What to expect
- Level
- Complete beginners to aspiring skippers
- On the helm
- Steering, sail trim, points of sail, anchoring, watch-keeping
- Skipper
- RYA Yachtmaster certified
- Logbook
- Nautical miles logged + signed toward a qualification
- Boat
- Catana 47 performance catamaran
Learn to sail by sailing
Most of what people call a “sailing course” happens at a desk. Aboard Ikigai it happens at sea. She’s a Catana 47 — a real ocean-going catamaran — and every passage between anchorages is a lesson if you want it to be. You take the helm, trim the sails, learn to read the wind on the water and the weather on the horizon, and stand watch on longer hops. Our skipper holds an RYA Yachtmaster certification, so what you pick up is the real thing, taught the way it’s actually done — not from a slideshow.
From first tack to night watch
Never touched a winch? You’ll start with the basics — points of sail, how a catamaran behaves, how to hold a course. Already sail? You’ll go deeper: trim for speed, weather routing, anchoring in a crowded bay, and the quiet competence of a night watch under stars with no light for miles. We log your nautical miles and sign your logbook, so the time counts toward a future qualification — and there’s no syllabus to rush. You learn at the pace the sea sets, on whatever water we happen to be crossing.
