Books RYA

An extremely useful visual aid. This easy-to-read guide provides clear and simple questions and answers to a complex subject.

RYA Competent Crew Skills is the official companion for the RYA's popular Competent Crew Course.

Over 12,000 people, with no sailing experience, successfully complete the course every year. This book has been written using the experience of hundreds of experienced instructors. The techniques shown are tried and tested and suitable for most types of cruisers.

It is designed to assist you in understanding new concepts and in particular to help you remember some of the unique terminology that is used in the world of boating. It is an excellent starting point for those undertaking their first boating experience in order to make sense of the first few days on board or as a handy reference book for those returning to the sport after time away from it.

This edition includes motor vessels in order to appeal to both sail and power readers; the illustrations have been completely modernised and the look and feel of the layout has benefitted from an overall redesign.

The RYA Day Skipper Practical Course Notes has been compiled to complement the RYA Day Skipper Practical Course and draws on the cumulative experience of hundreds of experienced sailing instructors. The techniques shown or described are tried and tested and are suitable for most types of cruising yacht.

This book gives guidance on how to take charge of a yacht for a short passage. Includes planning, crew briefing, safety, boat handling, navigation, etc.

RYA Day Skipper Shorebased Notes is the official companion for the RYA's popular RYA Day Skipper Shorebased course.

This new edition of the RYA Day Skipper Shorebased Notes is the official title which accompanies the course. It has also been designed as an excellent 'aide-memoire' which covers a wide range of subjects that the cruising skipper will find useful to have at hand.

It is an excellent reference book for those wanting to take their boating to the next level above competent crew.

The book covers the essentials of safety, navigation and seamanship for sail and motor cruising. It comprehensively covers the syllabus and includes the latest developments in electronic navigation and techniques.

This edition includes motor vessels in order to appeal to both sail and power readers; the illustrations have been completely modernised and the look and feel of the layout has benefitted from an overall redesign.

Written for leisure boat owners, the RYA Diesel Engine Handbook is essential reading for anyone doing the one-day RYA Diesel Engine Course. Includes a free DVD giving expert instruction and top tips from Nick Eales of Seastart. Easy to follow text and beautifully detailed colour illustrations enable the reader to develop the knowledge and confidence required by all diesel engine boat owners. Chapters include:

• How Diesel Engines Work
• Fuel
• The Air System
• Engine Cooling
• The Electrical System
• Diagnostics and Troubleshooting
• Maintenance
• Emergency Procedures

Andrew Simpson is a marine journalist, yacht surveyor and designer based in Poole. He has written a number of other books on boating and is a regular contributor to yachting magazines both at home and abroad. When not in the UK he can usually be found sailing Mediterranean and Atlantic waters in Shindig, a 12m light displacement cutter he designed himself.

Written by a leading first aid author, an experienced paramedic and first aid trainer this book is easy to understand with easy to follow layouts, plenty of clear pictures and diagrams, 'test yourself' questions and an emergency index.

The text is also supported and reviewed by a renowned panel of experts in emergency medical care and follows evidence based treatment recommendations from the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) and Science Evidence Evaluation and Review System (SEERS). It is also compliant with 2015 First Aid and European Resuscitation Council Guidelines.

This special RYA branded version also includes the syllabus of the RYA First Aid course and a section dedicated to marine specific content making it a unique and a valuable resource. This book is now included in First Aid packs to support the RYA First Aid course.

The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS) are vital for maritime safety as you must be able to identify vessels during the day by their special shapes, and at night time by their lights, as well as understanding both your obligations and those of other vessels as you interact with one another.

This new edition provides a clear and authoritative explanation of each regulation. Illustrations have been enhanced and it will help any seafarer understand their responsibilities, meaning that everybody at sea will be safer. Chapters include:

• Assessing the Risk
• Who Gives Way?
• Restricted visibility
• Lights and Shapes
• Sound and Light Signals

In response to feedback, this new edition has been restructured to lead customers through the regulations by rule order, split into themes (i.e. restricted visibility) with a view to helping readers quickly reference the content.

This second edition of the best-selling RYA Navigation Handbook is essential reading for anyone taking to the water and looking for the complete guide to navigation.

Navigation techniques and practices have changed dramatically over the years and today, many sailors and motor boaters regard electronic instruments as their principal means of navigation. However, traditional methods still have an important part to play, as does knowledge of aspects such as tides, lights, buoys and beacons.

This edition has been redesigned with that in mind; to provide the reader with a sound understanding of the principals of navigation as well as providing insight into the ways in which electronic navigation can be used to best effect.

This book will help to ensure the development of a well rounded and competent navigator.

Powerboating is a fun, fast and exhilarating sport. The number of powerboats on the water is increasing and the need for both confidence and competence has never been more important. If you are looking to progress to the intermediate levels of the RYA Powerboat Scheme then this new edition of the RYA Powerboat Handbook is a must.

Becoming a capable and safe powerboater comes from a mixture of training, experience, and common sense. Updated with new information on electronic navigation and handling at speed, this book will help you acquire the knowledge and confidence to get the most from your time on the water.

The examples bring concepts to life and methods are adapted to what is realistically achievable in an open powerboat.

