RYA Radar Course in Anglesey

This day is for anyone who has radar on board, or who intends to use radar for navigation, on a motor or sailing vessel. It suits people who have never switched a set on, and people who already have one and want to read it properly.

Radar only helps if you understand its limits. The course is there so you can interpret the display, tell targets apart and fold the picture into a passage plan rather than staring at a screen you do not trust.

No. The day starts with how radar waves travel and the parts of the set, then builds to plotting and collision avoidance. You do not need a previous RYA ticket to attend.

A little chartwork helps when you start plotting range and bearing, but it is not required. The instructor works through the plots with you.

You cover radar wave travel, the components of a radar set, types of display, target definition and discrimination, and radar reflectors. You then work range, bearing and plotting techniques.

The day also looks at how radar sits with a chart and with collision avoidance, so the picture on the screen is something you can act on, not just watch.

Training is delivered in the classroom, and as a mix of classroom and afloat exercises when the day allows. The Menai Strait gives you a real picture to interpret when you go afloat.

Either way, the syllabus is the same. You leave knowing how the set works, where it has limits, and how to plot what you see.

The course is completed in a single day, typically around 6 to 8 hours depending on the group and whether you go afloat. It starts from the classroom at 40 High Street, Menai Bridge.

The day is split between the theory of the set and the practical plots. There is time for questions on the picture in front of you, not a race through slides.

There is no formal exam. You work through practical exercises and plotting scenarios so the instructor can see that you understand the principles.

Feedback runs through the day. The aim is that you can read the display, tell targets apart and use the picture for navigation and collision avoidance when you go back to your own boat.

Course materials, charts, plotting sheets and access to radar equipment are provided. You do not need to bring your own set.

A notebook and pen are enough. If the day includes time afloat, warm layers and non-slip footwear are useful.

The course is held at our training centre in Menai Bridge on the Isle of Anglesey. The classroom is at 40 High Street, LL59 5EF, with the boats a five-minute walk away when you go afloat.

Take junction 8A onto the A5 off the A55 at Britannia Bridge. Pay and Display parking is across the road from the classroom.

Yes. The day is written so you can take the same principles back to the set on your own motor or sailing vessel. The Menai Strait picture is a useful one, because it mixes close targets with more open water.

You will still need to learn the buttons on your own display. The course teaches you what the picture means, not only which menu to open.

No. Radar is a tool that sits with a lookout, a chart and the collision regulations. The course spends time on the limits of the set so you do not treat a blank screen as an empty sea.

Used well, it helps with collision avoidance and navigation in poor visibility. Used without that understanding, it can give you a false sense of what is out there.