Youth Beginner Sailing Course - RYA Stage 1 & 2

On this course you will go from beginner to confident sailor in an intensive week-long course.

By the end of the Stage 1 course, you will have a basic understanding of how a boat sails, and some experience of steering and handling the boat.

By the end of the Stage 2 course, you will have a range of sailing skills and background  knowledge and be well on the way to being a confident small boat sailor.

The course topics in the RYA curriculum will be signed off in your logbook as you achieve them.  At the end of the course, we will issue you with an action plan to detail the next steps in your sailing development. If any sections cannot be completed satisfactorily the action plan will explain how you can achieve this.

Our Saturday afternoon “Team Grafham” session is the ideal next step.  

Youth Improvers/Racing Course - RYA Stage 3 & 4

You must have the knowledge and skills of a Stage 2 sailor and additional recent practice. Before booking you need to attend a pre-course assessment. These are available during our Team Grafham sessions.

Having completed Stage 3 you will be able to sail in any direction and rig and launch your boat. Your skills and knowledge mean that you can regard yourself as a sailor not a beginner. A stage 4 certificate means that you have the skills to sail a double-handed boat as crew or helm and solve a variety of problems afloat. Passing this course is the natural entry point for the advanced courses. 

Advanced RYA Youth Courses

These are courses for the more experienced Youth sailor. You will need to be able to sail to a Stage 4 standard and must have attended Team Grafham regularly.

RYA Seamanship Skills

This course will help you learn skills a short step beyond Stage 4. During this course you will polish and test your skills and learn to resolve problems afloat. The course will give you a solid foundation for the future and enable you to become much more confident and self-sufficient afloat.

RYA Sailing With Spinnakers

A very short but fun and thrilling syllabus which probably packs the most enjoyment of all the RYA courses. Everything you need to know to enjoy modern three-sail boats.

RYA Performance Sailing

Improve your boat-handling and confidence in performance boats. This is an opportunity to be coached, practice your helming and crewing and work on a smooth fluent sailing performance with or without the spinnaker.