RYA courses, qualifications & sailing schools

Island Sailing is a British fully accredited Royal Yachting Association Training Centre offering a comprehensive range of practical RYA training courses from our base on Lefkas, Greece as well as online RYA theory courses including those you will need to charter a yacht bareboat in Greece.

To charter a yacht bareboat in Greece you need to have some sailing qualifications and experience. Usually, at least one of your crew must have the RYA  Day Skipper qualification (Royal Yachting Association) or the ICC, the International Certificate of Competence.

It will also help you and the family or friends who come with you on your sailing holiday in Greece if one other person has an understanding of yachting and some previous sailing experience, maybe gained at home or whilst on previous yachting holidays or flotilla holidays. If a second member of crew has gained their RYA Competent Crew qualification, or maybe has progressed to the practical or theory aspects of their RYA Day Skipper course this can be useful.

If you have plenty of sailing experience but do not hold the paper qualifications the easiest and quickest thing to do would be to complete a short assessment or course to gain your ICC certificate. This is a quick and easy process and assessments can be done in a day either on a school or club boat or your own boat. RYA Sailing Schools also offer 1-2 day and weekend courses to brush up before the assessment. We can help you find the best RYA sailing school or club to ensure you have the right yachting qualifications in plenty of time for your sailing holiday in Greece.

Maybe you hold the sailing qualifications but may not have all that much practical sailing experience, or it may be that you haven’t sailed or chartered a yacht bareboat for a while and just need a quick refresher when you first come out to Greece. Sometimes, even the most experienced sailors feel happier easing themselves into the sailing when they first arrive on holiday. Others are grateful for a bit of extra advice or informal tuition on Mediterranean stern to mooring. If this is the case we can provide a skipper for the first few hours or days of your holiday whilst you unwind and get used to the boat and the sailing area. For more information on our assisted sailing support click here.

We are also happy to provide advice or informal tuition to anyone, whatever their qualifications or experience at the start of their holiday in any aspect of Mediterranean yachting from advice on the best places to anchor to practicing stern to mooring techniques.

If you do not have any qualifications or experience but want to enjoy a yacht charter holiday in Greece then a skippered charter would be a great option for you. For more information about our skippered charter holidays click here.

If you would like to have a general chat about your experience or qualifications call us on 0330 088 4744 or 0044 (0)7535 792374 or email contact@island-sailing.com