A coastal skipper is a yachts person who has the ability to skipper a yacht in coastal waters by day or night.
During your RYA Coastal Skipper course we aim to put miles on the clock with the longer passages from our base in Brighton. You will plan and execute coastal passages along the South Coast of England, often with the Solent as a destination or even across to France. Students will have the chance to navigate and skipper by both day and night thus ensuring you are a confident skipper when you leave the boat. Skills and drills will also play an important part of the week, practiced until you feel confident about all manoeuvres

• Passage planning: Can plan a coastal passage including a consideration of the capabilities of the yacht, navigation, victualling, weather, ports of refuge, tidal heights and tidal streams, publications required and strategy. Know customs procedures for most common circumstances.
• Preparation for sea: Aware of safety equipment required for offshore passages, and can prepare a yacht for sea including stowage, safety briefing, watch keeping, delegating responsibilities and equipment and engine checks
• Pilotage: Preparing a pilotage plan, with consideration of soundings, transits, clearing bearings, buoyage, port or harbour regulations and tidal considerations. Able to pilot a yacht by day and night.
• Organisational and skipper skills: Can take charge of a yacht and direct the crew, organise the navigation, deckwork and domestic duties of a yacht on passage, awareness of the significance of meteorological trends, aware of crew welfare and can use electronic navigational equipment for planning and undertaking a passage, including the use of waypoints and routes.
• Yacht handling under power: Able to control the yacht effectively in a confined space under power, including all berthing and unberthing situations in various conditions of wind and tide.
• Yacht handling under sail: Can use the sails to control the yacht in a confined space, and capable of anchoring and mooring in various conditions of wind and tide.
• Adverse weather conditions: Understanding of preparations for heavy weather and yacht handling in strong winds, and navigation in restricted visibility.
• Emergency situations: Recovery of man overboard under power or sail, actions to be taken when abandoning to the liferaft and during helicopter and lifeboat rescues.