Cruising Instructor (Checkfront) - General

Becoming a RYA Cruising Instructor is a great way to share the passion that you have for motor cruising with others. To become a Cruising Instructor you need to be a very competent boat handler with a very good level of theory knowledge and a pleasant manner. For entry to the course you must be a Yachtmaster Offshore (Power) with an in date Commercial Endorsement.

Structure of the course

At the time of the exam you will have of demonstrated a high level of competence, to become an Instructor you will need to demonstrate this same level of competence on a repeated basis as you undertake demonstrations and instruct/coach students to improve their boating ability.

You should be up to date with all aspects of the syllabus of the Dayskipper, Helmsmans and Start Motor Cruising courses and have a level of knowledge above the level at which you need to teach. We structure these courses as follows:

Day 1 ~ Teaching styles, boat handling assessment and ‘brush up’, theory knowledge assessment and ‘brush up’. On water sessions focussing on demonstrations and structuring sessions.

Days 2 & 3 ~ Practice teaching with guinea pigs and other course students. Detailed discussion of course structure and the key issues with teaching each of the courses and its constituent parts. Discussion of the RYA Motor Cruising Scheme and courses.

Day 4 ~ Moderation by another RYA Cruising Instructor Trainer. The moderation is an opportunity to learn from a second Trainer who’s job is to i) Assess the job that the primary Trainer has done ensuring that all of the key areas have bene covered properly ii) Give additional input to the course iii) Give an objective second opinion on the candidates. Moderation though is very much run as just another day of the course giving further opportunity to practice teaching and share experiences of teaching with the Trainers.

A key aspect of our courses is that we arrange for ‘real’ inexperienced students to attend the course for potential instructors to practice structuring and delivering sessions with. Being able to deliver sessions to people other than already experienced and competent instructors really helps to help you structure and deliver really good sessions.

Pre-entry requirements for the course

• Hold a commercially endorsed RYA Yachtmaster Offshore (Power) Certificate of Competence – with all associated certification in date
• Hold a valid first aid qualification which is accepted by the RYA (see RYA website for accepted certificates)
• Enrol on and pass the RYA Cruising Instructor theory test (incorporating teaching theory and RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Theory

Why choose Powerboat Training UK for your RYA Cruising Instructor course?

The key thing that we can bring to a course is our considerable experience of training Instructors across the world plus practical hands on experience of regularly teaching the courses we are teaching you to teach. The Trainers that run our courses (usually led by Paul Glatzel – author of the RYA Powerboat Handbook & RYA Advanced Powerboat Handbook) run a considerable number of instructor courses each year and are 100% on top of what is recommended as ‘best practice’ ensuring that those they train are really well placed to then run courses once qualified. As a busy commercial centre we can also offer the chance to come in ahead of a course and sit in with our instructor team on a Dayskipper Practical course (no charge) which is really beneficial if you can do so – subject to availability of suitable courses.

We also promise every instructor that trains with us that they can come and work alongside our experienced instructors so that you can get some experience delivering their first course.

We have also forged a niche welcoming potential instructors from around the world and also travelling far afield to train individuals and teams to become RYA instructors.