RYA practical courses teach you how to handle your boat in a safe and competent manner.

The beauty of boating is that you are pretty much free to do what you want, when you want.

To send a link to this page to a friend, simply enter their email address below.

The message will include the name and email address you gave us when you signed up.

Email address

  Send link

To send a link to this page to a friend, you must be logged in.

With boats you could, in theory, buy a boat, get it in the water, fire up the engine or hoist the sail and off you go.

In one respect this is pleasing, in another mildly alarming. After all, although the potential to hurt others while afloat is less than, say, driving on the road, the opportunity to find yourself totally lost miles away from anywhere is much higher.

This brings us to the matter of training. It isn’t free and it isn’t mandatory so why on earth do we fork out on it?

Well, there are a number of eminently sensible reasons. The main one is simply peace of mind and of course that the 155,000 people who complete an RYA course every year can’t be wrong! The RYA practical courses teach you how to handle your boat in a safe and competent manner, while the navigation courses will give you a great deal of confidence in finding your way, even if all your electronic gadgets give up the ghost.

And this is what the courses are really all about. You don’t have to take them, but there is nothing less enjoyable than being out on a boat and feeling nervous and uncertain of what you are doing, particularly if you are in charge. By doing a course, you can enjoy your boating more simply because you’ll be more confident in your abilities.

RYA training has been around for over 130 years and its qualifications are known and respected the world over. Working to ensure the highest standards are maintained for recreational boaters to seasoned pros, there are over 100 courses to choose from, which are right up to date with safety issues, regulations, and emerging trends.

With over 2,300 RYA-recognised training centres in more than 41 countries you should be able to find somewhere near you that offers the right type of training for you.

The adverts facing this page give you the contact details of some local providers of RYA accredited training.

On the RYA website you’ll find details on all the RYA courses on offer whatever your boating preference and level of experience. You’ll also find the very useful ‘Where’s my nearest’ tool which lists the clubs and centres in your area and what courses they have to offer.

This isn’t a piece giving you a hard sell on RYA courses; after all, the RYA has always been a strong advocate of keeping legislation out of boating.

This is really just to give you some idea of what the courses are all about and then, if you feel they would improve your technique, you can find out more by contacting a local training provider or by going to www.rya.org.uk.