Solent RYA Powerboat, Sailing, Motorboat, Radio & Theory Courses

Welcome to Solent Boat Training - Your gateway to unrivalled adventures on the open water, offering expert training in Sailing, Motorboating and Powerboating

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Solent Boat Training runs the full range of RYA Powerboat courses including the popular RYA Powerboat Level 2 ICC from as little as £199 per person.

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Solent Boat Training runs the full RYA sailing courses scheme including the popular RYA Competent Crew & Day Skipper Courses.

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Solent Boat Training offer the full range of RYA motorboat courses including RYA Motorboat Helmsman & RYA Day Skipper.

Solent Shorebased Courses

Solent Boat Training runs a wide range of shorebased courses including RYA VHF Radio, RYA Diesel Engine Maintenance & RYA First Aid at Sea from £49 per person.

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Solent Boat Training Special Offers & Gift Vouchers

RYA Navigation Course

Solent Boat Training runs all the RYA Navigation & Theory Courses including the popular RYA Day Skipper Theory.

Solent Day Sailing Courses

Our Solent Day Sailing Experiences are perfect for both absolute beginners with no sailing experience through to Qualified sailors looking for a day out on the water.

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Close quarter handling in the marina and sail trim are taught in these one day courses.

Cross-Channel-Sailing

Sailing mile builders in the Solent and the West Country. Available for groups or individuals from £199pp

About Solent Boat Training - RYA Advanced Training Centre

Solent Boat Training (SBT) is a leading National RYA boat training centre, providing expert marine training to both the general public and the maritime industry.  Based within the famous English Solent and offering 20 years of experience, we pride ourselves in delivering Low Student Ratio and Competitively Priced Training.

Our courses cover a wide range of water and classroom skills, catering to leisure boaters looking to enhance their knowledge and expertise on the water.

We have students traveling from all over the UK, Europe and even the USA, to train with our approved RYA, HSE & MCA instructors.  All the courses and events found on our website are run by fully qualified instructors and skippers from our own training centre.

Our highly qualified instructors and state-of-the-art facilities allow us to offer comprehensive training programs, designed to meet the needs of boating enthusiasts of all levels. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned sailor, Solent Boat Training is committed to helping you achieve your maritime goals efficiently and safely.
 
We Specialise in Low Student to Instructor ratio training, at amazing competitive prices, because we believe in offering the best value for money.

 

Our Fleet of Boats are based in Southampton, allowing us to offer courses & events all over the Solent.

With our large assortment of yachts, motorboats & rigid inflatables, we have the complete flexibility to run courses for private individuals, companies and organisations alike. We offer training for all, from an absolute beginner to aspiring Yachtmaster Ocean Skippers. We also work alongside and are the training provider for Solent Boat Charters, a large local sailing events company. We have 6 classrooms, including a training workshop, all within the marina.  Together with free accommodation, included with all sailing courses, this means your training will be to the highest standard. We offer RYA courses from our Training Centre in Southampton, as well as own boat tuition all around the Solent area including, Yarmouth, Hamble, Lymington & Cowes.

RYA Powerboat Courses Inc Level 2 & ICC

We run the RYA Powerboat Level 2 courses throughout the year, on our own fleet of 6m training ribs, with Intermediate level training courses run on either of our 7.2m XS Ribs from our base in Southampton.

In addition, we also run MCA & SBT advanced powerboat training courses & events on our 7.5m XS Ribs. 

Many of these boats are MCA commercially coded vessels for day and night use up to 20 miles from land, far more than we actually require for these RYA powerboat courses.

We run a complete range of training courses including the RYA Intermediate Powerboat course and the RYA Advanced Powerboat course, with MCA commercial exam (by arrangement).

RYA courses are run from our Southampton based training centre, as well as own boat tuition all around the Solent including, Yarmouth, Hamble, Lymington & Cowes.

RYA Sail Cruising Courses Inc Competent Crew & Day Skipper

With our own fleet of Bavaria 37 cruising sailing yachts moored in Sharock Quay marina in Southampton offering the full range of RYA sail cruising courses from "Start Yachting", "RYA Competent Crew Course" the popular "RYA Day Skipper Practical Course" through to the Yachtmaster preparation course.

Their 3 double cabins and large saloon area make sailing the Solent, visiting new harbours and learning new skills a very pleasant experience indeed. We specialise in low ratio student to instructor courses as we feel this offers a more complete experience for very little extra expense.  We also offer our own SBT skills days, mileage builders and specialist events that fit perfectly in between the range of RYA sailing courses offered.

At SBT we believe in offering amazing value for money, compared to many local competitors, with most running courses a higher ratio of students per instructor on each course, while also charging more.

We offer our RYA courses from Southampton, as well as own boat tuition all around the Solent including, Yarmouth, Hamble, Lymington & Cowes.

Sailing Mile Building & Experience Sailing Days

With our yachts based in centrally in Southampton, we are able to offer a vast range of sailing mile builders and sailing experience days.  This allows our past present and future students the chance to increase their knowledge and experience, whilst putting in to practice, previously learnt skills.


Sailing Experience Days Sailing Mile Builders

RYA Motor Cruising Courses

We have a fantastic Flybridge Motorboat called 'Kingfisher', a Rodman 1040 Adv.She is perfect for the entire range of RYA motorboat courses. ' RYA Motor Cruising Training Courses' run from our fleets base in Southampton's Shamrock Quay. 

SBT courses offer complete flexibility to train you in many aspects of motorboat handling and fits in between the RYA motorboat courses.

We can run motorboat courses from our Southampton base as well as own boat tuition all around the Solent including, Yarmouth, Hamble, Lymington & Cowes.

