royal yachting association

Together On Water

Find a club, centre or water sport activity near you.

• About the RYA

Royal connections through the ages

Celebrating the rya’s royal legacy.

From holidays to yacht racing, The Royal Family has a long history of seafaring.

As we celebrate the Coronation of our new Monarch, His Majesty King Charles III, we look back at the RYA’s connections with The Royal Family and their passion for spending time on the water.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Over the centuries the Monarchy has sailed aboard 83 royal yachts, including the most recent, HMY Britannia, which often hosted the RYA Council meetings during Cowes Week. 

In addition to her diplomatic duties on Royal Tours, HMY Britannia was also a vessel for family holidays. During the summer months, The Royal Family would often take off on what became known as the aptly named Western Isles tour, cruising around Scotland. 

In 1948, Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh were listed as new members of the RYA (known then as the Yacht Racing Association). 

It became the Royal Yachting Association in 1952 when Sir Ralph Gore, then President, spoke of “Her Majesty’s recent command that the name of the Association will in future be the Royal Yachting Association."

The Duke of Edinburgh sailed frequently with Prince Charles in the Dragon Class keelboat Bluebottle, a wedding present to Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh from the Island Sailing Club in Cowes, Isle of Wight. Bluebottle is the only British Dragon to have won an Olympic medal, picking up a bronze at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was our Patron for many years and the Duke was elected as President of the RYA for the first time in 1956. It was under his watch, the first ever RYA Training Committee was formed. 

His Majesty King Charles

A keen watersports fan, His Majesty King Charles III has been known to enjoy scuba diving and sailing – and was one of the first Royal members in the world to discover windsurfing in the 1970s.

Among many boating-related engagements over the years as The Prince of Wales, he visited the Olympic and Paralympic sailing venue at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) in the build up to the 2012 Games, christening the boat of 49er due Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes.  

The Princess Royal

Following in her father's footsteps, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal has been President of the RYA since 1987 and is also Patron of the RYA Foundation .

A keen sailor, Princess Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, have kept a Rustler 44, Ballochbuie, at Ardfern in Scotland and have enjoyed cruising, sometimes as far as the Hebrides.

Amongst her duties as President, The Princess Royal has chaired almost every RYA AGM. She regularly visits sailing clubs across the UK to mark milestones, shows her support for the British Sailing Team and presents the annual RYA Volunteer Awards .

In an interview for RYA Magazine , she speaks fondly of her long history and love for sailing: “For me it’s important to have time away and sailing really is time away. It gives you a complete change from anything you’re doing and from my perspective, having a boat on the west coast of Scotland gives me two things – time away and in an attractive area.”

The Prince of Wales and Princess of Wales

The Prince and Princess of Wales also share a love for being outdoors and spending time on the water. The Princess of Wales has incorporated her love for sailing into her royal duties as Patron of sailing charity, the  1851 Trust .

When she was appointed, she said: “I feel very fortunate to have enjoyed sailing from a young age and I know it is a great way of providing young people with the opportunity to develop skills and confidence”.

As a family, the Prince and Princess of Wales enjoy spending time on the coast, introducing their own three children to sailing.

+ 1 954 554 5765 - [email protected]

• Create Account

Signed in as:

[email protected]

Welcome to TheOceanAcademy

Superior RYA Yacht Crew Training in South Florida

The Ocean Academy is a fully accredited and recognized Training Center for the Royal Yachting Association (RYA).  We offer superior Theory and Practical Yacht Crew Training 

RYA Yachtmaster Offshore/Coastal (Power)

• We are the ONLY school in Fort Lauderdale to independently offer accredited Theory and Practical training for RYA Yachtmaster Offshore and Coastal.  This course includes one week of theory training in chart-work, navigation rules, meteorology, tidal height calculations, aids to navigation, voyage planning and more.  Week two includes practical training on our 40' (12m) training vessel, followed by the RYA Practical Examination. The Duration for this course is 6 days, with a total of 40+ hours of direct contact.  Included in your tuition is the RYA Student Pack which includes course notes, Training Almanac and Training Charts.  Plotting tools are not included, but our Yachtmaster FAQ will help you understand the tools that are needed.  We keep our student/instructor ratio to 4:1 maximum for the best training experience.  Please contact Steve from the contact information below for a consult and information on booking your course.

