The windsurf instructor course is the one people do not believe: you can arrive without a single qualification and leave four weeks later as an RYA Start Windsurfing Instructor. It is open to anyone 18 or over. What it does demand is a month of proper effort.
How can four weeks be enough?
Because it is residential and the conditions cooperate. At Lixouri Bay the morning water is flat for technique work and the afternoon cross-shore breeze arrives most days, so you are on the water six days a week rather than waiting on British weekends. The first fortnight builds your riding to the standard the RYA expects of an instructor; the second fortnight teaches you to teach, with real beginners to practise on at the club.
What does the course cover?
- Personal riding to RYA instructor standard, including tacks, gybes and confident harness work
- The RYA Start Windsurfing teaching method, from simulator briefings to on-water coaching
- Group management, safety cover and rescue technique
- Kit knowledge: rigging, tuning and matching boards and sails to students
What is included?
Transfers, shared accommodation, full board, every board and rig you will wear out, and RYA training six days a week. Already teaching? The one-week RYA Intermediate Windsurf Instructor upgrade runs at the club too, for instructors with 50 logged teaching hours.
After the course
Start Windsurfing Instructors staff beach clubs and holiday centres all over the world, and windsurf instructors are consistently the scarcest hire of the season. If you would rather ride than teach first, windsurfing is free to guests at our clubs; see the windsurfing holidays guide.
