Feel like boating? The captain of the Amerigo Vespucci will teach you!

Between October and November, training courses offered by the Yacht Club Cala dei Sardi are starting up again. They are aimed at those who want to get their boat license or increase their skills as offshore skippers, and the trainers include real and special sailors.

With the conclusion of the 2025 summer season, the Yacht Club Cala dei Sardi announces the resumption of its sailing training courses between the months of October and November. This is a unique opportunity to combine nautical tourism and the enhancement of one’s technical background as a skipper, since the theoretical and practical activities of these educational proposals take place right in Cala dei Sardi, a magical place that gives one of the most striking sceneries of the Costa Smeralda, Sardinia.

An outstanding trainer, longtime captain

But there is also another element that might appeal to aspiring skippers. The lessons of these training courses are taught by a special teacher, among others. He is Gianfranco Bacchi, president of the Yacht Club Cala dei Sardi and instructor of the Italian Sailing Federation, but above all former commander of the legendary “Amerigo Vespucci,” the legendary training ship of the Italian Navy. Role he held in the 2019-2020 seasons. In short, a great sailor and navigator who certainly has a lot to teach his students.

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“These are,” explains Yacht Club President Gianfranco Bacchi, “courses designed to meet every need. During the summer, we received numerous requests from people who wish to obtain their nautical license while spending a few weekends in Northwest Sardinia. This is an opportunity to combine tourism and training, living the spirit of the sailor and preparing for exams directly on board the boats of the NSS Charter fleet.”

Navigate, study and prepare for your driver’s license exam

The sailing courses offered by the Yacht Club Cala dei Sardi follow two strands: those aimed at those who want to obtain a sailing license and those aimed instead at those who want to learn offshore sailing. The first dates for the sailing license courses have already been scheduled. Classes for the theoretical part will be held on Oct. 18-19 and Oct. 25-26, while practical exercises will take place during weekdays between Oct. 18 and Oct. 28.

This first session covers licensing within 12 miles for powerboats and sailboats with highly qualified instructors who, together with staff members with extensive experience at sea, will guide the students step by step to safely and competently take the examination tests.

This is how skippers are trained

On the other hand, from November 3 to 9, 2025, the new Offshore Skipper’s Course starts in Cala dei Sardi, dedicated to those who wish to gain autonomy in the conduction of sailing and motor boats. The educational course is organized in collaboration with Top Sail Italy, an ASD certified by the Royal Yachting Association. It is an intensive course that combines theory and practice of coastal sailing, crew management and route planning, on board the NSS Charter and Top Sail Italy catamaran fleets. “At the end of the course,” explains Bacchi, “the participant has with him or her the title Day Skipper, the SRC license and the certification of the 5 hours of practice useful for obtaining the nautical license, thanks to the contribution provided to the courses by Scuola Nautica Cala dei Sardi with its boats and practice instructors.

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“The Offshore Skipper course,” continues Gianfranco Bacchi, “is designed for those who want to take an extra step in their nautical training in which they combine technical preparation with the pleasure of sailing in Northwest Sardinia, with the opportunity to later also obtain a license to command pleasure craft.

An important aspect concerns the propaedeutic value of the Offshore Skipper course: in fact, those enrolled will be able to obtain certification of the 5 hours of practice required by the regulations for obtaining the Sailing/Motorboat license in any Italian school. For those students already enrolled in the Cala dei Sardi Nautical School, this amount of hours will be automatically recognized and discounted from the cost of the sailing license course. For more information, reservations and enrollment methods, you can email in**@***ds.it.

David Ingiosi