In this publication10 photos
1. NavAtHome — photos 1–2
2. Skippers Online — photo 3
3. Sailing Course Online — photos 4–5
4. Ardent Training — photo 6 onwards
About £350 for a year’s access. As every review praised only the school its author had attended, I asked all four for trial access.
NavAtHome The most popular RYA online school, with 3,000 reviews on Trustpilot. The good impression lasts exactly until you enter the learning portal. It probably hasn’t changed since 1995: terrible layout, primitive pictures and animations, like an old HTML textbook.
Skippers Online Second in popularity, with 2,000 reviews. They went a step further: a narrator reads the text in a robotic voice. Pictures went into a PowerPoint presentation, narration was added, and the result exported into clips of forty to 150 seconds. Not something I feel like paying for. Incidentally, the full course is on the NNM-Club torrent tracker.
Sailing Course Online Another frequently mentioned platform, since rebranded as Urban Truant. 750 reviews. I liked it: convenient navigation, scanned materials, and a balanced mix of short texts, mini-tests and videos. The imitation folder-and-file structure was irritating: up to seven clicks to open the right section. And again, 90% of the content was text.
Ardent Training Only four years old, but already 550 reviews. Their Instagram adverts reminded me of Sila Vetra. I opened the site, found a broken layout and briefly thought they’d closed. My ad blocker was to blame. The course offers two presentation formats: click through slides or watch a full video course, like at Black Sea School. Videos are filmed on yachts, with instructors speaking natural British English. A test follows each topic. I liked the approach, paid for full access that day, and received the study pack by post a week later.
#training #ardent
2. Skippers Online — photo 3
3. Sailing Course Online — photos 4–5
4. Ardent Training — photo 6 onwards
About £350 for a year’s access. As every review praised only the school its author had attended, I asked all four for trial access.
NavAtHome The most popular RYA online school, with 3,000 reviews on Trustpilot. The good impression lasts exactly until you enter the learning portal. It probably hasn’t changed since 1995: terrible layout, primitive pictures and animations, like an old HTML textbook.
Skippers Online Second in popularity, with 2,000 reviews. They went a step further: a narrator reads the text in a robotic voice. Pictures went into a PowerPoint presentation, narration was added, and the result exported into clips of forty to 150 seconds. Not something I feel like paying for. Incidentally, the full course is on the NNM-Club torrent tracker.
Sailing Course Online Another frequently mentioned platform, since rebranded as Urban Truant. 750 reviews. I liked it: convenient navigation, scanned materials, and a balanced mix of short texts, mini-tests and videos. The imitation folder-and-file structure was irritating: up to seven clicks to open the right section. And again, 90% of the content was text.
Ardent Training Only four years old, but already 550 reviews. Their Instagram adverts reminded me of Sila Vetra. I opened the site, found a broken layout and briefly thought they’d closed. My ad blocker was to blame. The course offers two presentation formats: click through slides or watch a full video course, like at Black Sea School. Videos are filmed on yachts, with instructors speaking natural British English. A test follows each topic. I liked the approach, paid for full access that day, and received the study pack by post a week later.
#training #ardent
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