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RYA G20Sail · beginner

Start Yachting

A weekend afloat introducing basic sailing skills, safety, and life aboard a cruising yacht. No prior experience required.

Read the guide: RYA Competent Crew: your first step into sailing

New to the terminology?

Syllabus Highlights

4 sections · 5 topics · 174 outcomes

Key topics & assessment areas

Full RYA syllabus →Shareable preview page →

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

See scheduled dates →

Enrollment

Enroll on Start Yachting

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

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Course Content

What you'll cover

01

Welcome aboard & boat familiarisation

3 lessonsOpen

Parts of the yacht, safety brief and life aboard.

Notes & self-check quiz

Welcome aboard & boat familiarisation

Learning objectives

  • Name the main parts of a cruising yacht and the deck gear you will handle.
  • Understand the skipper's safety brief: lifejackets, gas, fire, engine, seacocks, VHF.
  • Move safely around the deck at sea and in harbour.
What you will do

Your first hours aboard are about orientation. You will be shown the yacht bow to stern, told where every piece of safety equipment lives, and shown how to move with one hand for the boat at all times.

Key points
  • Port is always the left side facing forward, starboard the right — never "left" and "right".
  • Lifejackets are fitted, adjusted and checked before you leave the berth, with crotch straps done up.
  • Learn where the seacocks, fire extinguishers, flares, first aid kit and engine stop are before you need them.
  • Keep the deck clear: coiled lines, closed hatches, nothing loose to trip on.
Common mistakes
  • Standing up and walking across a heeling deck without a handhold.
  • Assuming someone else has checked your lifejacket fit.
Self-check

Point to ten items of safety equipment without help and say what each one is for.

Self-check quiz · 3 questions

  1. 1. Which side of the yacht is starboard?

  2. 2. What does 'one hand for the boat, one for yourself' mean?

  3. 3. When should your lifejacket be fitted and adjusted?

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Lessons (3)
  • Briefing and theory45 min
  • On-the-water practice45 min
  • Debrief and self-check45 min
02

Ropework and safe line handling

3 lessonsOpen

Essential knots, cleating and taking a turn safely.

Notes & self-check quiz

Ropework and safe line handling

Learning objectives

  • Tie and use a figure of eight, round turn and two half hitches, bowline and clove hitch.
  • Make a line fast to a cleat and secure a fender.
  • Handle loaded lines safely with turns on a winch or cleat.
What you will do

You will practise the small number of knots that do almost all the work aboard a cruising yacht, then use them for real when you leave and return to the berth.

Key points
  • Figure of eight stops a sheet running out through a block.
  • Round turn and two half hitches secures a fender or a line to a rail.
  • Bowline makes a loop that will not slip and can still be undone after loading.
  • Cleating: a full round turn first, then figure of eights, and a locking hitch only where it is expected.
Common mistakes
  • Wrapping a loaded line around your hand or standing inside a bight.
  • Too few turns on a winch, so the line slips and surges under load.
Self-check

Tie all four knots in under a minute each, then again with your eyes closed.

Self-check quiz · 3 questions

  1. 1. Which knot puts a secure loop in the end of a line that can still be untied after loading?

  2. 2. What is the first thing you do when making a line fast to a cleat?

  3. 3. Where should you never stand when handling mooring lines?

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Lessons (3)
  • Briefing and theory45 min
  • On-the-water practice45 min
  • Debrief and self-check45 min
03

Sail handling as crew

3 lessonsOpen

Hoisting, trimming, reefing and stowing sail.

Notes & self-check quiz

Sail handling as crew

Learning objectives

  • Hoist, furl and stow the mainsail and headsail to instruction.
  • Trim a sail using telltales and the shape of the luff.
  • Tack and gybe safely as crew, understanding your job before the manoeuvre starts.
What you will do

You will work the sheets and halyards while the skipper explains what the sails are doing and why. Nobody expects theory — you learn by feel.

Key points
  • Sheet in until the luff stops lifting, then a touch more; ease until it lifts, then trim back.
  • On a tack the bow passes through the wind; on a gybe the stern does, and the boom crosses fast — keep heads down and the mainsheet controlled.
  • Load the winch clockwise, three turns before the self-tailer, and keep fingers clear of the drum.
Common mistakes
  • Releasing the old sheet too early in a tack so the sail flogs.
  • Riding turns on the winch from crossed or slack turns.
Self-check

Talk through your job in a tack — before, during and after — without prompting.

