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RYA Dinghy Sailing Scheme
The adult dinghy scheme in order: three levels, then modules you pick rather than climb.
The RYA runs separate schemes for dinghies, keelboats, multihulls and cruising yachts. They share a teaching method and a certificate format, but they are not interchangeable, and a school that teaches one does not necessarily teach the others.
The three levels
The adult dinghy scheme is built as three progressive levels:
Then the modules
After Level 2 the scheme stops being a ladder. The advanced modules are chosen according to the sailing you actually want to do, in any order:
Sailors under 16 usually work through the Youth Sailing Scheme Stages 1 to 4 instead, which covers comparable ground at a pace built for younger sailors.
Australian availability is uneven. Dinghy instruction here is more often delivered through Australian Sailing clubs than through RYA centres, so check the scheme a school actually teaches before booking.
- Who it suits
- Anyone learning in a small boat, and anyone deciding between dinghy and keelboat training.
- What it is not
- It is not the cruising pathway. A dinghy level will not get you aboard a yacht as qualified crew.
Other RYA courses
RYA Sailing Pathway
The whole RYA cruising route in order, and where you are allowed to skip a step.
RYA Cruising Level 1: Start Sailing
A short introduction aboard a small cruising yacht — the shortest way to find out whether yachting suits you.
RYA Cruising Level 2: Basic Skills
The follow-on from Level 1, adding real boat handling on a small cruising yacht.
RYA Start Yachting
Two days aboard a cruising yacht, for complete beginners who want a genuine taste of yachting.
RYA Day Skipper Theory
The classroom half of Day Skipper: charts, tides, buoyage, collision regulations and passage planning.
RYA Day Skipper Practical Sailing
Five days in which you stop being crew and start being the person responsible for the boat.
RYA Coastal Skipper Practical
Skippering beyond familiar water and beyond daylight — longer passages, night pilotage, heavier weather.
RYA Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster Offshore Theory
The advanced shorebased course: tidal work, passage planning, meteorology and collision regulations at Yachtmaster depth.
Which course should you actually book?
Three questions — your experience, the boat you want to sail, and your goal — give you a starting course and the schools that teach it near you.