RYA Power Boat Level 2

• The Ocean Academy is fully accredited to offer the RYA Power Boat Level 2 Course (PBL2).  We offer this course in a two-day theory and Practical course, or a three day evening class for those crew members who are working on-board during the day.  The course is offered on our modern and well equipped 23' (7m) center-console training vessel, with electronic chart plotter, DSC equipped VHF radio and all the latest safety equipment.  Included in the tuition is an online voucher for the Start Boating course notes booklet.  We keep our student/instructor ratio to 3:1 for the best training experience.  Please contact Steve from the contact details below for a consult and infomation on booking your course.

TheOceanAcademy is your best resource for RYA Training In Fort Lauderdale, including custom yacht crew training, PBL2 and RYA Yachtmaster Offshore(Power) instruction

Sign up to hear from us about specials, sales, and events.

For more information:

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The Ocean Academy

915 Middle River Drive, Suite 318, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33304, USA

750 West Sunrise Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 USA

Copyright © 2024 The Ocean Academy - All Rights Reserved.

Powered by GoDaddy Website Builder

• Live on Sky
• Get Sky Sports
• Sky Mobile Apps
• Kick It Out
• Black Lives Matter
• British South Asians in Football

More Sports

Royal Yachting Association sets new diversity strategy amid perception of being too white

Royal Yachting Association is the national body for dinghy, yacht and motor cruising, all forms of sail racing, rigid inflatable boats, and also includes sports boats and windsurfing; almost 97 per cent of the RYA's staff are white; governing body has set out a plan to improve inclusivity

Friday 19 March 2021 17:50, UK

The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) says their new Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Strategy is "ambitious" but admit they still are battling against a perception of boating as being elitist, too white and for middle-class people or millionaires

The new plan outlines "10 steps to progress" - in terms of ethnicity, gender, and LGBTQ+ inclusivity - which will help to "make all forms of recreational boating inclusive, accessible and attractive to all".

Some steps include increasing diversity of staff, including in the boardroom - where there is currently no black or minority ethnic representation - creating new jobs and voluntary opportunities, developing mentoring programmes, providing support and development for clubs and centres and increasing diverse imagery and content.

RYA chief executive Sarah Treseder thinks the new strategy is "very ambitious" and told Sky Sports News the "biggest barrier" is changing the perception of the sport to the general public.

"I think often the perception is that we're all multi-millionaires," she said. "The reality is I've very rarely met a rich sailor.

"We tend to spend all our money on our boats and you can actually pick up a boat for a few hundred quid and really get some enjoyment out of it."

"But also the perception potentially is one where it is more male-dominated. It is older people and potentially that's connected with those individuals who have currently got the time and the energy to dedicate to volunteering at a club level, maybe disproportionately into a retired age bracket or a certain demographic.

"Whereas actually what we're starting to see is at the junior end and at the younger instructor end, there is far more diversity there."

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

The RYA is the national body for dinghy, yacht and motor cruising, all forms of sail racing, rigid inflatable boats , and also includes sports boats and windsurfing. Improving ethnicity across participants, coaches and staff is a key priority.

Treseder said: "There's a lot of intersectionality, there's a lot of areas where people's ethnicity, people's gender, people's sexual orientation, people's level of disability or otherwise kind of come together. So this is very much a holistic strategy.

"But we were really clear that the area of ethnicity was one where we were least satisfied with the progress that we had been making, where we felt there was most opportunity to change ."

Asher Robinson is one of the organisation's few black senior sailing instructors. He says he was fortunate that his mother persuaded him at the age of 11 to get his first experience of boats. Now he wants others to enjoy time on the water.

" I think it's important for sailing to be diverse because it's an amazing sport which I have enjoyed doing," Robinson said, who is also a Sailing Development Officer at the RYA.

"And I feel like there's so many people that are missing out just because of the lack of diversity. So just by having a bit more diversity, it'll be more welcoming and more people will realise what a great sport this is."

Finding the next Sir Ben Ainslie

The RYA say they have over 110,000 personal members - and 1,500 affiliated clubs and class associations - which represent approximately some 350,000 active sailors throughout the UK.

Could the next Sir Ben Ainslie have a diverse background?

Montel Fagan-Jordan won the 2018 Young Sailor of the Year award, which has also been won by four-time Olympic champion Ainslie and double world champion Hannah Mills.

