A topping lift supports it, a foreguy or downhaul controls upward movement, and these controls establish height and angle for…
A permanent or semi-permanent rope termination or join formed by interweaving, burying or otherwise integrating the rope’s elements. Eye, short, long and end-to-end splices use methods specific to laid rope, double braid, single braid or high-modulus fibre. A correctly designed splice can retain more rope strength and create less bulk than a knot, but efficiency…
A lightweight performance-oriented sailing boat designed for high speed, responsive handling and competitive sailing. Sportsboats commonly use a high sail-area-to-displacement ratio, asymmetric spinnaker, retractable bowsprit and a keel or centreboard, with crew weight contributing strongly to stability. Size, cabin provision, ballast and class rules vary, so the term does not define one regulated design category…
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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