RYA Sailing Syllabus

Youth beginners’ courses

The Youth Scheme is usually completed in small dinghies suitable for your size. These will be any or all of:

• Oppies – an eight-foot dinghy with an amazing manoeuvrability for its size
• Toppers – 12 feet long – the standard dinghy for teaching larger youngsters and teenagers
• Coypu – Double-hander, 12 ft dinghy. Safe, stable and great fun!
• Hartley 12 – also a double hander dinghy, newly introduced, designed for sailing schools, can carry a spinnaker.

To make the most of our courses, you need to ensure you are confident with the skills of one course before moving on to the next. Most courses are a minimum of two days long (or an equivalent number of short sessions). They may be run over a longer period, especially if you haven’t sailed since your last course. All qualifications are assessed on ability, not on attendance. Sailing is a sport which gets better with practice, and you should try to sail between courses whenever you can. Practice makes perfect!

	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4
	A basic understanding of how a boat sailing, with some experience of steering and handling the boat	A range of sailing skills and knowledge to help in becoming a confident sailor	Rigging, launching and sailing in any direction. Equivalent to Level 2 in the National Sailing Scheme	Sail a double handed boat as crew or helm, and solve a variety of problems afloat. (optional if Stage 3 was taken in a double hander
Assumed knowledge	None	Stage 1, unless you are doing a combined Stage 1 and 2 course. Basic knowledge and steering ability	Up to and including the Stage 2 course	Up to and including Stage 3
Minimum duration	2 days	2 days	2 days	2 days
Minimum age	We can take  children only over the age of 8	We can take  children only over the age of 8	We can take  children only over the age of 8	We can take  children only over the age of 8
Course content	Launching and recovery, steering, parts of the boat, basic sailing	Basic sailing skills, ropework, collision avoidance	Rigging, launching and recovery, sailing techniques, capsize recovery, sailing theory	Rigging, launching and recovery, sailing techniques and manoeuvres in crewed boats, recovering a man overboard
Ability after course	Able to steer and understand basic principles	Able to tack and control boat speed, and understand basic principles	Able to launch and sail a dinghy around a triangle in moderate conditions	Can launch and return to a beach, jetty or mooring, and sail a crewed dinghy around a triangle in moderate conditions

Adult beginners’ courses

The scheme is comprised of a series of two-day courses enabling you to progress quickly from beginner to experts in a controlled, safe and enjoyable environment. Each course can be taken in a dinghy or a small keelboat. We use:

• Toppers – (as above) for teenagers and lighter adults
• Topazes – a larger single-handed dinghy well suited for adult beginners
• Wayfarers – the workhorse of sailing schools for the last 50 years! A 16ft double-hander dinghy you sit in rather than on
• Norfolk Oyster – 18ft heavy dinghy/small keelboat, takes six when sailing – very useful for introductory sessions.

As for the Youth courses (above), all the qualifications depend on ability, so you do usually need to get some practice after completing one Level before moving to the next.

	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3
	Introducing you sailing with all you need to know to get afloat under supervision	Setting out the foundations of sailing for you	Consolidating skills and trying new ones
Assumed knowledge	None	Sailing skills to the standard of Level 1	Sailing skills to the standard of Level 2
Minimum duration	2 days	2 days, but is often combined with the Level 1 course into a 4 or 5 day course	2 days or equivalent
Minimum age	16	16	16
Course content	How to sail in all directions, including an awareness of launching and recovering	Rigging, launching, sailing in all directions. Capsize recovery and essential safety knowledge	Coaching of level 1 and 2 skills and taster sessions from the advanced modules
Ability after course	Able to sail in light winds under supervision	Able to sail and make decisions in good conditions	More confident in sailing skills and techniques, and ready to progress onto the advanced modules

Advanced Courses – the current range of courses and syllabi can be found at https://www.rya.org.uk/courses-training/courses/dinghy-multi-keel/Pages/improvers.aspx

Barton Turf Adventure Centre is an RYA Recognised Training Centre operating from Barton Turf, Norfolk and teaching practical courses on Barton Broad and contiguous waters. Qualifications gained are based on assessed competence, not merely attendance. Practical sailing course are taught on the basis of one Instructor per 9 students maximum (in accordance with RYA standards) although 1:6 is more normal. If you have a logbook to record you achievements and experience, please bring it to the course; if not, one will be provided as part of the course. Other training materials may be available at extra cost.