From Dinghy Levels 1 & 2 to Yacht Competent Crew in Croatia

(or: how I discovered yachts have more rope than sense, and Croatia has more sunshine than my entire British childhood)

Having survived RYA Dinghy Sailing Levels 1 & 2, I now find myself preparing for RYA Competent Crew on a yacht in Croatia. This is the point where a sensible person would say, “Lovely, I can sail a dinghy now,” and go and have a cup of tea. Instead, I’m upgrading to a boat that weighs roughly the same as a small housing estate and comes with a kitchen. A kitchen. On a boat. Clearly this is either progress or a cry for help.

The good news is that dinghy training is a brilliant head start. You already understand the big ideas: wind awareness, points of sail, how sails actually drive the boat, and why the phrase “it’ll be fine” is usually followed by splashing noises. You know what a tack and a gybe are, you’ve probably practised them with the elegance of a folding deckchair in a breeze, and you’ve learnt that sailing is basically physics with occasional shouting.

The difference with a yacht is that everything is bigger, heavier, and more polite — right up until it isn’t. On a dinghy you feel everything instantly: a puff hits, the boat heels, you move, job done. On a yacht there’s a pause while the boat considers your suggestion, consults its committee, and then very slowly agrees to turn—just as you’ve started thinking you’ve broken it. Also, there are winches. Winches are wonderful devices designed to multiply your strength and your capacity for getting a line jammed at exactly the worst moment.

So where do you start preparing for Competent Crew? First: deck safety and habits. Croatia will be warm, sunny and gorgeous… which is precisely when people get casual. The golden rules still apply: one hand for the boat, keep lines tidy, keep fingers away from anything that bites (cleats, winches, blocks), and assume the boat will move at the worst possible moment. Practise moving around while staying braced, and get comfortable with the idea that “tidy” on a yacht isn’t neatness — it’s survival.

Next: terminology and roles, because yachts have more zones than an airport. Bow, stern, port, starboard — you know. Add in the yachty bits: cockpit, companionway, guardrails, coachroof, shrouds, spreaders. And learn the basics of what a crew member actually does: preparing fenders and warps, handling lines when coming alongside, listening properly during manoeuvres, and being the calm person who says useful things like “we’re drifting sideways” rather than unhelpful things like “ooh look, dolphins!”

Then: knots and line handling — the quickest way to look competent without actually being competent (a vital life skill). If you can confidently tie a bowline, clove hitch, round turn and two half hitches, and a figure-of-eight stopper, you’ll be useful from day one. On yachts, lines are thicker, stiffer, and occasionally behave like irritated pythons. Practise tying knots with cold hands, or at least while someone asks you questions and you pretend it’s fine.

After that, give yourself a gentle intro to winches and sail handling. Dinghies teach you trimming by feel; yachts add systems: halyards, sheets, travellers, reefing lines, and winches that make you feel powerful until you accidentally wind the wrong way and create a knot that requires a priest. Learn the basic flow: hoist, trim, ease, reef early, and understand the core safety rule: never step in a bight of rope unless you enjoy interpretive dance with ankle injuries.

Finally, because it’s Croatia, you’ll likely do plenty of med mooring (stern-to with a lazy line), which is a fabulous mix of sailing skill, boat handling, and reverse parking in front of an audience. Your prep here is mostly mental: keep calm, follow the plan, get fenders ready, know which line is which, and remember that shouting “we’re fine!” does not make you fine. It just makes you louder.

The aim of Competent Crew isn’t to turn you into skipper overnight. It’s to make you safe, useful, and confident — able to handle sails and lines, move around sensibly, help with berthing, and understand what’s going on without having to be translated from “yacht speak” into “normal human”. And if, by the end, you can do all that while also enjoying Croatia’s sunshine without turning the cockpit into a spaghetti incident… that’s not just competence. That’s victory.

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Quick prep checklist (Croatia edition)

Know / practise

• Points of sail, tacking/gybing flow (you’ve got this from dinghies)

• Core knots: bowline, clove hitch, round turn + two half hitches, figure-of-eight

• Basic deck safety: one hand for the boat, tidy lines, no feet in loops

• Winch basics: wrap direction, tailing, easing under control, no “death grip”

• Berthing basics: fenders/warps ready, listen to the plan, slow is smooth

Pack

• Sailing gloves (sun + rope burn is a combo nobody wants)

• Deck shoes with good grip

• Sun protection: hat, sunglasses with retainer, high SPF, lip balm

• Light waterproof (because boats enjoy irony)

• Refillable water bottle