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International Yacht Training courses

Courses for crew, beginner skippers and sailors with experience. Earn yourself an International Yachting qualification while on holiday with us in the beautiful Ionian.

Have you ever wanted to skipper your own yacht, or learn to crew? Well, now’s your chance! Whether you are a total novice with no experience - or a more seasoned sailor without a piece of paper to prove your skills - we have a skipper’s course to suit you.

We’ll get you trained in a week and turn even beginners into proficient Flotilla Skippers by the end of a two week Stay Sail holiday. Our courses are run in the Greek Ionian - the perfect place to learn to sail in sunshine and calm conditions - where our chief instructor and yacht team teach you everything you need to know in just 5 days on our comprehensive fast track courses in yachting.

Once complete, you’ll go home with an International Yacht Training (IYT) certificate which is a lifetime qualification to use worldwide for yacht charter. So, there will be no future issues with proving your qualifications for charter.

The Essentials

  • 5-day International Crew course (ages 14+)
  • 5-day Beginner Flotilla Skipper course (16+) no prior experience necessary
  • 5-day Bareboat Skipper course  (16+) for qualified Flotilla Skippers or those with experience)
  • The IYT syllabus is an international yachting qualification for use worldwide
  • You can take the Beginner Flotilla Skipper qualification in just 5 days (with us) as a beginner with no prior sailing experience.  No other course allows this
  • We teach a ‘continual assessment’ method with no nasty examination at the end
  • It’s a lifetime qualification. You need to renew subscription to IYT every 5 years. (approx  $80)*
  • All courses can be done while on a Beach Club holiday or liveaboard on the yacht
  • Private hire of tuition yachts and family courses available
  • Course is run in partnership with Seatrips LTD*, a recognised IYT training centre

International Flotilla Skipper course 

This course is for the beginner sailor with little or no prior experience. We recommend you join our flotilla for a second week [after your training] so our yacht team can look after you as you take your first steps in skippering your own yacht, with your family or friends aboard. They’ll be on hand to help you practice your newfound skills; and all in the beautiful Ionian islands where the conditions are calm.

Unlike other courses, our Flotilla Skipper course doesn’t require you to have any prior experience. You really can turn up with limited knowledge, and, so long as you are keen to learn, we will successfully train you in 5 days to skipper your own yacht.  The course is comprehensive, a lot of fun and you will learn heaps about yachting. We also give you a VHF/SRC radio operator’s license included in the course which is normally an extra £100 in the UK.

MORE ON FLOTILLA SKIPPER COURSE

International Bareboat Skipper course

Our IYT Bareboat course is for skippers with more experience, (200 miles or 10 days at sea as first mate or active crew). It also suits sailors who have the experience, but no piece of paper to prove their skills. It’s a 4-day course (if you have your radio license) and 5 day course if you don’t. It will qualify you to charter a yacht (on Bareboat) worldwide and on completion, you will automatically get your ICC (International Certificate of Competence). Both courses are endorsed by the MCA, (Maritime & Coastguard Agency).

International Crew Training course

This is a certificate of excellence for those candidates who wish to train to become an active crew member on a sailing yacht. it includes rope work, basic passage planning, vessel handling skills and seamanship on deck to name but a few. The course can be taken on our training yacht alongside the Flotilla and bareboat skipper courses and for any age over 14.

MORE ON CREW COURSE

Taking a course

Our chief IYT instructor will be aboard the Ocean Elements training yacht in Vassiliki (with a max. of 5 pupils) to deliver all of our yacht training courses together. So you can learn Flotilla Skipper, Bareboat Skipper and Competent Crew courses all at the same time, and on the same training yacht. We find that mixing courses works very well and it’s great for families to learn together (min age 14 for Crew and 16 for Skipper raining).

You can do the course in a week (residential on the yacht) but we think it works best as part of a two week Stay Sail where you stay in the hotel in week one (during training) and then put into practice your newfound skills in week two on our flotilla. 