Robinson says seeing a young black sailor being recognised made him very proud.

"A lot of good sailors and amazing sailors that have won that award have gone on to do amazing things in the sailing industry," he said.

"It was just amazing seeing another young black person actually winning such an award. It made me so proud."

Treseder says they already have several diverse stars. She highlights double Paralympic bronze medallist Alexandra Rickham, Montel Fagan-Jordan and Britain's first Paralympic sailing gold medallist Helena Lucas.

She added: "So actually I think there are already a number of very very successful - in multiple ways diverse people - right at the top of the sport.

"What we've maybe not done well enough is profile how well they're doing. And I think that's something we want to change."

Talking diversity and inclusion in boating with @RYA spring magazine. A lot to be done in sailing but I’m happy the journey has started. pic.twitter.com/v6HCFSAnP0 — Alexandra Rickham (@ARickham) March 7, 2021

One of Robinson's current projects is working with a RYA mentor to promote sailing in primary schools in the London Borough of Newham in east London.

He said: "We're actually going into schools and we are saying, 'look we've got the funding... have some fun and just come and experience sailing'. And what's great about it is they don't pay a single thing."

The idea helped pupils in one school to improve children's academic results and confidence.

" We interviewed them at the end of last year in terms of how they felt after doing it," Robinson added. "And their grades improved not massively, but noticeably.

"And when we asked how they felt, a lot of kids say they felt independent, they felt stronger, they felt more confident. And when you hear things like that, you just can't help but smile."

Getting ethnic diversity in the boardroom

Almost 97 per cent of the RYA's staff are white. In the boardroom 40 per cent are female and 10 per cent identify as LGBTQ+ but there are no black or minority ethnic members.

The new strategy has no quotas or guarantees for incoming board members but Treseder defends that approach.

"I think a lot of people potentially feel that the application of quotas somehow has a negative impact on the people that are then appointed," she said.

"And certainly speaking as a woman in business, I've probably been on the wrong side of that a couple of times. There's some feeling of 'has she really earned the right to have this role or is this somehow just fulfilling a quota?'

"And the other thing is, if we find people with the right experience, why stop at the quota?

"That seems to kind of set a cap on things so I don't think it is about establishing quotas. I think it's about establishing the richest gene pool of people applying that we can."

"However, with ten available seats on the board, the thought that not one of them would be filled by someone from a black, Asian or minority background doesn't make sense."

Treseder also explains why some committees at clubs and training centres are not as diverse as they should be.

"The membership of the committee is often the people who are the most regular participants in any club," she said. "It doesn't tend to be brand new people.

"Often if the diversity strategy is only just starting to communicate to the right audience in the right way, people have just started giving it a go, they would maybe feel nervous or reluctant to sit on a committee when it's a sport that they've only just started. So my sense is that that kind of governance level will filter through from actions to increase participation.

" The interesting bit is what day of the week do we hold the open days on, what food is served? What gender are the instructors who are giving people the opportunity? What are the changing facilities like?

"Where have we advertised the opportunity? What is the public transport access to the club like that will mean more people can turn up?

"And crucially, what's the follow up after people have maybe attended an open day? How do we encourage people to come back and give it another try?"

Ethnicity in Boating Forum

In developing their latest plans, the RYA worked with Emeritus Professor of Equality and Diversity in Sport Kevin Hylton, who works at Leeds Beckett University and is also chair of the Sheffield Race Equality Commission.

He suggested hosting a forum with ethnically diverse members without senior management to encourage open honest conversations about their experiences.

Thank you to everyone that joined us last night for the latest Ethnicity in Boating Focus Group. It was great to hear your thoughts and discussions on some of the RYA Diversity Strategy actions. If you'd like to get involved with the next meeting email [email protected] pic.twitter.com/xlQV6vDzR1 — RYA (@RYA) December 18, 2020

Robinson was one of those who was part of the Ethnicity in Boating Forum with people he had never met like double Paralympic sailing bronze medallist Alexandra Rickham, 2018 Young Sailor of the Year Montel Fagan-Jordan and Poole watersports instructor Lee Timothy.

The RYA leadership and staff left the group alone so they could speak about their experiences with each other in a safe environment. Robinson described it as "absolutely amazing".

"We had a meeting," he said. "There was nobody from the RYA. We spoke about our experiences and then with those experiences, that's where they came up with the action plan [part of the latest strategy].

