Our Day Skipper online theory course is unique, presenter led, with support all the way!

Presented by Duncan Wells, author of the Stress-Free series of sailing books and creator of MOB Lifesavers.
Start when you like and go at your own speed. We do NOT send any packs/training material overseas. We only send to UK addresses

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You are not alone

"The course is video led and presented by Duncan Wells"

The course is video led and presented by Duncan Wells, author of the Stress-Free Sailing series of books. Start when you like and go at your own speed. 2 months is the ideal time frame for Day Skipper but you can go faster or slower. You have access to the course for 1 year. All the material and learning is online. With the Westview Sailing RYA Day Skipper online theory course you are not alone. I monitor your progress and you submit assignments so we can see how you are doing. And you can contact me at any time on email if you have a question

We are on this path together

"Start when you like, go at your own speed "

The course is structured in a logical order building on your knowledge as you go. The RYA state that the Day Skipper course should be taught over 40 hours. And with our online theory course you can go at your own speed. Realistically I would allow 2 months.  Emailed questions get an immediate answer.

A Learning style to help you remember

"Above all Day Skipper study should be fun and I hope that is what I manage to convey."

I have always believed that one of the best ways of retaining knowledge is through quizzes and so we have multi choice answer quizzes as we go, with fun answers alongside the correct answers and devices that help us to remember. You will never forget the colours on an Isolated Danger Mark – one or more red bands around a black post – when you think of the T-shirt that ‘Dennis the Menace’ wears – black and red hoops. He’s a menace and an isolated danger mark is warning you of a menace, a rock just where you might not expect it to be. And of course being videos you can watch them time and time again. Above all Day Skipper study should be fun.

Assessment & Certification

Shore-based Course RYA/MCA Day skipper Certificate

Once you have been through the course you will be able to take the two assessment papers – one a general paper and one a chartwork paper – and on achieving the standard you will receive the ‘SHOREBASED COURSE RYA/MCA Day Skipper for Sail and Power Craft’, certificate.

With the Westview Sailing online theory courses you are not alone. I am there in front of you, teaching you, encouraging you.

Duncan Wells

Navigational Instruments

The right tools for the job

We provide FREE with the Day Skipper packs the more flexible, more accurate, ‘Handy Plotter’ that you can use one-handed and the 7” brass stainless steel Blundell Harling dividers. Proper navigation instruments

Course Highlights

  • Presenter led on videos
  • Just like our classroom courses used to be – only all the resources are there online for you to access whenever you want.
  • Start when you want. Go at your own speed. We recommend you allow two months. But you can go much faster than this if you have the time.
  • A thorough grounding in all the traditional navigational disciplines plus integration with electronic navigation. Thanks to a tie up with Lightmaster/nauticalsoftware.com we are able to include real RADAR demos, integrated with MARPA and real VHF/DSC Mayday demos to give you a really good understanding of how they work and what they do. And we have a video on working with a chart plotter, waypoint plotting and passage planning to give you a good insight of what is available.
  • You are not alone. We will be with you all the way. In the videos, on email, on the phone. And presented by Duncan Wells, it is easy to understand.
  • There are fun multi choice quizzes throughout. We present a subject in a video and then follow examples for you to have a go and then the answers to these and then a quiz. All designed to reinforce the learning. The idea is for the material to be absorbed osmotically without you having to learn anything by rote. And it works. And it’s fun.

Course Cost & Curriculum

£ 350 one off purchase fee
  • Introduction
  • Module 1 - Chartwork
  • Module 3 - Fixing a position and nautical terms
  • Module 4 - Aids to Navigation
  • Module 5 - The compass
  • Module 6 - Tides
  • Module 7 - Dead Reckoning and Estimated Position
  • Module 8 - Course to steer, Time Zones, Colregs
  • Module 9 - Weather 1 and Collision Regulations
  • Module 10 - Weather 2 and Weather 3
  • Module 11 - Tidal heights (Standard ports and Secondary ports) and Time zones
  • Module 12 - GNSS - Electronic aids to navigation 1 and 2
  • Module 13 - Pilotage and Passage planning
  • Module 14 - Safety, Calling a Mayday and protecting the Environment
  • Module 15 - Revision & Preparation for the 2 Assessment Papers
  • 2 x RYA Day Skipper Assessment papers
Cost includes; Shipping of the Westview/RYA packs including the FREE plotter and dividers to UK addresses ONLY. We not send training material overseas | ONE YEARS' access | And unlimited support



Frequently Asked Questions

Most frequent questions and answers

The RYA Day Skipper Notes book, the Electronic Resources booklet and the RYA Day Skipper Exercises now come in eBook format only and you will be sent information on how to redeem these, directly from the RYA. The two Charts, Training Almanac, Westview Notes and Westview Answers to the Day Skipper exercises, come in hard copies and along with your FREE dividers and plotter will be sent directly from Westview via Royal Mail. We send within the UK only. We do not send overseas.

No. It is the first step on the RYA Cruising Scheme and those enrolling can be complete novices who have never or rather not yet been out on the water, or people who have sailed for a number of years who decided to get an RYA qualification.
You will need to take the RYA Day Skipper practical course (generally taken over 5 days) for this. With the shore based theory and the practical Day Skipper tickets in your pocket you will be able to skipper a yacht safely in familiar waters by day.
No, you can start when you like

You have unlimited access to the course for 1 year. Our Day Skipper course is designed to be completed in about 2 months. But you can go as fast or as slow as you like. If you allow it to drag out though you will lose momentum. 

