School and Course Information

About the School

Welcome to the Anglesey School of Yachting. We are a small friendly school dedicated to providing quality RYA training courses to our customers.

Set in Victoria Dock, Caernarfon in beautiful Anglesey at the edge of Snowdonia National Park, our setting is unrivalled for its character and fabulous cruising grounds. Marina facilities are good and include free secure car parking.

The school is a Royal Yachting Association Training Centre and offers RYA practical and shore-based courses for the sail cruising scheme. With our charter facility, we offer a complete service from learning to sail to providing a charter yacht for you to skipper and gain further experience around Anglesey and in the Irish Sea.

The school is flourishing on reputation, repeat business and recommendations. To our customers we are a school they feel confident with, advising and guiding and a school capable of providing the highest standards.

At Anglesey School of Yachting we are confident that our experienced team, quality boats and equipment will ensure you enjoy your sailing experience and achieve your goal.

The Team

Our RYA / MCA (Royal Yachting Association / Marine Coastguard Agency) Yachtmaster Instructors and Cruising Instructors will ensure their knowledge, enthusiasm and skills are passed on through the courses.

The Senior Instructor, David Williams an RYA Yachtmaster Instructor heads our team. David has a great depth of knowledge and is on hand to answer questions when he is not out on the water teaching.

Our selected instructors have a wealth of experience of sailing and teaching on various types of craft. You can rest assured that their skills and enthusiasm will enable you to get the most out of your course.

Each of our instructors holds a commercial endorsement to operate in the professional market and they adhere to the very high standards of tuition necessary to provide a safe environment which promotes learning.

SHANTIH

Shantih is the training flagship of the School; commissioned in March 2006 she is a spacious, luxurious, high quality yacht which provides warmth and comfort even in the winter months. She handles well under power or sail, making her an ideal yacht on which to learn close quarter and seamanship skills.

Shantih is a 46ft Bavaria Class “A” Ocean Going Yacht with 4 large double cabins, spacious saloon and extensively equipped galley. She is comprehensively fitted with the latest electronic and navigation aids, a working jib, genoa, fully battened main, spinnaker and single line reefing.

Shantih complies with Maritime & Coastguard Agency Code 2 (Blue Code) for charter and meets the requirements of the Code of Practice for the Construction, Machinery, Equipment, Stability and Examination of Sailing Vessels, of up to 24 metres Load Line length, in commercial use and which do not carry cargo or more than 12 passengers, published by the Surveyor General’s Organisation of the Department of Transport. Navigators & General underwriting Zurich Policy ref 609561 Sailing School incorporating RYA Training Courses, Skippered Yacht Charter, Private & Pleasure.

Cruising Area

Sailing from Victoria Dock, Caernarfon, with Snowdonia National Park as a backdrop, the fabulous Anglesey and North Wales coastline makes for a very attractive cruising ground.

Explore the many bays and coves of Anglesey and the Menai Straits. Both offer spectacular scenery and abundant wildlife – seals, dolphins and puffins to mention but a few.

Anglesey is an excellent cruising ground as it offers sheltered sailing from any wind direction, which for training purposes is ideal as there are always bays for us to gain shelter and carry on with our training exercises. After a day’s sailing what better way to relax than spend the evening in one of the many local harbours or anchorages, sampling the island’s hospitality.

On our training courses we tend to stay around the coast of Anglesey and the Menai Straits, in and out of the bays, up and down with the sails, concentrating on seamanship and training exercises.

Longer passages

These are aimed at those of you who already have some sailing experience and would like to sail a bit further than the Anglesey coast. We offer a programme of mile building trips to help you gain valuable sea miles whilst practising the skills you have learned on your courses.

Sailing onboard Shantih with a maximum of five crew onboard, you can choose to sail for either five or seven days. The breathtaking coastline of Ireland is only a day’s sail away and there are plenty of interesting places to visit on the Isle of Man and the Welsh coastline.

We aim to complete some RYA/MCA exam qualifying passages during each trip and the Instructor will sign these off in your logbook. These trips are purely for mile building and practising existing skills -they are not suitable for completing RYA training courses – we recommend that you have a minimum of Competent Crew before signing on.

The cruising range for these trips stretches from Kilmore Quay and the Milford estuary in the South to Bangor and Port Patrick in the North. The Isle of Man is a good stopover on the way and there are many interesting ports in Cardigan Bay and the Lleyn peninsula.

Charter & Corporate Events

“Shantih” is available for skippered charter. Yacht charters provide opportunities for a variety of wonderful occasions: relaxing family holidays, personal development experiences, team building events, reward breaks for outstanding employee performance or as a vehicle for corporate entertainment. Whether you want a day trip, a weekend or even a mini cruise – we can tailor a package to meet your requirements.

Points to Note

For all our practical courses waterproofs and sea boots are available for hire if required. If you have your own foul weather gear you are welcome to bring it along.

We recommend you bring along the following items:

• Sleeping bag.
• Personal toiletries and towel.
• Warm clothing (fleece jackets are ideal being warm and quick to dry).
• Warm hat, scarf or neck towel, gloves and good thick socks.
• Light soled deck shoes or trainers.
• Sea sickness tablets (we recommend “Stugeron” or “Dramamine” It is advisable to check with your doctor if you are concerned about taking these. Many of our customers have had great success with travel bands.
• Sunglasses, sunscreen and lip balm.

As storage space is limited onboard, it is recommended that you use a soft hold-all or unframed rucksack as suitcases are extremely difficult to handle and store.

Frying bacon, sausages etc onboard is not permitted

Insurance

Anglesey School of Yachting carries the mandatory insurance cover relating to third parties and public liability.

We strongly recommend that you arrange cover against cancellation, accident, injury or loss of personal possessions. Check your personal or home insurance as you may find that you are already covered.

Course Times and Details

Courses to commence 0900 on the Monday morning; in certain circumstances and subject to availability Sunday arrival after 8pm might be possible.
We start with a welcome meeting followed by a “below decks” safety briefing on the yachts. You sleep onboard on the joining night. Evenings are spent in harbours, marinas or anchorages. We aim to return to harbour and finish by 5pm on the last day of your course/cruise.