About Elite Sailing

Elite Sailing is one of the largest, most well-established, and respected RYA accredited sailing schools in the UK. Operating from our Chatham Marina base (under an hour from London with free on-site parking) we deliver professional and leisure sail training, mile-building passages, and bucket-list sailing adventures for every level of sailor.

Over 30 Years of Excellence on the Water

For over three decades, we have been sharing our passion for seamanship, adventure, and the ocean. Elite Sailing is proud to continue its heritage of high-calibre instruction with a commitment to quality, modern standards, and safety. Whether you are stepping onto a yacht for the first time or training for your commercial RYA Yachtmaster certification, our decades of experience ensure you learn safely, build real confidence, and have an incredible time doing it.

Sail Training Courses, Mile Builders & Adventures

Our comprehensive range of programs includes:

RYA Qualifications: From Competent Crew and Day Skipper to Coastal Skipper and Fast Track Yachtmaster programs. We also offer a wide range of shorebased and theory courses, including Day Skipper and Yachtmaster theory, Radar, First Aid and more.
Offshore & Mile Builders: Hands-on passage planning, night navigation, and mile-logging trips through the Medway, the North Sea, Europe, and beyond.
Sailing Adventures & Round Britain Experiences: Unforgettable, bucket-list voyages designed to push your skills, build lifelong memories, and explore the UK coastline.

We are also proud to offer a series of hands-on courses designed for real-world practical situations, such as our Marine Electronics course, Heavy-weather sailing course, and our Passage Planning course.

Experienced and Professional Instructors

Our team of expert RYA instructors brings unmatched local knowledge, professional expertise, and genuine enthusiasm to every passage. We keep our training hands-on and tailored, ensuring you gain the practical seamanship and intuition needed to skipper a yacht anywhere in the world - whether that's chartering a bareboat in the Mediterranean or taking on heavy weather offshore.