RYA & SBT - Shore Based & Theory Courses

Our classroom overlooks Shamrock Quay Marina in Southampton and is only 50 yards from the water's edge.

Our classrooms are a warm and safe environment for all of our shore based courses, including; RYA VHF Radio, Marine Radar, First Aid, Day Skipper Theory, Coastal Skipper & Yachtmaster Theory courses.

Our own SBT Outboard Petrol Engine Maintenance course and the RYA Diesel Engine Maintenance courses have become increasingly popular.

HSE First Aid Training Courses

SBT are a fully certified HSE first aid training centre offering the popular First Aid Courses including;

  • Emergency first aid at work
  • Paediatric First Aid
  • Activity First Aid.

Own Boat Tuition

Our RYA instructors are able to travel to any venue in the Solent area and offer the full range of RYA courses on your vessel or at your premise. We call this own boat tuition.

 

Own Boat Tuition

Check out our Google Reviews

404 Total Reviews
I completed the Level 2 Speed Boat training course over two days. Nick was our instructor. The whole experience was brilliant. The facilities and training rooms were of a high standard and clean with offerings of tea and coffee and use of their waterproofs. Nick was fabulous. He was really thorough in our training making it fun but safe. We learnt so much over the two days and I now feel confident to take a speed boat out safely. Thank you for a great weekend.
goddenjayne
09/03/2026
Hi Jayne, We are so glad that you enjoyed your introduction to the world of Powerboating. Thank you for your encouraging words for your instructor Nick and we hope to meet you again, for any further training we can offer. SBT Team 09/03/2026
Excellent mile builder weekend, knowledge of the instructor was outstanding.
Thomas Chambers
09/03/2026
Thomas, Thank you very much for your review. We look forward to seeing you again in the near future. SBT Team 09/03/2026
This is my first dalliance into the world of practical sailing with the Competent Crew 5 day course, and boy am I so pleased I chose SBT , they are such a friendly and professional group of people both on and off the water. We had Matt as our instructor who made us feel so relaxed with his incredible knowledge and way about him, we laughed our way through the syllabus with an overarching attention to detail and skill. If you're thinking about any course of this nature then do yourself a favour go to these guys. In a word... awesome.
Peter Clark
07/03/2026
Hi Peter, We are delighted that you enjoyed your time with Matt and your fellow crew members. We hope that the experience will inspire you to move onto bigger and better things within the World of Leisure Boating. We look forward to meeting you again soon. SBT Team 09/03/2026
I have had excellent service from Solent Boat Training in various scenarios. The practical Day Skippers course was run by Bella. She is hugely knowledgeable and brings her vast experience to the course. She is kind and calm when explaining new concepts or when you don't understand or make an error. She has a great sense of humour and I would highly recommend her. The office team did all they could to facilitate some further training that I want do and Alex who took my SRC VHF Course was great.
steve blevins
07/03/2026
Steve, We are grateful for the review of your time spent with us at SBT and our friendly and dedicated instructors. We always value our customer feedback and appreciate the praise for our instructors. We hope to see you again for future courses, delivered by members of our SBT Team. 09/03/2026
I completed the excellent rya first aid course tailored for marine use but equally valuable onshore. Lots of hands on work with assessing the casualty, recovery positions, CPR dummy and defibrillator practice. You really can save a life. Many thanks to Sean and fellow attendees
Colin
07/03/2026
Hi Colin, Thank you for taking the time to pen a review of your RYA First Aid Course with us, at Solent Boat Training. It is very much appreciated. We look forward to meeting you again in the future. SBT Team 09/03/2026
I attended a very useful and well presented course on outboard engines. Gave me the confidence to undertake routine mainteance on my boat. Will return to Solent Boat Training for or other courses.
Aaa Aaa
03/03/2026
Thoroughly enjoyable and comprehensive powerboat level 2 course from SBT - instruction, kit, and location - all superb. Thank you.
Patrick Hamilton
23/02/2026
Hi Patrick, Glad that you enjoyed your time with Alex @Solent Boat Training. We hope to see you again soon. SBT Team 03/03/2026
Had a really great time completing the power boat level 2 course with Bryan. He made the sessions really chill and allowed us to feel comfortable on the boat whilst making sure we were learning and understanding everything. I would definitely recommend this course!
Iona Lester
12/02/2026
Hi Iona, Thank you for your review and recommendation. We are delighted that you enjoyed your Powerboat Level 2 Course with Bryan, at Solent Boat Training. We look forward to meeting you again soon. SBT Team 17/02/2026
Completed the 1 day outboard motor servicing course. An excellent course, so much was covered in one day, Sean was excelent and extremely knowledgeable. I would definitely recommend. The theory followed by the practical hands on experience with the engines in the workshop was perfect. Thank you!
Karl Snelling
06/02/2026
Hi Karl, Thank you very much for reviewing your Outboard Engine Maintenance course with us at SBT, we are glad you enjoyed it. We look forward to seeing you again in the near future. SBT Team 09/02/2026
Just returned from completing my RYA Powerboat 2 course with Solent Boat training and had a genuinely excellent time. Bryan was an outstanding instructor who really made the group feel comfortable and at ease during the learning experience. I really appreciated his humour and simple way of explaining how to do things. The course was a small group of three students. It was a great mix of practical experience applying the skills while gaining the necessary information needed to apply them. I enjoyed both the theoretical and practical components of the course. I would strongly recommend this course to anyone hoping to learn more about powerboating.
Jessica C
05/02/2026
Hi Jessica, Thank you for taking the time to review your Powerboat Level 2 course with Bryan. We are delighted you enjoyed the course and appreciate your kind words and praise for your instructor. We hope that we can be of assistance for any further or ongoing training you might require in the future. Until then, Safe and Happy Boating. SBT Team 05/02/2026