Rya competent crew

Hazeltine

If you feel better do the course if not wonder to your local sailing club, introduce yourself and see what happens.

There are often boats short of crew and you can learn form there.

I would NOT recommend doing your C/C then Day skippers then buying/ charting a boat. Then it would be you walking into your local sailing club and looking for crew straight off!

You should sail with others you will not only get milage and experience, you will learn what makes a happy boat and an unhappy boat. When you get to buying your own boat (guess that's why you want your day skippers?) you will know who are the good crew.

Sailing is not just about courses, you can learn allot from others and never have a qualification, although some say they help ;)
 
Seajet said:
I did my ym offshore along with 2 others doing the same, a chap doing Coastal Skipper ( who now commands a rather fancy RN Destroyer ! ) and a chap doing Competent Crew.

I have to say - and I was with TOP instructors with impeccable C.V.'s, I thought the CC course looked of very little benefit; 'how to tie on a fender', 'how to blow up an inflatable dinghy and row it' seemed the sort of thing a decent skipper would brief a crew on within a few minutes of joining the boat ( along with normal safety briefing ) or teach as things happened.

I think the rest of the RYA courses are basically right, but I can't help thinking Competent Crew is a bit of a worthless exercise designed at making money; people so inclined would be a lot better off asking to crew at sailing clubs...
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With all due respect to "Seajet" I do not agree with much of his viewpoint...A dinghy sailor does not have experience in such things as 'how to tie on a fender', 'how to blow up an inflatable dinghy and row it' so the CC course would be of benefit. and the idea of teaching an MOB drill live as it happens is bordering on irresponsible.
The sentiment that the sailing school is best to judge the appropriate level of entry is good advice and even if they do recommend the CC course, the confidence that this dinghy sailor will gain by working as a team on a larger vessel will be a good grounding for dealing with all future adventures.
 
South Yorkshire ( land locked) if there is anybody in the area wanting a crew?

I think my best bet will be for when I go down south on holiday and maybe do a few days on one of the courses down there, as there are plenty of places we visit with decent yacht clubs, there must be a few that would want a crew...
 
Hazeltine said:
South Yorkshire ( land locked) if there is anybody in the area wanting a crew?

I think my best bet will be for when I go down south on holiday and maybe do a few days on one of the courses down there, as there are plenty of places we visit with decent yacht clubs, there must be a few that would want a crew...
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Grimsby & Hull both have sailing clubs? I think Bridlington? If yo do not mind a bit of a drive Liverpool and North Wales still allot closer than the South.

Plus if you can learn to sail out of some of the above places, the South Coast will appear a duck pond. You will know about tides and weather and currents better than most Solent sailors...

Just go for it, you can always say no the second time :D
 
LadyInBed said:
Do schools run CC courses as a single entity?
I (maybe totally incorrectly) had the impression that a CC course was combined with a DS or CS course so the instructor can be left to instruct.
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The CC course can be run just for CC students, but a better and more realistic mix will be to have a mix of CC ad DS students. This allows the instructor to teach at two levels simultaneously and provides realistic scenarios for the DS students in crew management / coaching.

If a school has more than one boat I would bet your bottom dollar that they will mix up students rather than have one CC boat and one DS boat (unless four CC or DS candidates have asked that they are together).
 
onesea said:
Grimsby & Hull both have sailing clubs? I think Bridlington? If yo do not mind a bit of a drive Liverpool and North Wales still allot closer than the South.

Plus if you can learn to sail out of some of the above places, the South Coast will appear a duck pond. You will know about tides and weather and currents better than most Solent sailors...

Just go for it, you can always say no the second time :D
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Oh yeah! Dont you think we get tides down south then. Or that the wind does not blow as hard as oop north. Been sailing the solent for eight years now- it still holds many surprises, especialy how fast the tides flow.
 
Hazeltine said:
So I take it my dinghy sailing experience will be of great help? Or is it fairly different?
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Yes a great help, a very good foundation knowledge. There are cruising (and probably one or 2 racing) crew out there who know HOW to tack but do not understand really WHY they do. On a big boat you do not need to know the big picture to crew and it is possible to end up an owner with some fairly sizeable gaps that dinghy sailing teaches you.

The basic principles are the same, the techniques are different. Fenders, mooring ropes, winches, keels, bilges, engines, kettles, cookers, chart tables etc

Things you will learn to use on the same principles as on a dinghy using different techniques.

