RYA Day Skipper Theory study guide
RYA Day Skipper Theory · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The RYA Day Skipper Theory course is the shorebased theory syllabus that sits behind the RYA Day Skipper practical certificate, one of the most widely taken cruising qualifications for sailors and motor cruisers in the UK and abroad. It is aimed at people who already sail or motor-cruise a little and want to skipper a small yacht or motor cruiser safely in familiar waters by day. Candidates typically come from club racing, flotilla holidays, or crewing roles, and want the confidence to plan and execute short coastal passages. The syllabus is broad rather than deep: chartwork and position fixing, tides and tidal height and stream calculations, navigation, pilotage and passage planning, and seamanship, safety and the collision regulations. The RYA Day Skipper Theory study guide has 4 sections and about 1,571 words.
01Chartwork and position fixing
Chartwork and position fixing is the domain where the examiner checks whether you can read a nautical chart, convert between true, magnetic and compass bearings, and plot a position you can defend. Most marks are lost through small conventions, not difficult maths.
410 words, about 2 min02Tides and tidal calculations
Tides and tidal calculations test whether you can turn a tide table into a height of tide and a safe decision. You need standard and secondary ports, the rule of twelfths, chart datum and tidal stream information.
384 words, about 2 min03Navigation, pilotage and passage planning
Navigation, pilotage and passage planning is the planning-and-execution domain. The examiner expects a plan that is safe, tidal-aware and briefed to the crew, plus pilotage techniques that keep the boat in safe water.
397 words, about 2 min04Seamanship, safety and collision regulations
Seamanship, safety and collision regulations tests the practical rules that keep a boat out of trouble: who gives way, what lights and shapes are shown, what to do in an emergency, and how to prepare the boat and crew. Keep a proper lookout and proceed at a safe speed.
380 words, about 2 min