Books RYA

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

The very words Astro navigation are often enough to send a cold shudder through even the most experienced boater. The funny thing is that although a lot of Astro jargon has an almost mystical ring about it, most of us know the 'secrets' on which the whole science of Astro navigation is based.

RYA Astro Navigation Handbook is ideal for anyone new to celestial navigation, or wanting to update their Astro skills. It is not a textbook or manual – it is simply a book to enable you to 'just get on and do it'. It is the course book for anyone taking an RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Theory Course.

Within the book, the reader will find a range of information on:

• The Sextant
• The Celestial Sphere
• The Noon Sight
• Morning & Afternoon Sights
• Planets
• Polaris

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.

This is the official handbook supporting the RYA Day Skipper Sail Course and is ideal for anyone looking to brush up on their knowledge to this level. It gives great practical and detailed advice on key skills, expanding on the course companion notes.

Being a good skipper is not difficult; it requires essential skills, knowledge, experience, patience, good communication and at times a sense of humour! This book is engagingly written and highly illustrated with the aim of equipping you with that essential knowledge and set of skills to help you build up your experience.

It leads you through practical advice on Day Skippering in three logical sections:

• Practical Skills
• Navigation & Passage Making
• Safety

It covers all the theoretical and practical aspects of the RYA Day Skipper Sail syllabus and gives you all you need to know to take a small yacht on a short passage safely.

In addition to the practical advice on aspects of Day Skippering, extensive focus is given to safety planning skills such as life-saving signals, simple engine repair and preparation for bad weather.

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.

Follows the syllabus of the RYA One-Day Radar Course and is ideal for anyone requiring working knowledge of radar.

To get the best from your set you need to understand what it is and what it can and can't do. This book was written to accompany the RYA one day training course but if you can't manage to get to a course near you, it's also useful as a quick and easy reference guide.

Using clear and easy language, RYA Introduction to Radar offers a 'background briefing', which explains what radar is and how it works. The book then explains radar's use on a small boat, giving an honest appraisal of the operational limitations you might encounter.

Further chapters cover switching on and setting up, refining and understanding the picture, blind areas, different types of radar reflector and their limitations, how to fix radar positions, pilotage by radar and collision avoidance.

All in all this book provides you with an easy read introduction to radar on small boats. The text and accompanying illustrations are clear and unambiguous. If you're thinking about using radar, or have bought a boat with radar installed, here's the book to show you how to get the most out of it.

Signes, abréviations, termes utilisés dans les cartes marines officielles allemandes sur papier

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.

No sea voyage, whether long or short, offshore or within sight of land, should go ahead without adequate planning and this book is your perfect companion to help you prepare thoroughly before setting off.

RYA Passage Planning will take you through all you need to know and allow you to work through some examples of different passages. This will show you what you might need to think about on the range of different journeys you may undertake. The essential facts and methods are split into three sections:

• Getting down to basics
• The essential first steps
• Putting it into practice

Written by RNLI Sea Safety Manager Peter Chennell, this book will help you make passage planning routine. It is packed full of useful information on where to find the relevant planning sources and will prove to be a useful companion to all who take their recreation afloat.

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

From the author of the best-selling RYA Navigation Handbook, this is the RYA's official title to support the RYA VHF Operator's Short Range Certificate examination. It expands upon the quick reference VHF Radio inc GMDSS book (G22) to assist with a deeper level of understanding which will help you pass the exam.

It details everything that sailors need to know about using VHF radios including how they work, the rules and regulations which govern it and the procedures that must be followed.

In helping you prepare for the test, the book links the easy-to-follow text to the syllabus to give you all you need to know to pass the exam.

The clear instruction and colourful illustrations make this complicated yet highly important subject much clearer and will help you learn the call procedures.

This is an essential learning tool and ideal background reading for anyone taking a VHF course.

If you are doing an RYA course or are simply seeking to gain a greater understanding of the weather, this edition of the RYA Weather Handbook (which covers the Northern and Southern Hemispheres) is full of practical and useful information, on aspects such as theory, weather charts, clouds, predicting the wind, and the technology used in sourcing meteorological information.

This edition provides more information than ever before about where to obtain forecasts, the growing use of technology in forecasting weather and obtaining up-to-date information, and in particular monitoring the tell-tale signs around you for any indication that the weather may not be doing what was forecast.

The areas that have been substantially updated and enhanced with additional content are:

• Tropical weather (hurricanes, cyclones and sailing in the tropics)
• Climate change
• New technology

The illustrations have also been completely modernised and the look and feel of the layout has benefitted from an overall redesign, making even the most complicated subject easily understandable.

Thousands of hours are required to build up experience afloat and there will always be more things to learn. In the meantime, this book will help start the ball rolling, building expertise by providing a basic overview of yacht sailing techniques which should be enhanced by the RYA's Competent Crew and Day Skipper courses.

RYA Yacht Sailing Techniques is the perfect companion for any skipper or crew looking for the basic skills to enjoy cruising in good conditions.

Contents include:

• The layout and equipment on a small to medium sized yacht
• The essential safety information that all need to know before getting underway
• Basic maintenance
• Manoeuvring in a marina
• Handling under sail
• Anchoring and mooring
• Man overboard rescue strategy

This will provide you with enough information to enjoy relaxed yacht cruising in favourable conditions with a family, particularly for flotilla or bareboat holidays. That means fair weather, light to moderate winds, little or no tide, a quiet sailing area, easily assessed navigational hazards, well protected anchorages with good holding and uncrowded marinas.

Specific recommendations are made throughout the book to RYA courses and books for those who wish to increase their knowledge and expertise to higher levels.