About 2 months. Doing it in 2 months means you do not lose momentum. We have had students who devoted their time to it and have completed Day Skipper in a month

Yes, if you run over the one year time allowance you can buy further time to access the course at the rate of £30 per month. Just email duncan@duncanwells.com to arrange this.

Yes and we give you the answers to the homework so you can see if you got the answer right
Yes there are 4 assignments as you go through the course that cover the 4 major chartwork disciplines that you will meet in the assessment papers – A fix, an estimated position, a course to steer and a tidal height. You are not given the answers to the assignments. There are also two pre-assessment assignment papers
Yes, you have to do them to complete the course.
Yes and if we see that progress has slowed or halted we will be in contact to check that everything is OK. Although you have the freedom to choose your pace it is important not to lose impetus and we are here to rev you up if you need it.
Yes – and students do.

Not as such. Once you have taken the pre-assessment papers, which we do as an assignment and you are ready to take the final assessment papers, email me and I will send you each paper one at a time. You complete these and then submit them on email  and I mark them.. Personal marking.

No, not if you want it sent to the UK

Yes, if you want it sent to a country outside the UK

Once you have received your certificate, which is sent to you by post, look after it. Keep it. Most students will stick it in their RYA Cruising logbook.

Recently we have had a spate of students who have mislaid their Day Skipper shore-based theory certificate and it costs now £35 for us to replace it! We will write out a new certificate for you and post it to you. We can also scan it and send it via email. Better still don’t lose it. 

Please go to the Thinkific site for details https://support.thinkific.com/hc/en-us/articles/360030354954-System-Requirements-and-Supported-Browsers

Essentially though;

In order to make sure Thinkific runs well, please make sure your desktop computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone, or smart device has the following:

  • The most recent version of one of the web browsers listed below
  • Javascript enabled
  • PDF plugin
  • Graphic and audio output capability
  • Broadband internet connection with a minimum speed of 5Mbps (recommended)
  • TLS 1.2 supported by your web browser

 

Why choose us?

Presenter Led

At Westview Sailing our courses are presenter led and being on video you can start when you like and go at your own speed.

Classroom at Home

Learning with Westview is just like being in the classroom only you are at home. You get the very best of both worlds!

Monitored Progress

We monitor your progress and you submit assignments so we can see how you are doing, so we are in regular contact, encouraging you and supporting you.

24 Hour Support

All the learning is online but Duncan Wells and his team are available whenever you need them. With the Westview Sailing RYA Day Skipper and Yachtmaster online courses you are never alone.

Dyslexic friendly courses

So we have been told!

'Handy Plotter' as standard

We supply the more flexible, more accurate, ‘Handy Plotter’ with our Day Skipper plotter and divider sets, which are included in the course cost

Learning Aids

As well as a huge library of additional resources and access to a lifetime’s knowledge and experience from Duncan and his trusted training partners we supply our ‘Lights, Shapes and Sound Signals at a Glance’ card covering all the lights, shapes and sound Collision Regulations rules, free with our Yachtmaster packs.

What People Say About Us

Student Testimonials

“Clear, concise, easy to understand. What I wasn’t able to understand before, I now understand. And now I have passed my Day skipper theory "
DS
“I’m preparing for my OOW level exams and sail bigger ocean going vessels and I find these videos extremely helpful to reinforce the concepts and sometimes they clarify as to what to focus on”
HV
“I watched your video on secondary ports over and over again until it all became crystal clear – your calm sensible approach to dealing with the concept made it all seem so simple ”
JH
“Just wanted to say thanks a Million for all the Day Skipper tutorials. I’m part of the Lifeboat crew and a last minute opportunity came up to sit the exam. I can safely say I was struggling with my studies until I came across your videos. So thanks to you I was able to pass my theory in 10 days. Keep up the great work”
SS

Books

Explore the 'Stress-Free' Books

Thousands of Day Skippers and Yachmasters have passed through Westview Sailing’s hands over the years and availed themselves of the training aids – the tutorial videos, the Colregs Cards and Duncan Wells’s practical Stress Free sailing books.

Read More

A Wealth Of Accessible Knowledge & Skills​

Explore Our Other Learning Resources

Westview Sailing is an RYA recognised training centre offering you all that you need to navigate confidently and safely in familiar waters at Day Skipper level and offshore at Yachtmaster level. Westview Sailing delivers vital knowledge via a unique blend of online videos exactly like our classroom courses and weekly Zoom meet ups, along with a huge library of additional resources and unlimited access to a lifetime’s knowledge and experience from Duncan and his trusted training partners.

RYA
Yachtmaster

Online Theory Course

Get your RYA Yachtmaster and take charge (skipper) a vessel up to 24 metres in length on a coastal, offshore or ocean passage.

£350

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RYA
SRC/Marine Radio VHF

Radio Course

We offer the RYA online SRC VHF/DSC course. Examinations are held at Chalfont St. Peter, Bucks

Cost for the online course £85, plus £60 payable to the RYA for the exam

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Tutorial
Video Vault

Video Resource Library

Access our library of Day Skipper and Yachtmaster training aid videos that explain the navigational disciplines clearly and in an ‘easy to understand’ way to help you pass your shorebased RYA courses

– 1 month access £30

– 3 months access £65

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