Rye Watersports provides dinghy sailing lessons for kids age 8 upwards at our Royal Yachting Association School.
Courses are run on a safe inland lake situated between Rye and Camber Sands on the South East coast. The gently shelving lake shore-line is perfect for giving children confidence during their first lesson on the water. For parents not wanting to travel too far for their children’s dinghy sailing lessons, Rye Watersports is easy to get to being only a fifty minute drive from Tunbridge Wells and 45 minutes from Sevenoaks, Kent.
Kids love sailing here’s why:
Sailing Refresher All Day Session – £92.50
- 10:00-16:00
- For those who have completed stage 2 or above
- This is a refresher course for those who have had the winter off
- Boat rigging and launching
The idea of this day is to instill fresh confidence by gaining back knowledge lost over time spent off the water. This course is perfect for you if you’ve not been able to sail in a while. Our aim is to get you back afloat and confident to hire a boat or progress to the next course.
RYA Stage 1 & 2 – £360.00
- Week long course – Includes RYA Courses Stage 1 & 2 Plus Sailing Club Day – Saving £99.00
- Monday – Friday 10:00-16:00 (6 hours per day)
- Introduction to sailing principles and basic manoeuvres
- Building water confidence and foundational steering skill
- Boat rigging and launching
- Ropework and knots
- RYA Stage 1 and Stage 2 certificates upon completion
Week long sailing course combining RYA Stage 1 and Stage 2 programs. Ideal for beginners starting out on the sailing pathway. It starts with mastering boat rigging, water confidence, steering and tacking, before moving onto refining techniques in tacking, gybing, triangular navigation and knots.
On Wednesdays, we change up the format and join the Sailing Club (standalone booking £89). The day is more coaching-focused, designed to give sailors targeted practice across different stages. It’s a full day on the water to build skills, take on challenges and enjoy sailing with friends.
RYA Stage 1 – £185.00
- 2 day course 6 hrs each day from 10am – 4pm
- Learn how to rig boat
- Gain confidence on the water
- Steer and tack
- Understand the basic principles of sailing
- RYA certificate on completion
This RYA Stage 1 sailing course is a brilliant introduction to the Royal Yachting Association Youth Scheme that teaches children all the basics to get them sailing with confidence. Part of the course content covers launching and recovery, steering, sailing across the wind (remove upwind). At the end of the the two day course all pupils should be proficient enough in their sailing skills to be awarded their RYA Stage 1 Certificate.
RYA Stage 2 – £185.00
- 2 day course 6 hrs each day from 10am – 4pm
- Tacking and gybing
- Learn to sail around a triangular course
- Ropework and knots
- Make turns quicker and smoother
- RYA certificate on completion
The aim of this course is to become confident and self sufficient in a small boat in light to moderate winds. Tacking and gybing are concentrated on to make your turns quicker and smoother. Ropework and collision avoidance are covered. Basic sailing skills are improved on aiming towards sailing round a triangular course unassisted. Once you have completed this Stage 2 course you can book onto our Kids Sailing Club
RYA Stage 3 – £360.00
- Week long course 6 hrs each day
- Monday – Friday 10:00-16:00
- Sail in all wind directions
- Demonstrate a capsize recovery
- Learn about the ‘Five Essentials’
- Introduce advanced sailing techniques.
- Solo helming and building confidence.
- RYA certificate upon successful completion.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to rig, launch and sail your boat confidently in any direction. Your skills and knowledge will mark your progression from beginner to capable sailor.
RYA Stage 4 – £360.00
- Week long course 6 hrs each day
- Monday – Friday 10:00-16:00
- Sailing double handed boats
- Rigging of crewed boats
- Launching and recovery
- Sailing techniques and manoeuvres in crewed boats
- Recovering a man overboard
- RYA certificate upon successful completion
By the time you reach Stage 4, you’ll be able to sail a double-handed boat as either crew or helm and confidently handle a range of challenges on the water.
NEW FOR 2026
RYA Start Racing – £360.00
- Week long course 6 hrs each day
- Monday – Friday 10:00-16:00
- Key topics covered in the course include:
- Race Preparation
- Racing Rules
- Starting Procedures
- Boat Handling & Boat Speed
- Tactics and Strategy
With this course you will get an introduction to the fundamentals of dinghy racing, including getting off the start line efficiently and sailing around a racecourse with confidence.
Prerequisites: Participants must hold an RYA Stage 3 certificate or have equivalent sailing experience. No prior racing knowledge is required.
RYA Youth Sailing Seamanship Skills – £195.00
- 2 day course 6 hrs each day from 10am – 4pm
- Reefing afloat
- Sailing Backwards
- Sailing without a rudder
- RYA certificate on completion
Seamanship Skills will help you learn skills a short step beyond Stage 4. During this course you will polish and test your skills and learn to resolve problems afloat. The course will give you a solid foundation for the future and enable you to become much more confident and self-sufficient afloat.
RYA Youth Spinnaker Skills – £195.00
- 2 day course 6 hrs each day from 10am – 4pm
- Learn how to rig the boat, hoist, gybe and drop/recover one type of spinnaker. Cover power zones, boat speed & balance.
- Gain the knowledge and understanding to sail the best possible course downwind.
Two day Youth RYA Spinnaker Advanced Scheme in double handed boats. For this course you should already be proficient in demonstrating the Five Essentials and have mastered seamanship skills. This will allow you to integrate existing knowledge for confident handling of double handed spinnaker boats. This condensed yet dynamic course provides 10 hours of hands on training. Youth RYA Spinnaker Advanced Scheme certificate on successful completion of this course if required standard is met.
KIDS SAILING CLUB -1 Day – £89.00
- Every Wednesday during school holidays 10 – 4pm
- £89.00 per session including hire and coaching
- New for 2026:
After feedback from the 2025 season we have changed the format of our sailing club. It is now a full day on the water for sailors to build skills, take on challenges and enjoy sailing with friends. We may even introduce some ‘Start Racing’ elements if students are at the right ability levels. Sailors should be Stage 2 or above to book onto this club day, OR have just recently completed their Stage 1 (within the last month).
Why not book this club for a great full day of practice time on the water. Don’t forget to bring your RYA Logbooks to start logging your time sailing, boat used and wind strength.
- Our sailing clubs always fill up fast, so early booking is recommended!
Did you know?
All our instructors are Royal Yachting Association qualified and we hold an ‘Adventure Activities License’. Rye Watersports has been an RYA centre since 1986 and, is still under the same ownership. We genuinely feel that there is nowhere in Kent, Surrey or Sussex that can offer the same superb conditions for children to learn to dinghy sail in.
Q & A
Some common questions we often receive answered here →
Q & A
Some common questions we often receive answered here: