Learning to Sail

We are accredited by the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), the nationally and internationally recognised body for boating and water sports. When you complete a dinghy sailing course with us, we will award you an RYA qualification which you can use to sail at thousands of centres all over the world.

St. Ives Sailing School teaches RYA dinghy sailing courses from complete beginner to advanced levels. We teach in half-day or two-hour sessions. Each RYA course takes a minimum of sixteen hours to complete, but we will teach you until you feel confident with all of the skills for that level.

St. Ives Sailing School

All of our courses involve some teaching ashore, though we spend as much time as we can on the water. Your instructor might be in a boat with you; at other times they will be alongside you in the safety boat. We can teach individuals, or small groups of up to three sailors.

If you are a beginner, we take pride in giving you a thorough grounding in dinghy sailing, to the point where you feel confident to sail independently with your local sailing club. If you are an intermediate or advanced sailor, we will work with you to develop your sailing in the direction you want to go, supported by the RYA course structure.