17 Boating & Sailing courses in Largs

The Day Skipper shore based course sits in the RYA Syllabus as preamble to the Day Skipper practical course and will give the aspiring skipper the knowledge that is needed to navigate familiar water. The course also provides an introduction to lights to help you on your way with sailing in the dark. The course will give you the confidence to be able to plan your passage on inshore and coastal routes, and ensure that you and your crew are safe. The course includes: Basics of seamanship Essentials of inshore navigation and pilotage Chartwork (plotting tidal streams, estimated positions and courses to steer) Electronic charts Position fixing Passage planning Weather forecasting and meteorology Tidal height calculations Collision regulations Construction, parts and equipment of a cruising boat Emergency and safety procedures including distress calls, the use of flares, safety harnesses, lifejackets and liferafts

The RYA Start Yachting course is designed to give a taste of sailing over two days and nights and requires no previous experience. The course is for beginners who are interested in sailing. Our experienced instructors will guide you through health and safety and make sure that you are comfortable. We can advise on clothing for the trip too. You will live on board one of our yachts for the weekend, with up to four other crew members plus the instructor. There will be a mixture of experience which means that there will be other crew members who can give you a helping hand. Cooking will be shared between the crew to add to the experience. By the end of the weekend you will have learnt how to steer a course, handle the lines, tie knots - and, most importantly, find out if you have a natural talent or just love sailing!

Arguably one of the most important skills for any skipper is berthing the vessel and leaving the berth in any conditions and lowered visibility. Join us on unique course focused on pontoon and mooring practices led by one of our most experienced senior instructors. All your questions will be answered during the course and you will get the opportunity of extremely extensive training and practise of handling the vessel in any conditions. Take stress away from those approaches in harsh conditions or night time. During the weekend we will focus on: Weather conditions and forecast; Correct use of lines and fenders; Coming alongside; Crew management; Setting the appropriate lines; Turning in tight spaces. This course starts on Friday evening at 6.30 and finishes around 3pm on Sunday afternoon.

This is an essential course for all new or inexperienced skippers and crew, and perfect for anyone who wants to be involved in activities on the water from sailing, powerboating, sea angling or diving. The course works well as a refresher, or sits alongside Introduction to Yachting or Powerboat Level 2. The course will give you the essential knowledge when you are on board, from passage planning to safety and navigation. The syllabus will take 16 hours and we run it over a weekend or over short sessions: Charts, publications and terms. Buoyage Navigation Pilotage Tides Electronic Navigation Anchoring Rules of the road Weather Forecasts Safety Passage Planning

A one-day/8 hour radar navigation course giving you an understanding of radar as an aid to navigation and collision avoidance. Cruising boats increasingly have radar on board. The International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea state that if you have a radar, you must know how to use it. Radar is probably the most versatile of all electronic navigation aids, but the best results are only obtained when you know how to use all the functions correctly. It is not an automatic all-seeing eye, and can easily mislead those who do not understand its controls, allow for its limitations, or interpret its picture. Course topics include: how the radar set works how its adjustments and features affect the way it works target definition radar reflectors types of radar display radar plotting the use of radar in navigation and collision avoidance Course materials included in the price: RYA student pack - Radar Course Questions and Answers RYA booklet - An introduction to Radar

RYA first aid, sail training, first aid at sea course, 1st aid training

All our skippers and instructors are either fully qualified RYA Yachtmaster or Cruising Instructors with many years of experience sailing in Scotland and with years of offshore experience, sailing across the seas and oceans. They all have various other RYA qualifications and are keen to share their knowledge with you. If you would like to talk about your sailing plans and aspirations, or are interested in customised training at sea or ashore, please contact us at admin@gowestsailing.com