Competent Crew
Five days at sea covering seamanship, helmsmanship, sail handling, ropework, and safety.
Read the guide: RYA Competent Crew: your first step into sailingSyllabus Highlights
14 sections · 14 topics · 174 outcomes
Key topics & assessment areas
Prerequisite Knowledge
Before you book
No prior experience required. This course is suitable for complete beginners.
Level · beginner
Where we run it
Available locations
Fornells, Menorca
Menorca
RCMB, Barcelona
Barcelona
Enrollment
Enroll on Competent Crew
Enrolling creates your course record so you can follow the syllabus, access course materials, track competencies and book practical sessions when dates suit you.
Delivered by Mt Sail & Power. Questions before you start? sail@mtsail.com
Course Content
What you'll cover
01Personal safety equipment and safety brief
3 lessonsOpenClose
Lifejackets, harnesses, and the yacht safety brief.
Notes & self-check quiz
Personal safety equipment and safety brief
Learning objectives
- Fit and check a lifejacket and safety harness, and know when to clip on.
- Locate and describe every item of safety equipment aboard.
- Understand the gas, fire, flooding and engine sections of the safety brief.
What you will do
Before the yacht moves you take part in a full safety brief and are shown how to use everything you might need in a hurry.
Key points
- A lifejacket only works if the crotch strap is used and the gas bottle and firing head are in date and armed.
- Clip on with a harness at night, in heavy weather, when working forward, and whenever the skipper says so.
- Fire: know the extinguishers, the fire blanket, and how to shut off gas at the bottle and the panel.
- Flooding: know where the seacocks and bungs are and where the bilge pump handle lives.
Common mistakes
- Clipping onto a guardrail rather than a jackstay or strong point.
- Never checking the lifejacket gas bottle because it looks fine from outside.
Self-check
Fit your lifejacket and harness unaided, then show where you would clip on going forward.
Self-check quiz · 3 questions
1. Where should a safety harness tether be clipped?
2. What makes a lifejacket much less effective if not used?
3. Where is gas shut off aboard a yacht?
Lessons (3)
- Briefing and theory45 min
- On-the-water practice45 min
- Debrief and self-check45 min
02Parts of the boat and nautical terminology
3 lessonsOpenClose
The language you need to work as crew.
Notes & self-check quiz
Parts of the boat and nautical terminology
Learning objectives
- Name the hull, deck, rig and sail parts of a cruising yacht.
- Use direction and position terms correctly and instinctively.
- Distinguish standing from running rigging.
What you will do
A guided walk of the yacht, naming everything you will be asked to handle, followed by using those names for real all week.
Key points
- Hull and deck: bow, stern, beam, freeboard, draught, coachroof, cockpit, guardrails, pulpit, pushpit.
- Rig: mast, boom, kicker, shrouds, forestay, backstay (standing) versus halyards, sheets, reefing lines (running).
- Directions: ahead, astern, abeam, windward, leeward, forward, aft.
- A sheet controls a sail; a halyard hoists it.
Common mistakes
- Saying "the rope at the front" when three lines are within reach.
- Confusing the topping lift with the main halyard when dropping sail.
Self-check
Walk from bow to stern naming twenty items out loud without hesitating.
Self-check quiz · 3 questions
1. Which of these is standing rigging?
2. What does 'abeam' mean?
3. What does a halyard do?
Lessons (3)
- Briefing and theory45 min
- On-the-water practice45 min
- Debrief and self-check45 min
03Ropework, knots and warps
3 lessonsOpenClose
Knots, coiling, cleating and mooring lines.
Notes & self-check quiz
Ropework, knots and warps
Learning objectives
- Tie a bowline, clove hitch, rolling hitch, round turn and two half hitches, figure of eight and reef knot.
- Coil and stow lines so they run free next time.
- Rig bow lines, stern lines, springs and fenders for a berth.
What you will do
Continuous practice, then applying it every time the yacht leaves or comes alongside.
Key points
- Springs stop the boat surging fore and aft; bow and stern lines hold it in.
- A rolling hitch grips along another line — useful for taking the load off a riding turn.
- Coil clockwise, secure the coil, and hang it where it can run.
- Match fender height to the pontoon or the raft you are lying against.
Common mistakes
- Slack springs, so the yacht surges all night alongside.
- Coils dumped on deck that tangle on the way out of the berth.
Self-check
Rig the yacht for a finger berth from memory and explain what each line does.
