Chieftain Training Reviews 

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...

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.

Alex was amazing! Very patient, informative, and clear with all instructions!

Really knowledgeable, engaging instructor. Course felt well-paced. Good facilities. Only slight downside is the travel between classroom and pool sessions, but the two locations are closer together than for some other available courses.

RYA first aid course was expertly delivered by Joe, everything was discussed and well presented, definitely be back

Great instructor, delivered with confidence stemming from professional experience

Challenging, enjoyable and technically interesting. And all questions were answered with experience and knowledge.

Nigel has done an excellent job in balancing real life experience with keeping a focus on working through all the material.
I really enjoyed it.