DI Pre-Assessment

The Course

The RYA Dinghy Instructor Pre-assessment is a mandatory one-day assessment designed to check your sailing ability before beginning the RYA Dinghy Instructor course. This assessment ensures that you have the skills and boat handling competence to confidently move on to instructor training.

Led by an RYA Dinghy Trainer, you will be asked to demonstrate a variety of core sailing manoeuvres and techniques under assessment conditions. This is your opportunity to showcase your practical skills and readiness to progress to the next stage of your instructor journey.

Successful completion of this assessment is an essential pre-requisite for entry onto the RYA Dinghy Instructor course.

What to expect

During the day you may be assessed on a number of things, including but not limited to:

• Man Over Board/Coming Along Side/Picking Up A Mooring, efficiently and safely
• Sailing tight circles around a safety boat
• "Follow my leader" exercises to show boat handling precision
• General boat handling skills across a variety of points of sail
• Confidence and control in both light and stronger winds

For a full breakdown of the required skills, please refer to the RYA Instructor Handbook (G14).

Last updated 10:43pm on 14 September 2025