Self-check quiz · 3 questions
1. What do springs prevent?
2. Which knot grips along another rope under load?
3. A riding turn has jammed a loaded sheet on a winch. What helps?
Lessons (3)
- Briefing and theory45 min
- On-the-water practice45 min
- Debrief and self-check45 min
04Crew duties underway
3 lessonsOpenClose
Your job before, during and after each manoeuvre.
Notes & self-check quiz
Crew duties underway
Learning objectives
- Understand and carry out crew tasks in tacking, gybing, mooring and anchoring.
- Keep an effective lookout and report what you see clearly.
- Work as part of a briefed team.
What you will do
You rotate through crew positions so that every manoeuvre is practised from every station.
Key points
- Every manoeuvre starts with a brief: what we are doing, who does what, and the words that trigger each action.
- Lookout reports use bearings relative to the boat: "fishing boat, two points on the starboard bow, closing".
- Ready means ready: lines flaked, winches loaded, crew in position, and a clear acknowledgement.
Common mistakes
- Acting before the command because you think you know what is coming.
- Reporting "there's a boat over there" instead of a usable bearing.
Self-check
Brief a tack to another crew member as if you were the skipper.
Self-check quiz · 3 questions
1. How should a lookout report a contact?
2. When does a manoeuvre begin?
3. What does 'ready' mean when you answer the skipper?
Lessons (3)
- Briefing and theory45 min
- On-the-water practice45 min
- Debrief and self-check45 min
05Sail setting, trimming and reefing
3 lessonsOpenClose
Getting the sails up, right and small again.
Notes & self-check quiz
Sail setting, trimming and reefing
Learning objectives
- Hoist, set, reef and stow mainsail and headsail.
- Trim to telltales on all points of sail.
- Recognise when a reef is needed and take one in as crew.
What you will do
Repeated sail handling in real conditions, including at least one reef and shake-out.
Key points
- Head to wind or close to it for hoisting a mainsail; ease the kicker and mainsheet first.
- Windward telltales lifting means head down or sheet in; leeward telltales stalling means ease.
- Reef early. The first thought of a reef is the right time to take one.
- Slab reefing sequence: ease halyard, hook or pull down the luff cringle, tension halyard, wind on the reef line, tidy.
Common mistakes
- Reefing too late, so the job is done in the conditions that made it necessary.
- Leaving the kicker loaded when hoisting or reefing.
Self-check
Talk through the slab reefing sequence step by step in the right order.
Self-check quiz · 3 questions
1. When is the right time to reef?
2. The windward telltales are lifting. What do you do?
3. What is released before hoisting or reefing the mainsail?
Lessons (3)
- Briefing and theory45 min
- On-the-water practice45 min
- Debrief and self-check45 min
06Helming under sail and power
3 lessonsOpenClose
Steering, awareness and boat feel.
Notes & self-check quiz
Helming under sail and power
Learning objectives
- Steer a compass course, a transit and to the wind.
- Helm through tacks and gybes under instruction.
- Steer under power at slow speed, allowing for wind and tide.
What you will do
Time on the helm on every point of sail, in open water and in confined water.
Key points
- Look ahead, not at the compass. Use a transit or a cloud, and check the compass to confirm.
- Small corrections early beat large corrections late.
- Under sail, feel the weather helm build as the boat becomes overpressed — that is the boat asking for a reef.
- Under power a yacht pivots about a point roughly a third back from the bow; the stern swings out on a turn.
Common mistakes
- Fixating on the instruments and weaving.
- Forgetting that in astern the tiller or wheel response feels reversed and delayed.
Self-check
Hold a course within five degrees for five minutes while the crew works on deck.
Self-check quiz · 3 questions
1. What is a transit?
2. Increasing weather helm usually means what?
3. Where does a yacht pivot when turning under power?
Lessons (3)
- Briefing and theory45 min
- On-the-water practice45 min
- Debrief and self-check45 min
07Man overboard and emergency procedures
3 lessonsOpenClose
Alarm, recovery and calling for help.
Notes & self-check quiz
Man overboard and emergency procedures
Learning objectives
- Carry out crew duties in a man overboard recovery.
- Send a distress call on VHF Channel 16 and use DSC.
- Deploy the danbuoy, horseshoe and throwing line.
What you will do
Repeated MOB drills under sail and power, rotating spotter, helm and recovery roles, plus a practice MAYDAY.
Key points
- Shout, throw, point — then start the engine only when it is safe from lines in the water.
- Press the MOB button on the plotter and note time and position.
