It will cost around £200 - £250 depending on the location of the course, and time of year you take it.
This is equivalent of around $300-$380 or 265-330 EUROS.
You will learn how to set up your boat and use a spinnaker and how to fly a spinnaker on downwind runs, making you a better keelboat racer.
Please be aware that it does not give you international accreditation.
The Keelboat Sailing with Spinnakers course is mainly practical, you will be taught out on the water. There is a little theory involved.
Anywhere RYA training centre in the world accredited to teach the spinnakers course.
You should ideally have passed the RYA Keelboat Level 3, or the RYA Competent Crew, or at least be able to demonstrate an understanding of the skills that are taught at this level.
It will take two full days to complete, however some training schools offer the course over four evenings.
The course covers the following areas of spinnaker use;
• Trimming, gybing, hoisting, and setting the spinnakers
• Rigging (inc. spinnaker and trapeze where fitted)
• Dropping the kite
• Wind speeds
• How to play the angles
• Spinnaker tuning
• Capsize and recovery
• Launch and recovery
Flying a spinnaker is a dark art that can win or lose a race! You will be taught on either the traditional symmetric spinnaker or the asymmetric spinnaker that is found on advanced racing boats.
You will learn to launch and dowse the spinnaker without it going in the water and potentially ripping apart while stopping the boat dead.
You will also learn to gybe the spinnaker – something that even the best racers struggle with at times!
Consider the RYA Keelboat Performance Sailing course to refine the skills you learned on this course. Perhaps look at the RYA learn to race courses too.
Look at this RYA webpage for a better idea about what this course entails.