The course starts before you step aboard.

Each participant completes a short learning profile. This helps us understand your sailing experience, theory knowledge, confidence level, goals, fears or sticking points, preferred learning style, physical or medical considerations, and what you want to be able to do after the course.

This is also where we help place each person into the right level. One person in the group might be building Competence, while another is ready to practise Command.

You will also receive pre-course material so the first day on board does not feel like a vocabulary ambush. The aim is not to memorise everything before you arrive. The aim is to give your brain enough structure that the practical training has somewhere to land.

Once aboard, we turn theory into context.

You learn the actual vessel: where things are, how systems work, how to move, how to communicate, what can hurt you, what can break, and what needs checking before departure.

We work through safety systems, lifejackets, harnesses, tethers, deck movement, fire, flooding, man overboard and distress equipment, engine checks, seacocks, bilges, fuel, water, batteries, navigation systems, radio checks, deck setup, emergency gear, crew roles and life aboard.

We also work through the practical systems that keep the crew functioning: where food is stored, how the galley works, how cooking happens underway, how water is managed, how rubbish is contained, how cleaning is shared, how wet gear is handled, how sleep and watches are planned, and how the crew keeps shared spaces shipshape.

Learn the vessel as a system. You learn the vessel as a connected system: deck layout, engine checks, bilges, batteries, water, fuel, seacocks, radios, navigation systems, emergency gear, crew roles, watch routines and life aboard.

The aim is to understand how the parts connect, not just where things are stored. A boat is not just sailed. It is operated.

Learn to feel what the boat is telling you. This module is about steering under power and sail, holding a course, steering to wind angle, understanding weather helm and lee helm, feeling heel and rudder load, and connecting trim, balance and control.

For many sailors, this is where confidence starts to shift from thinking to feeling.

Understand how sails create power and how to control it.

This module works with points of sail, mainsail trim, headsail trim, traveller, vang, sheets, halyards, twist, telltales, reefing, depowering and sail choice.

The aim is to stop trimming by guesswork and start understanding what the boat is asking for.

Move the boat deliberately under sail.

Tacking, gybing, reefing, heaving-to, hoisting, lowering and sailing controlled courses are practised as coordinated crew actions rather than isolated tasks.

The focus is clear communication, safe line handling, awareness of other vessels, and keeping the boat under control even when timing is poor.

Build control when there is less room and more consequence.

This module works with engine control, prop walk, windage, confined-space turns, departing and returning to a berth, springs, fenders, mooring buoys, anchoring and aborting an approach.

The goal is not to rush into perfection. The goal is to learn how to slow down, communicate clearly and reset early.

Turn information into a workable plan.

This module works with charts, plotters, bearings, depth, hazards, waypoints, weather models, wind, waves, swell, tide, shelter, exit options and passage timing.

Competence participants learn how to understand and support the plan. Command participants learn how to create, brief and adapt it, including when conditions allow for more exposed or offshore-style passages.

Keep the boat and crew functioning.

This module covers the practical domestic seamanship of a small vessel on passage. You learn how to think about provisioning, food planning, water use, fuel range, cooking systems, galley safety, rubbish, cleaning, hygiene, shared spaces, wet gear, storage and daily routines.

You will help prepare, cook, clean and reset the boat. You will learn what food works at sea, what becomes difficult, how to plan meals around conditions, how to reduce mess, how to manage water, and how to keep the boat usable when people are tired, wet or seasick. The aim is not to turn sailing into housekeeping. The aim is to understand that staying shipshape is part of seamanship.

Sustain the passage over time. A functioning boat is not just sailed well. It is lived on well.

This module covers lookout, log keeping, position checks, weather observations, galley routines, hydration, food, seasickness management, sleep, fatigue, shared spaces and morale.

We also talk openly about the human side of passages. Seasickness, anxiety, frustration, tiredness, poor sleep, cold, hunger and uncertainty can all change how a crew functions. Learning to notice those things early is part of good seamanship.

Competence participants learn how to look after themselves and contribute to the rhythm of the boat. Command participants learn how to read the crew, adjust the plan, manage fatigue, reduce avoidable stress and keep people functioning safely over longer or more demanding passages.

Make safe decisions around other vessels.

This module covers lookout, safe speed, collision risk, give-way and stand-on responsibilities, narrow channels, sound signals, visual distress signals, VHF communication, distress alerting and closed-loop crew communication.

The aim is to understand what is happening around the boat and communicate decisions before they become problems.

Respond when the plan breaks.

Emergency response is practised through managed scenarios. You may work through man overboard, engine failure, fire, flooding, loss of steering, fouled prop, navigation uncertainty, loss of visibility, gear failure, injury or illness, heavy-weather response, heaving-to and calling for assistance.

The point is not to make things dramatic. The point is to learn how you respond when the plan breaks.

Think more like a skipper.

This module ties the course together. You practise situational awareness, risk assessment, crew leadership, decision-making under uncertainty, knowing when to simplify, knowing when to stop, briefing before action and debriefing after action.

Command is not just deciding where the boat goes. It is noticing whether the crew can still do the job. You will be coached to consider fatigue, seasickness, hunger, hydration, morale, conflict, fear, confidence and communication as part of the passage plan.

A skipper who ignores the crew is not managing the vessel. A skipper who understands the crew has more options. And crew should know to expect this from a skipper and speak up!

Every evening we stop and turn the day into understanding.

We talk through what happened, what went well, what went wrong, what clicked, what still feels confusing, what the boat needs tomorrow, what the crew needs tomorrow, and what each person needs to practise next.

Participants record observations in the logbook. This is not busywork. It is the structure that helps you process the day and carry the learning forward.

The logbook records the passage plan, weather, tide, crew roles, watch schedule, departure checks, running checks, navigation observations, maintenance notes, fuel and water notes, provisioning considerations, decisions, mistakes, debrief notes and personal reflections.

The next session builds from this.