Self-check quiz · 3 questions

  1. 1. During a gybe, what passes through the wind?

  2. 2. Which way do sheets go onto a standard winch drum?

  3. 3. The luff of the headsail is lifting. What should you do?

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Lessons (3)
  • Briefing and theory45 min
  • On-the-water practice45 min
  • Debrief and self-check45 min
04

Helming and boat handling under power

3 lessonsOpen

Steering to a course, engine basics and berthing awareness.

Notes & self-check quiz

Helming and boat handling under power

Learning objectives

  • Steer a compass course and a transit under sail and under power.
  • Start, check and use the engine, including the pre-start checks.
  • Understand how wind and tide affect a yacht at slow speed.
What you will do

You take the helm. You will steer upwind and downwind, hold a course while the crew works, and motor in and out of a berth under supervision.

Key points
  • Pre-start checks: cooling water seacock open, oil, fuel, gear in neutral, nobody and nothing in the water aft.
  • Confirm cooling water is coming out of the exhaust within seconds of starting.
  • A yacht steers with water flow over the rudder — no way on means no steering. A short burst ahead gives you steerage.
  • Prop walk pulls the stern one way in astern; use it, do not fight it.
Common mistakes
  • Oversteering: large corrections that leave the boat weaving.
  • Approaching a berth too fast because the crew look ready.
Self-check

Hold a course within five degrees for two minutes while looking mainly ahead, not at the compass.

Self-check quiz · 3 questions

  1. 1. What must you confirm within seconds of starting the engine?

  2. 2. What is prop walk?

  3. 3. A yacht has lost steerage in a marina. What restores control?

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Lessons (3)
  • Briefing and theory45 min
  • On-the-water practice45 min
  • Debrief and self-check45 min
05

Safety, man overboard and next steps

3 lessonsOpen

MOB awareness, emergency equipment and where you go next.

Notes & self-check quiz

Safety, man overboard and next steps

Learning objectives

  • Raise the alarm and act as spotter in a man overboard situation.
  • Know how to make a distress call on VHF Channel 16.
  • Understand what Competent Crew and Day Skipper add after Start Yachting.
What you will do

You will take part in a man overboard drill using a fender or dan buoy, then talk through the equipment and calls you would use in a real emergency.

Key points
  • Shout, throw, point: shout "man overboard", throw buoyancy, and point continuously without taking your eyes off the casualty.
  • The spotter has one job and does nothing else, whatever else is happening on board.
  • A MAYDAY is for grave and imminent danger to a person or vessel; PAN PAN is urgency without immediate danger to life.
  • Hit the MOB button on the chart plotter if the boat has one.
Common mistakes
  • The spotter joining in with the recovery and losing sight of the casualty.
  • Nobody actually pressing MOB or noting a position.
Self-check

Say the first four actions you take, in order, the moment somebody goes over the side.

Self-check quiz · 3 questions

  1. 1. What are the first three actions on sighting a man overboard?

  2. 2. What is the spotter's job?

  3. 3. Which call is used for grave and imminent danger?

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Lessons (3)
  • Briefing and theory45 min
  • On-the-water practice45 min
  • Debrief and self-check45 min

RYA Syllabus

Learning outcomes

01

Knowledge of Sea Terms and Parts of a Boat

3 outcomes
Boat & rig terminology3
  • 1.1aNames the main parts of a yacht and rigging
  • 1.1bIdentifies sails and their controls
  • 1.1cUses correct terms for direction and points of sail
02

Sail Handling

4 outcomes
Setting and handing sails2
  • 2.1aHoists, sets and lowers mainsail and headsail
  • 2.1bReefs sails under instruction
Basic boat handling under sail2
  • 2.2aSteers a compass course and by the wind
  • 2.2bTacks and gybes the yacht
03

Ropework

2 outcomes
Knots2
  • 3.1aTies figure-of-eight, bowline, round turn and two half hitches, clove hitch, reef knot
  • 3.1bHandles and coils a rope safely
04

Safety on Board

3 outcomes
Personal safety3
  • 4.1aWears a lifejacket correctly and knows when to wear one
  • 4.1bUnderstands the safety brief and location of safety equipment
  • 4.1cResponds appropriately to a man overboard alarm

Upcoming Sessions

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