Ilfracombe Sea School
RYA recognised Training Centre, Ilfracombe , North Devon
Welcome to Ilfracombe Sea School
We offer a range of high quality RYA courses both practical, Shore based and Specialist, and operate a clear and easy to understand pricing structure, with no hidden extras.
Our aim is to ensure that you are proud to say that you trained at the Ilfracombe Sea School, and will come back to us in the future and recommend us to your Friends, family and colleagues.
We hope that you can find the information you require on the website but if you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are here to help.
For our address and a map of how to find us, please visit our Contact Us page.
Sail Cruising Courses
Powerboat/PWC Courses
Specialist Courses
Shore Based Theory
Nick delivered a fantastic powerboat level two course. His knowledge and enthusiasm is inspirational. I cannot recommend this course enough.
Did powerboat level 2 course with Nick this weekend was an outstanding course learnt loads from Nick who is so knowledgeable about his subjects, he is enthusiastic, calm and excellent at his delivery. The facilities are good and the equipment is well looked after and very capable.
Will be looking to complete the VHF course in Nov. I definitely recommend this training
Will be looking to complete the VHF course in Nov. I definitely recommend this training
Very intense, hands-on, 5 days, with close supervision and careful support. But also great fun, good company and an invaluable experience. Also, a really good cook on board!
Did my RYA Power Boat Level 2 with Nick from Ilfracombe Sea School. Nick was a fantastic instructor with a deep knowledge of his subject. He clearly enjoys passing his knowledge on and is a gifted teacher, making the course fun as well as interesting. The school is well located in Ilfracombe Harbour which has plenty of places to practice manoeuvring both in the open and in close quarters. The classroom was also well equipped, clean and tidy. I'm looking forward to doing my advanced course there soon.
Highly recommend the powerboat 2 course with excellent instructor Nick. If you have always fancied having a go, but are lacking a bit of confidence, let me reassure you! It's great fun and Nick is a really supportive, knowledgeable teacher, I loved it!
Really well run coarse, instructor was engaging and knowledgeable, and could share real life experience of use of VHF in distress situations. Thoroughly recommend.
SRC course March 2025
A superb course to attend, you leave after the 1 day with a huge knowledge base. The course content was delivered by the Harbour Master (Georgina) in a highly professional manner, made easy to understand and presented in a way that ot sunk in! Could’t recommend highly enough to those who take safety a sea as a serious matter.
A superb course to attend, you leave after the 1 day with a huge knowledge base. The course content was delivered by the Harbour Master (Georgina) in a highly professional manner, made easy to understand and presented in a way that ot sunk in! Could’t recommend highly enough to those who take safety a sea as a serious matter.
Very informative course. Brandon was really good and knowledgeable. It sounds very long course but the time fly quickly, a lot to take in and the exam was common sense with the harbour master. Really enjoyed it.
Fantastic course. Powerboat Level 2. Brilliant teaching beyond the needs of the curriculum. Absolutely fabulous. Can't recommend highly enough.
Great course delivered by a highly experienced instructor. High recommend to anyone wanting their PowerBoat2 certification or anyone wanting to be fully prepared when out on the water.
I completed the shore based Day Skipper theory course at the Ilfracombe Sea School based in the harbour offices. The course was structured over five consecutive days. As a novice, even with some advance preparation, I discovered there is a massive amount to learn and absorb. The instructors teaching style was first class. He is thorough, relaxed and uses relevant aids such as slides, models and film to get the message across. Despite this I struggled to absorb enough to be confident on exam day. However they structured the final tests in two parts with a break in-between which was a godsend, and much appreciated. The additional time enabled me to revise and practice my passage planning, navigation and course plotting skills sufficiently well to scrape a pass. I really enjoyed the course.
Great teaching, smart and comfortable premises, reasonable cost, local to me. Can't ask for more.
I took the Direct Assessment PB2 Course with Nick Clarke. I was with two other people and Nick first asked us about our experience; throughout the day referred back to how the techniques/methods we were using related to situations we had experience of.
We had plenty of time each of the helm of Nicks boat so our ability could be assessed and we were given lots of good 'taglines' such as 'Steer before Gear' to make sure good practice became second nature.
Nicks classroom teaching method using 'old school' wipe board was refreshing, so many people teach using Powerpoint now and it can be a bit too much information to take on quickly. Nicks technique built up a picture bit by bit making everything easy to understand.
All in all and excellent day, I'm looking forward to taking my boating skills forward with Ilfracombe Sea School.
We had plenty of time each of the helm of Nicks boat so our ability could be assessed and we were given lots of good 'taglines' such as 'Steer before Gear' to make sure good practice became second nature.
Nicks classroom teaching method using 'old school' wipe board was refreshing, so many people teach using Powerpoint now and it can be a bit too much information to take on quickly. Nicks technique built up a picture bit by bit making everything easy to understand.
All in all and excellent day, I'm looking forward to taking my boating skills forward with Ilfracombe Sea School.
It was an extremely informative experience that felt far more involved and interesting than I expected. I cannot stress enough how professional and experienced our instructor was. All in all I found it enjoyable despite it being a tough course and highly recommended anyone who is thinking about taking the radio or any other course at Ilfracombe to go for it, I promise you'll be in safe hands.
Its just great to have good maritime training facilities in North Devon. Good course, Great instructor and the class room facilities are excellent.
Really enjoyed my course.
Thank You.
Really enjoyed my course.
Thank You.
I recently completed my Powerboating Level 2 with instructor Nick. It was a fabulous 2 days that filled me with confidence and knowledge of powerboat handling. Nick is a such a calm and supportive instructor! A great experience!