- MAYDAY format: MAYDAY x3, vessel name x3, callsign, position, nature of distress, assistance required, number on board, over.
- Recovery is the hardest part: get a line on the casualty, then think about lifting with a halyard and winch.
Common mistakes
- Motoring over lines that are streaming in the water and fouling the propeller.
- Losing the casualty in waves because the spotter looked away.
Self-check
Deliver a full MAYDAY out loud from memory, in the correct order.
Self-check quiz · 3 questions
1. What is the correct MAYDAY order after the callsign?
2. Why be careful before starting the engine in an MOB?
3. What should be pressed immediately on the chart plotter?
Lessons (3)
- Briefing and theory45 min
- On-the-water practice45 min
- Debrief and self-check45 min
08Living aboard, watchkeeping and weather awareness
3 lessonsOpenClose
Routine, hygiene, watch systems and reading conditions.
Notes & self-check quiz
Living aboard, watchkeeping and weather awareness
Learning objectives
- Live safely and considerately aboard: galley, heads, water, gas and rubbish.
- Stand a watch and hand over properly.
- Interpret a shipping forecast well enough to know what your day will be like.
What you will do
Real life aboard for the duration of the course, including cooking under way, night stowage and forecast briefings each morning.
Key points
- The galley at sea: pans on fiddles, hot handles inboard, and never carry hot liquid across a heeling saloon.
- Heads discipline: nothing goes in that has not been eaten first, and know the seacock positions.
- Watch handover covers course, traffic, weather trend, engine and any standing orders.
- Beaufort scale: Force 4 is a working breeze for a cruising yacht; Force 6 with a foul tide is a serious day.
Common mistakes
- Leaving lockers and floorboards unsecured before going to sea.
- Handing over a watch without mentioning the ship you have been tracking for ten minutes.
Self-check
Give a two-minute watch handover covering course, traffic, weather and anything outstanding.
Self-check quiz · 3 questions
1. What must a watch handover always include?
2. Wind against tide produces what?
3. What is safe practice in the galley at sea?
Lessons (3)
- Briefing and theory45 min
- On-the-water practice45 min
- Debrief and self-check45 min
RYA Syllabus
Learning outcomes
01Knowledge of Sea Terms
2 outcomes
Terminology and parts2
- 1.1Uses correct nautical terminology for boat, rig and equipment
- 1.2Identifies parts of the hull, spars, sails and running/standing rigging
02Sail Handling
2 outcomes
Setting, reefing and handing2
- 2.1Prepares and hoists sails; reefs, shakes out and lowers under supervision
- 2.2Handles sheets and halyards on winches safely
03Ropework
2 outcomes
Knots and rope handling2
- 3.1Ties eight essential knots without hesitation
- 3.2Coils, secures, throws and heaves a line accurately
04Fire Precautions & Fire Fighting
1 outcomes
Onboard fire safety1
- 4.1Knows location and use of extinguishers, fire blanket and gas isolators
05Personal Safety Equipment
1 outcomes
PFDs, harnesses & jackstays1
- 5.1Dons a lifejacket and harness correctly; clips on when appropriate
06Man Overboard
1 outcomes
MOB response1
- 6.1Raises the alarm and performs the actions expected of crew during MOB drill
07Emergency Equipment
1 outcomes
Distress signals & liferaft1
- 7.1Knows location and purpose of flares, EPIRB and liferaft
08Manners and Customs
1 outcomes
Life aboard1
- 8.1Understands accepted behaviour with regard to rubbish, discharges, noise and privacy
09Rules of the Road
1 outcomes
IRPCS basics1
- 9.1Has a basic knowledge of the steering and sailing rules
10Dinghies
1 outcomes
Tender handling1
- 10.1Boards and disembarks a dinghy; rows or drives a tender safely
11Meteorology
1 outcomes
Wind and weather1
- 11.1Recognises Beaufort force and the effect of wind on the sea state
12Seasickness
1 outcomes
Prevention & care1
- 12.1Understands prevention, remedies and how to look after affected crew
13Helmsmanship and Sailing
2 outcomes
Steering under sail and power2
- 13.1Steers a compass course and by the wind, under sail and power
- 13.2Understands the effect of the rudder and propeller
14General Duties
2 outcomes
Anchoring, mooring & watchkeeping2
- 14.1Assists with anchoring, mooring and berthing
- 14.2Stands watch and keeps a lookout
Upcoming Sessions
Book your place
No sessions are currently scheduled. Contact us at sail@mtsail.com to request one.