Chapters include:

• Propellers
• Safety and Planning
• Travelling at Speed
• Challenging Conditions
• Boating at Night and in Restricted
• Visibility
• Cruising in a Powerboat

This book is the official text for the RYA Basic Sea Survival Course and the RYA/ISAF Offshore Safety Course and supports ISAF approved Offshore Personal Survival courses. It also highlights the importance of having the correct safety equipment and will also give you the knowledge of how and when to use it, making it invaluable for anyone who takes a boat offshore for racing or cruising.

This new edition has also been updated to include the syllabus for the ISAF Offshore Personal Survival Course and the latest information on sea survival. It is divided into two parts so that it more closely matches the syllabi of the two courses and supports other ISAF approved Offshore Personal Survival courses. Chapters include:

• Before you leave
• Calling for Help
• Understanding Weather
• MOB Prevention
• Fire Control

This book is written by Keith Colwell who works at the RNLI as a Community Incident Reduction Manager, managing a large team of volunteer safety advisers, who provide a safety advice service to the both the boating and general public. Keith is an RYA Yachtmaster, an RYA Powerboat Instructor, a SRC instructor/assessor and RYA and STC Sea Survival Instructor.

All vessels need to be buoyant in order to float, and need to be stable in order to stay upright.

This revised edition of RYA Stability and Buoyancy (which includes a glossary of terms, explaining all the technical jargon) deals with everything relating to these issues and also includes hazards common to most boats, including:

• Bad loading
• Breaking waves
• Resonant rolling
• Broaching in a following sea
• Characteristics of different boat types, (i.e. sailing dinghies, small catamarans, offshore and coastal monohull sailing boats)
• Maximum safe heel angle

Filled with top tips throughout, this book is perfect for:

• the ideal, clear and simple reference tool to aid you in teaching this subject
• Coded vessels – the perfect guide on this critical subject matter
• Yachtmaster candidates: clearly explains the AVS which candidates should know of their boats and other areas

The RYA Yachtmaster Handbook is the first official and definitive guide for anyone preparing for the world-renowned RYA Yachtmaster Offshore and Coastal examinations. It will not only appeal to both leisure sailors and motor cruisers; there is a section covering commercial endorsement requirements for those who wish to use their qualification professionally.

It describes what you can expect on the day of the examination, the thinking behind the test and what the examiner is looking for.

With the aid of some stunning illustrations, it is designed to make you focus on areas where skills can sometimes be lacking, with the aim of setting you up for life beyond the Yachtmaster exam as a competent and confident skipper.

Although the chapters include subjects that are covered in earlier books, this assumes knowledge at (or close to) RYA Yachtmaster level and highlights what a candidate needs to be thinking about.

• What is an RYA Yachtmaster?
• Where do I go from Here?
• Tidal Streams and Heights
• Passage Planning & Passage Making
• Seamanship and Stability

The author James Stevens can take much of the credit for the success and international acceptance of the RYA Yachtmaster scheme, and is now the chair of the RYA Yachtmaster Qualification Panel.

This book is aimed at those running shorebased, sail and motor cruising courses within the RYA Yachtmaster Scheme. Principals and instructors alike will benefit from the guidance and information on recognition, communication, coaching/instructing techniques and course planning.

Those new to the scheme can find out how to qualify as instructors for practical and shorebased courses. The guidance provided within this book is intended to assist instructors and examiners in ensuring they do all they can to meet the high standards expected of them, not only by the RYA but also by their students. 

Chapters include:

• RYA Instructor Code of Conduct
• Coaching and Instructing Techniques
• RYA Cruising, Yachtmaster and Instructor
• Courses
• Organising Practical Courses
• Qualification of Instructors for Teaching
• Shorebased Courses
• The Organisation and Conduct of Offshore Exams

RYA Yachtmaster Scheme Syllabus and Logbook provides detailed information about the structure and content of the practical and shorebased courses for both sail and motor cruising with the RYA Yachtmaster Scheme.

The RYA’s renowned practical training is complemented by a structured shorebased learning process on the theory of navigation, safety, seamanship and by specialist one-day courses on skills such as first aid and sea survival.

This book informs you of what to expect when taking any RYA sail or motor cruising course and also provides pages for you to log your progress and keep your certificates. Your personal boating experience, from starting out up to RYA Yachtmaster Ocean, will be enhanced by this book.

This book effectively combines, updates and replaces RYA Sail Cruising & Yachtmaster Scheme Syllabus and Logbook (G15) and RYA Motor Cruising & Yachtmaster Scheme Syllabus and Logbook (G18). It also introduces new courses and clarifies pre-exam requirements for all RYA Yachtmaster exams.

The RYA Yachtmaster qualification is the pinnacle of yacht training. Anyone seeking to gain an RYA Yachtmaster Certificate of Competence requires a broad theoretical knowledge base and a high level of practical skill.

This new edition of the RYA Yachtmaster Shorebased Notes includes enhanced sections on weather, navigation, pilotage, voyage planning, and special situations when afloat. These sit alongside informative and highly illustrated notes on all aspects of the syllabus, ensuring that this title provides valuable information for anyone looking to become an RYA Yachtmaster, and those who have already passed the exam.