Our Skills Week at the Italian base is the best way to spend time on the water and learn a new trick or two, polish your existing sailing skills and enjoy sailing in Tuscany. It is a 5-day practical sailing week with other students and a RYA instructor on board, practicing helming, sail trimming, docking, anchoring, navigation, chartwork, theory review, and all types of maneuvers from man overboard recoveries to picking up mooring balls under sail.  We also include flotilla training skills including Mediterranean style berthing docking with slime/lazy lines.

Course Content

Skills week is best suitable for sailors who:

• Have some experience in sailing and are interested in improving specific skills on board
• Are looking to improve overall confidence in boat handling, navigation, manoeuvring etc.
• Want to refresh their sailing skills
• Need to add to their nautical miles and/or skipper a passage toward RYA certification
• Are looking to have a vacation time on the sailboat while enjoying active sailing
• Are not looking for RYA certification at the end of the course (already have equivalent certification from another country for example)
• Would like to have their sailing skills evaluated to choose their next steps within the RYA framework

In this liveaboard practical class in Italy, we will start from our Tuscan base in port of Marina di Pisa, your sailing routes might include sailing north to Portovenere & Cinque Terre, and the gulf of Poets, staying at anchor in the bay and enjoying the Tuscan coastline. Or we might do the Elba Island Circumnavigation – sail south to Elba and visit famous Porto Azzurro, Marciana Marina and Capoliveri. If the weather conditions are favorable, we might sail around Corsica and Capraia Islands – visit two of our favorites, the wilder Capraia island and its Cala Rossa, then Corsica to enjoy its French croissants and scenic beaches.

There is no exam at the end of the Skills Week, as it is a continuous learning and evaluative experience during the week. You will discuss the program of your Skills Week with the instructor before starting the course and receive a debrief after the course.

Prerequisites

None just contact our crew and explain your needs and previous experience, and we will make sure to come up with a proposal best suitable for your skillset!

Next Steps

You can also take a 1-day special Skills Workshops:

Skills – Berthing and marina manouvres

Skills – Ropework

Skills – Astronomical Navigation

Following your Skills Week and depending on your level, you will be able to move towards according other RYA courses, such as:

RYA Competent Crew Practical 

RYA Day Skipper Practical

RYA Coastal Skipper Practical

RYA Yachtmaster Prep Week

Skills Week is also available at sailing school in the Caribbean, Antigua from November to June.