"I think it's one of the best things I've been a part of in my life. I'm not exaggerating there because all I want is someone who's 11 [years old] just like I was, to be comfortable and know that they're going to be looked after."

Since the initial meeting with Professor Hylton, the Ethnicity in Boating Forum has met RYA management to propose ideas and changes for the newly-released strategy.

'Future success means tearing up diversity plans'

Professor Hylton, who helped guide the new diversity plans, says they are "proactive."

"The RYA has established a high bar in their strategy by aiming to change perceptions, behaviours, experiences, and realities. They are challenging themselves to make their sport more inclusive and are going the right way about it by moving with insight purposely forward," he added.

So how will the RYA chief executive define success?

"I think it's going to be a very long journey," Treseder says.

"I think real success for us is when we're going to be able to tear up that strategy because it's no longer needed. No one feels that it's a requirement that we have it written down on how to increase diversity because it's a reality.

"The benefits are going to be to all of us around the relevance and the vitality of the RYA looking towards the future in particular, and making sure that successive generations are moulding the sport, moulding boating to what works for them, which is going to look quite different to how it was fifty years ago... and how it is today.

"And therefore for clubs to survive and thrive, we need a much more diverse base of participants coming through."

Stream the T20 World Cup, the World Cup of Darts and more

• Upgrade Now

Royal Caribbean cruise passenger goes overboard in Singapore Strait

A passenger sailing on Royal Caribbean International’s Spectrum of the Seas cruise ship went overboard Monday.

The ship was on its way to Singapore at the time, according to the cruise line. “The ship and crew immediately reported the incident to local authorities and launched a search and rescue operation," a Royal Caribbean spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “The shipboard team is working with local authorities and our Care team is now offering assistance and support to the family.”

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre Singapore was notified at around 7:50 a.m. that a guest fell overboard in the Singapore Strait, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said in a news release .

“MRCC Singapore is coordinating the search and immediately issued navigational safety broadcast to vessels in the Singapore Strait and vessels in port to keep a lookout for the missing person and report any sightings to MRCC Singapore,” MPA said.

Cruise ship overboard detection systems: What are they and why doesn't every ship have them?

The vessel was returning from a four-day round-trip cruise to Malaysia that departed on July 27, according to CruiseMapper .

Between 2009 and 2019, there were 212 overboard incidents globally involving passengers and crew, according to statistics compiled for Cruise Lines International Association by consulting firm G.P. Wild (International) Limited. Just 48 people were rescued.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].

Why Cruise Fares Are About To Get More ‘Honest’

To comply with a state’s junk fee ban, the world’s largest cruise operators will now disclose all taxes and mandatory fees up front. Experts say it’s a win for consumers.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

BYE-BYE, HIDDEN FEES: Thanks to a new California law banning junk fees, the cruise price you see will be the price you pay.

T his Monday, California’s new “ Honest Pricing Law ” goes into effect, requiring businesses to disclose all costs up front so that the price a consumer sees is the one they pay. It’s a ban on so-called “junk fees,” hidden charges added to the advertised or listed price for everything from hotel rooms and airline tickets to concert tickets and restaurant food.

For cruise fans, the impact of the law is reaching far beyond the Golden State. Starting July 1, the world’s largest cruise operators—Carnival, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean—will begin disclosing up front all taxes, port fees and other mandatory charges on all cruises, no matter where they originate.

This is a sea change in the way the cruise industry has been displaying prices for as long as anyone can remember. Currently, only Viking Cruises and Explora advertise fares inclusive of added fees, and they will continue to do so, according to Cruise Critic , a popular review site owned by Tripadvisor. But now transparent pricing will become the norm across the entire industry, at Carnival (and its sister brands, Holland America and Princess); Royal Caribbean (and its sister Celebrity); Norwegian Cruise Line; and MSC.

The industry-wide shift is a big win for consumers, says Aaron Saunders, senior editor at Cruise Critic. “It provides more transparency upfront, allowing travelers to more accurately gauge costs as part of the shopping process—versus further along in the booking process,” he says. “While overall fares will remain the same, shopping for a cruise will be easier knowing the total cost prior to narrowing down your choices.”

