Chieftain Training Reviews 

Our kids had the most amazing week learning to sail over May half-term. They were a little nervous the night before since they’d never been sailing, but when I picked them up after day one, they were absolutely buzzing, talking non-stop about what they’d done and learned.

I’ve been so impressed by how much they picked up in just a few days, and how excited they are to get back out on the water.

I’ve already signed them up for Level 2 over the summer, and they are already eager to do Level 3 ASAP. Once they complete that, they can join the advanced racing courses (racing boats against each other seems to be their primary motivation!).

What I hadn't expected from this course was a genuine new hobby. Usually, half-term activity clubs just provide childcare, but this was a truly inspiring week where they gained real confidence and learned a boatload (pun intended!).

If you’re looking for an activity to boost your kids' confidence, get them "fall asleep in the car on the way home" tired, and introduce them to a potential new hobby, I couldn’t recommend this place more. The instructors and owners are all lovely and are genuinely building a long-term love for the sport. They’ve even got my husband interested in looking into the adult sailing courses!

Kids had a whale of a time, learnt a lot and afterwards they slept.

Great training centre. Really enjoyed course and left feeling confident.

RYA 1st Aid course: Clear, relaxed presentation. Got through a lot of detail in the day. Would recommend Chieftain.

An extremely good course run by a experienced and very knowledgeable tutor, would highly recommend Chieftain training for any of their courses.

This course was at the correct level for me, and as the only woman on the course I did not feel left behind by the instructor or the other candidates and was able to ask all the silly questions I needed to - and I learnt loads. I feel able now to at least have some knowledge if it all goes wrong at sea.

Very informative

I attended the RYA First Aid course yesterday. The facilities are very good with plenty of parking. Our trainer (Alan) was very experienced with plenty of real life examples to enhance the material. I would recommend this course.

Just one point to watch is to leave plenty of time to reach the facility. The road into Hamble gets pretty congested on weekday mornings/evenings, so leave extra time to arrive and get home.

Super helpful and professional instruction throughout.

Friendly and competent instructors

I did the RYA Sea Survival and then the second day as well. The pool session is tough but rewarding and worthwhile - if nothing else it teaches you that you never want to be in a liferaft. Great instructors - skilled, experienced and personable.

Excellent. Very experienced and knowledgeable staff. Great Teaching environment and facilities. The course itself was up to date, relevant, well presented, well instructed and provided more than enough information.

I attended the Sea Survival and World Sailing Offshore Personal Survival courses. Highly recommended. John is an experienced offshore sailer who has worked for both the Coastguard and RNLI. He is informative and engaging.

Excellent, experienced trainer in a great, modern facility...

Excellent, practical quick paced training on yacht sea safety

Having zero experience, but a long held interest in Keelboat sailing, I came across Chieftain/SWAC whilst searching for companies that could equp me with 'grounded' sailing competence upon which to build.

Pursuing levels 1,2&3; the team were were extremely warm, professional and supportive.

The equipment on which we trained was well maintained; adding to a sense of comfort and surety.

They taught the lessons in a way which enabled me to grasp the key skill sets and had an approachable manner which allowed a feel of demonstrative participation.

I learned not just sailing aspects in the tiller main and gib sheets, but also putting up and taking down sails, reefing whilst afloat, man overboard procedures, anchoring and so much more.

Huge Thanks to Kai, the Instructor, Alex John, Scott, Doug, and the wider team.

(Also a small shout out of thanks to Pete for his tutoring on my SRC qualification also undertaken with Chieftain.

I would highly recommend this company for these, and the other great courses they offer.

Great expierience on instructor training

Great tutor, good facilities. Also the admin support was very helpful.

Fantastic RYA First Aid Training provided by Alan, friendly and approachable, I will be back for more courses!

Adam was my instructor for Yachtmaster Offshore Sail to Power conversion. Writing as an RYA Cruising Instructor (sail) myself who has taken numerous RYA courses in the last 20 yrs; I am happy to report that Adam was the best instructor I have had the pleasure to work with in any discipline.

Patient and professional, with an uncanny knack of conveying even the most complicated of concepts in a simple, accessible manner. Adam and Doug (Chieftain’s principal) go the extra mile; it is clear that they are both truly invested in the development and success of their students. A credit to the industry.