Who We Are
Thessalia Sailing is an RYA-recognised sailing school in Greece, run by husband and wife team, Carl and Liz. We have been providing sailing courses in the gulf of Volos since 2017.
We run courses with a maximum of five students to one instructor and our school yacht, El Nino, a Dufour 45 Classic, has 4 large cabins. You will never be asked to share a cabin with a complete stranger.
RYA sailing courses
Competent Crew
This course is for beginners and those who would like to become active crew members rather than just passengers
Beginner to Day Skipper
Go from absolute beginner to Day Skipper in 2 weeks able to confidently skipper a yacht
Day Skipper practical
If you already have basic knowledge of sailing and wish to move up to the next level. the Day Skipper course will provide you with the experience required to skipper a yacht
Mile Building trips
Build your experience, improve your confidence and advance your practical knowledge whilst putting hundreds of miles in your log
Click the image for more information and booking
Coastal Skipper
This course is for yachtsmen and women with considerable knowledge of sailing and navigation, wanting to undertake longer coastal passages by day and night
Yachtmaster Offshore
A commercially-endorsed Yachtmaster Offshore certificate allows the holder to work in the industry anywhere in the world
OUR SEASONS SAILING
Why choose an RYA sailing course?
More than 270,000 people of all ages and abilities undertake some form of RYA training each year.
RYA courses are recognised worldwide for delivering the skills and knowledge to stay safe and enjoy your time on the water.
Whatever your motivation, RYA courses and qualifications offer an opportunity to build confidence, have fun and are often the starting point of a lifelong love of sailing.
Working your way up the ladder from Competent Crew to Day Skipper and then to Coastal Skipper, you will then be ready to gain the most globally accepted, professional sailing license; Yachtmaster Offshore and have access to work around the world. Or if you have no intention of working in the industry, RYA sailing courses give you the best start to stay safe and enjoy your sailing.
We are inspected by the RYA annually and the boat is maintained to the highest level.
All of the safety equipment is serviced annually.
Training is all we do
Student testimonials
Just had an amazing week doing my DS practical! We went out with instructor Mark and it couldn’t have been better, he was thorough with his explanations, we all felt super safe onboard and on top of that he was lovely dude! Same can be said for everyone I met on the team. 10/10 experience. Thank you guys! ❤️
Miles Appel (Spain)
Fantastic week finally doing a course that I had wanted to do for the last twenty five years but somehow never got around to. Superb location, fantastic yacht, in conjunction with an articulate, skilful, positive, calm and knowledgeable Skipper namely Carl Derham. My wife and I are both in our early 50’s and enjoyed RYA Competent Crew under the tutelage of Carl immensely, we are already considering when we can return to progress to RYA Day Skipper
Stefan Jenkins (Scotland)
Carl is an experienced and very knowledgeable instructor and we learnt a great deal more than we anticipated, given our previous knowledge of being at sea on ships etc.
John Colling (UK)
I can’t imagine it could be better. Everything was great!!
Alexandru Oancea (Romania):