“We are updating the way we display our pricing in the U.S. beginning July 1,” a Royal Caribbean spokesperson confirmed to Forbes . “Guests booking with Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises will now see pricing that is inclusive of their selected cruise fare and all required taxes and fees.”

“To comply with this new law and to simplify the booking experience for all our guests based in the U.S. and Canada, Norwegian Cruise Line will be incorporating applicable taxes, fees and port expenses into our advertised pricing by July 1, 2024,” a Norwegian Cruise Line spokesperson said in an email to Forbes , noting that the change “will only impact the way we display our prices and will not affect the prices that our guests pay.”

Carnival also confirmed a change in policy. “In compliance with new advertising rules, we are displaying prices to include mandatory fees and taxes for both the cruise fare and onboard products and services. The final price paid does not change, simply the way it is displayed,” a company spokesperson told Forbes .

Cruising’s new pricing transparency comes as more travelers than ever are taking to the high seas. In its 2024 State of the Cruise Industry report released in April, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) reveals that 31.7 million people took a cruise last year— surpassing 2019 passenger volume by 7%.

The report also highlights that the industry is still growing, as 27% of cruisers over the past two years were coveted “new-to-cruise” travelers. More transparency is particularly good news for first-time cruisers. “Because cruise ships visit a number of destinations in one trip, the cost of these added fees is sailing-specific—based on the destinations on your itinerary, or the port from which you’re sailing,” explains Saunders . “Because of that, there’s currently no easy way to truly estimate what those added fees will amount to, and if you’ve never booked a cruise before, those fees—that amount in the hundreds—can often be a bit of a surprise.”

President Joe Biden has been railing against junk fees since he took office. The attorneys general in 19 states support a ban on hidden fees, which they say “can trap people into paying for goods and services they may not have purchased if they had known the total cost upfront.”

But while lawmakers in a handful of states—including Hawaii , Illinois , New York and Pennsylvania —have introduced bills that would prohibit “drip pricing” or “junk fees,” California became the first state to implement such a measure when the Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB478 last October.

Experts say more transparency is a good thing for consumers, who are often stunned at the difference between the listed price and true cost of a cruise. “This change will help to demystify added costs,” says Saunders, “and, in turn, eliminate much of that sticker shock.”

• Editorial Standards
• Reprints & Permissions

Join The Conversation

One Community. Many Voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts. 

Forbes Community Guidelines

Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space.

In order to do so, please follow the posting rules in our site's  Terms of Service.   We've summarized some of those key rules below. Simply put, keep it civil.

Your post will be rejected if we notice that it seems to contain:

• False or intentionally out-of-context or misleading information
• Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language or threats of any kind
• Attacks on the identity of other commenters or the article's author
• Content that otherwise violates our site's  terms.

User accounts will be blocked if we notice or believe that users are engaged in:

• Continuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejected
• Racist, sexist, homophobic or other discriminatory comments
• Attempts or tactics that put the site security at risk
• Actions that otherwise violate our site's  terms.

So, how can you be a power user?

• Stay on topic and share your insights
• Feel free to be clear and thoughtful to get your point across
• ‘Like’ or ‘Dislike’ to show your point of view.
• Protect your community.
• Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules.

Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please read the full list of posting rules found in our site's  Terms of Service.

• Certificates of Competence

RYA Certificates of Competence

Prove your ability and experience as a skipper with an rya certificate of competence.

Available at Advanced Powerboat and RYA Yachtmaster® Coastal, Offshore and Ocean level, RYA Certificates of Competence are well known qualifications that are highly respected worldwide.

Unlike other RYA qualifications, Certificates of Competence are not issued following a formal training course but are achieved by successfully completing an exam testing your skill, knowledge and experience.

So whether you’re a recreational boater looking to put your skills to the test, or need a professional qualification and commercial endorsement to work on the water, find out everything you need to know below.

The pinnacle of yachting qualifications. Find out what it takes to become an RYA Yachtmaster.

Provided you have sufficient experience, seatime and the required certificates, you can put yourself forward for an exam to test your skills and knowledge.

The RYA training schemes will take you all the way from beginner to exam level. As well as the required certification, there are a number of other RYA courses you might find useful.

With the backing of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) we ensure RYA qualifications are recognised and respected throughout the world.

We are constantly monitoring and improving our courses and exams. Find out more about how we measure exam feedback to ensure the highest levels of satisfaction and confidence.