If you book as a Stay Sail, the course is tailored around your Beach Club holiday. Each day you’ll join our training boat which is moored a few minutes walk away in the harbour. It’s a great opportunity to get qualified while your family relax back at our club. Or you can all learn together as a family and still get time to go dinghy sailing, biking and enjoy the comforts of the hotel.

To book a holiday with the course then give us a call. Hurry though, our IYT course spaces are limited and in strong demand.

VIEW SYLLABUS

Why choose Ocean Elements

We are all passionate about sailing and we have chosen to keep our yacht programme small and focussed. This way, we can deliver a higher quality service and more attention on our newly trained skippers in this exciting time in their yacht career. Our yachts are more modern [and better] than many of our competitors; and our IYT course is a far superior qualification to those taught by some of our competitors. The IYT is very comprehensive and will enable you to charter yachts worldwide - with anyone you choose - and not just with us.


Typical Cost 

14 Nts: June 16-30, 2020: 
  • £1,094pp for 14Nt Staysail. 
  • Week 1: Vassiliki Beach Club + 
  • Week 2: Jeanneau Sun Odyssey, based on 4 sharing yacht. 
  • Add £599pp for IYT Crew or Skipper course (Early bird rate)
  • Add (from) £250pp for flights & transfers
VIEW OUR YACHT OFFERS

For novice skippers

Even if you have no prior experience, our five day course teaches you everything you need to know to skipper a yacht on Flotilla; and we’re confident that we can turn you into a proficient flotilla skipper by the end of a two week Stay Sail where you get to skipper your own yacht in week two. You’ll need to do some reading before you arrive, but with 1 or 2 hours a day (for a week beforehand) you should make short work of our E-Learning package.

During the course, you will learn and develop the skills required to skipper a yacht. You will join our training yacht each day in Vassiliki harbour (10 mins walk from our hotel) with your instructor and up to 5 other pupils. You’ll enjoy five days of very practical, hands-on training as you sail around the beautiful Ionian islands, with sunshine and lots of calm conditions to practice in. The learning curve is fast and it’s a very rewarding experience. 

Our course is best taken as a two week Stay Sail package. That way, we can ensure you learn all the skills required during week one, then practice skippering your own yacht (with us) in a controlled and relatively easy-sailing environment for week two. You will sail in calm waters without any complicated tides to worry about; and navigation and route planning will be made easy for you with line-of-sight sailing to your next port of call.

Beginner Skippers

Unlike other courses, our Flotilla Skipper course doesn’t require you to have any prior experience. You really can literally turn up with very limited knowledge, and, so long as you are keen to learn, we can successfully train you in just 5 days to skipper your own yacht. You will learn and develop all the skills you need as you sail around the beautiful Ionian islands, with our chief IYT instructor next to you.

We recommend you join our flotilla for a second week [after your training] so our yacht team can look after you as you take your first steps in skippering your own yacht, with your family or friends aboard. They’ll be on hand to help you practice your newfound skills; and all in the beautiful Ionian islands where the conditions are calm and the navigation and route planning will be made easy for you with line-of-sight sailing to your next port of call.

Will I Pass the course?

At Ocean Elements we love introducing new people to sailing and yachting. It’s our mission to ensure that every one of our pupils - be they total newcomers to sailing or more experienced - pass the course in a week so they get to skipper their own yacht for the first time, (in week two). 

Passing the course is within everyone’s capabilities so long as you are willing to listen and learn. We have not had to fail anyone yet, and nor do we intend to. If skippers need a little extra coaching on certain topics, then that will be covered too. 

The continual assessment nature of our course makes it easier on pupils; and even the end-of-course exam (approx 20 minutes of set questions) is made easier by the fact that if you get it wrong, it will not necessarily fail you but go out to the group for open discussion. The emphasis is on learning. Not failing.

VIEW THE SYLLABUS

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