RYA Training for Members

Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club is an RYA recognised training centre for dinghy sailing courses and powerboat courses. Training takes place on the lake in our fleet of training dinghies and RIBs, and in our dedicated training room. We have a friendly team of instructors ready to welcome you.

CVLSC is not a commercial training centre, so courses are only available to club members. If you wish to become a member, then please refer to the “Join CVLSC” page to see which membership option would best suit you.

Scroll down to discover the powerboat and dinghy courses that we are currently offering. For youth dinghy sailing courses, please see our Learn to Sail.

Adult RYA Dinghy Sailing Courses 2025

Beginners Courses – Combined RYA Start Sailing (Level 1) and Basic Skills (Level 2)

Our RYA courses for adult beginners are available to club members age 17+. We are running 2 beginners’ courses in 2025.

Each beginners course provides RYA Level 1 (Start Sailing) and 2 (Basic Skills) dinghy sailing training and are aimed at total newcomers to sailing.

They are mainly practical courses, with some classroom-based background theory included. Students are provided with copies of the RYA’s excellent ‘Start Sailing’ guide and the RYA Sailing Scheme Syllabus and Logbook to help them through and beyond the course.

The course is run to the RYA’s guidelines ensuring a maximum 3:1 student/instructor ratio at the start of the course. This may be increased to a maximum of 4:1 towards the end of the course at the discretion of the Senior Instructor running the day.

Each combined course can, in ideal conditions, be completed in 4 days, but is scheduled over 6 days – 3 weekends as shown below – to allow some flex for the weather. Timings for any reserve days will be confirmed by the Senior Instructor on day 4 of each course.

The cost for the Combined course is £350, payable at the time of booking via members’ Webcollect accounts.

RYA Better Sailing Level 3

The Better Sailing course provides RYA dinghy sail training for sailors who have gained their Level 2 qualification or can demonstrate sailing skills to Level 2 standard. To get the most out of the course, Level 3 candidates will have completed least 1 season’s practical sailing.

Students receive coaching to consolidate their Level 1 and 2 skills and enjoy taster sessions from some of the advanced modules of the RYA National Sailing Scheme: Performance Sailing; Sailing with Spinnakers; Seamanship; and Day Sailing.

After the course students will be more confident in sailing skills and techniques, and ready to progress onto the advanced modules.

The course will be arranged to suit students’ needs and to ensure a maximum student/instructor ratio of 4:1

Demand for the Better Sailing course at the club is always low and unpredictable, so no courses are planned into the calendar before the start of the season. If sufficient demand can be confirmed at any time, further news and information will be published in the club’s Sailing News newsletter.

 RYA Dinghy Instructor (DI) Course

RYA Assistant Instructor Course 2025

If you want to gain some experience and see training first hand before deciding whether being a DI is for you, there is the option of becoming an Assistant Instructor.

It is less demanding than the DI qualification, so gives you the chance to have a go and gain some experience. The AI qualification involves approximately 20 hours of training. This typically takes the form of a 2 day course followed by some “on the job” experience at the club. The club has one AI course planned so far for 2025, on the 12/13 April.

The course includes basic teaching principles, club procedures, and familiarisation with the club’s fleet of training dinghies. It is delivered by one of the club’s RYA Senior Instructors with a maximum of 6 participants. You will be provided with a copy of the G14 RYA Instructor Handbook to support your learning and development as an Instructor.

Please contact Dave if you are interested in booking a place, as you will need to provide some evidence of your experience to meet the RYA’s requirements for attendance.

For further details on the content of the courses listed above, visit the RYA website.

For any questions on our training programme, contact Dave Orme, at principal@chewvalleysailing.org.uk