Edited to add Rotax: I have sailed the Solent and surrounds for 15 years now. It has its moments, its own challenges. As a general rule I would say the challenges are better understood and more forgiving than some of the northern ones. No stretch of water is to be underestimated.

Certainly there are MANY more ports and destinations in smaller areas than out of many Northern Ports. For that reason alone many Solent Sailors would decide its not for them, like many chartering sailors decide UK sailing is not for them.
 
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Learning to sail a dinghy has the benefit of inbuilt incentives. Being a weak swimmer, although not afraid of jumping in, the threat of a capsize certainly taught me to pay attention to every detail of sail trim and balance - including lookout to avoid emergency manouvres and notice when a gust is heading your way. On passage, knowing you'll have to paddle home if you miss the end of the sea breeze rather than start the motor, you pay attention to sailing efficiently, in turn making you quite quick! Many racing skippers and even us cruising skippers would prefer to select their crew from those who have started on dinghies.

Whilst sail handling is obviously the same, though no recourse to roll tacks, etc., everything is larger and learning to safely use a winch is critical to keeping all your fingers. A good skipper would rather a muffed bit of trimming than a digit lying on the side deck.

It would be good to look on the CC course as an enjoyable holiday with the benefit of supervision to fill in any gaps not yet gained by crewing with friends.

Rob.
 
Hazeltine said:
As a dinghy sailor and wanting to get into the big boats would you advise the competent crew course? Does it really teach you that much? Will it teach me all I need to go yachting?
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I'd say you have already got competent crew as a dinghy sailor with your experience.
If you're going todo an RYA course do Day Skipper Practical. Or just pop along to any marina or club and go out as crew and save some money to buy your own yacht.
 
I did a competent crew before day skipper and i'm glad i did, i had plenty of boating experience , but little with sail boats.

If you've spent plenty of time on sail boats actively participating then id say its a waste of time, but for little or no experience, well worth it!
 
I learnt to sail dinghies with sea scouts & sailed a number of small dinks with my family & solo. When I decided I wanted to go sailing big boats, I approached a Charter company who agreed to charter to me (out of Mylor) with SWMBO & 2 kids 4 & 8. I was hesitant about the switch & they wanted assurance that I could actually sail so they sent me out the first morning with a mentor. Be basically sat in the cockpit drinking coffee while SWMBO & I did all the work. The most he said to us was "Sail out towards that rock" (Black Rock) & then "We best get back, I have a match his afternoon" so I asked if we would be OK - Fine he said & we were!

It is mostly about commonsense & taking care. I had done the dazed kipper correspondence course from a library book (self-marked) to mae sure I had the basics, but we didn't mae any silly mistakes, although we lost the channel for a tide near Malpas one day. Had a great time & bought a boat the following year.

Dinghy sailing is a great way to start cruising, big boats may have much greater forces on the sails, but everything happens much slower & you have time to react. You can get away with cock-ups on a big boat that would capsize you in a dink. If you can sail a dink on the sea, you can sail a yacht. navigation may be an extra skill, but pilotage is pretty much commonsense if you can read a chart & a tide table.
 
Hazeltine said:
So I take it my dinghy sailing experience will be of great help? Or is it fairly different?
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I had dinghy experience but learnt a lot by spending a week onboard a yacht doing my CC.

I think some people forget what it's like to start on a bigger boat from scratch.

Just living on board,stowing stuff properly, courteous to the other crew in a small space, planning meals, sailing in the dark, helming under sail and power, handling big sails, anchoring, preparing the boat to berth, handling lines properly, etc etc..........

If you did the course I'm sure you would be taught the basics in a more systematic fashion and then get more out of crewing for other people at a local club.

This was my introduction and i'd do the same again.



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Hazeltine said:
What's the difference between day skipper and coastal then?
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Hazeltine,

for a start the clue's in the title, 'Day Skipper' ( Dazed Kipper ) is a bit more limited, and won't cover much about lights at night etc.

Both are worth doing though, but as a fair bit of money is involved ( but the courses should be regarded as fun, not an ordeal type exam' ! ) I'd suggest 'aim high and read up beforehand'; most decent sailing schools also offer 'refresher weeks' to get into the groove before the actual course & test.

As you started by asking about Competent Crew courses but are experienced on dinghies ( couldn't agree more with Searush's statement, dinghies are the best training ), I strongly suspect that Day Skipper now will suit you fine, then after a bit you'll be able to go straight to yachtmaster offshore, should you feel like it.

Above all, one thing I've tried to remember; it's supposed to be FUN, not an endurance test !

Good luck,

Andy
 
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