X Electronic Navigation and Radar Simulation
Normally using electronics when navigating?
Want to train your radar skills on a simulator?
3 days pleasant learning in Malta, 20- 22 February 2026! .
New: In-Class training on PC’s, just like the Pro’s do!
Ideal add-on to the RYA Day Skipper and RYA Yachtmaster courses, which covers too little on this important subject
Hands-on and easy-to-understand simulation using electronic charts and professional radar simulation
For normal pleasure sailors as well as for advanced sailors wishing to understand more
Learn from Leon, an experienced RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Instructor with 85,000+ sailed miles
Learn from Rudi, a professional ECDIS-trainer (Electronic Chart Display and Information System) and Radar expert, having installed radar systems and ECIDS onboard commercial ships and trained countless professional mariner. In his free time he loves sailing his Hallberg-Rassy 36
After the course, you will regard electronic navigation with new eyes, having learnt loads of new tricks!
This is generic training useful for any brand of plotter and not type specific (Furuno/Raymarine/B&G/Garmin etc)
Discounted hotel prices which can be extended for some relaxing holidays in sunny Malta
Pleasant lunches and evening dinners with heartily sailing discussions
Feel the comradeship of the Reginasailing Family – learning and sharing experiences together
Get prepared for sailing in Safety, Comfort and Style
3 days of friendly and relaxed learning (one day radar and two days electronic chart training)
(checking in on 19 Feb, checking out on 23 Feb or just remain in your room if you are on the RYA Day Skipper course anyway. Prolonged stay possible)
Using your Radar needs training! There is no better possibility than doing it on a simulator!
Who is this course for?
If you have taken the Day Skipper or the Yachtmaster Offshore theory courses, you might have noticed that electronic navigation and radar is only covered to a limited degree, despite the fact that today’s sailors are mainly relying on their plotter/PC/Tablet or mobile phone for navigation.
You might have experienced that it’s not just a matter of switching on the plotter or radar and it will tell you where when to turn in what direction. Sailing is so much more complex and has nothing to do with driving a car with its built-in streetmap with routing option. And there are so many “hidden” options and tools in electronic charting systems many sailors would love to know, but never knew they existed.
One of the most useful pieces of equipment is often already found onboard, but seldom used: the Radar. Skippers have far too limited experience or knowledge how to use it, unfortunately. It’s like a doctor having an Ultrasound machine in his or her practice, but had had no training how to interpret the dots, shades and shapes. After all, it’s not a photograph. And the plotter or PC does not display the reality. Instead, it’s merely more than a drawn map of your surrounding with your own position placed on a screen. You need to learn how to operate it safely. After all, this is not a computer game. You are surrounded by reality and the chart display system is a way to support you to sail in safety, comfort and style. Switching on your Radar the moment you encounter fog, hoping for the best can become a very disappointing experience.
Besides: The radar can be a great tool, also during perfect visibility!
A typical screenshot from an RYA theory course. It’s a good start, but nothing compared to a true simulation with a real plotter with radar module!
The RYA is trying to master the splits between following the legislation with paper charts while, at the same time, seeing the reality that electronic navigation is becoming increasingly popular. To serve all training centers, they provide hand-outs of artificially drawn “screen shots” like the one to the left. Then the picture is discussed in class, teaching the basics in electronic navigation. This is a good step, but it is of limited value compared to a proper course working in pairs with a true PC simulator.
If you are new to skippering a boat or already have a plotter and/or radar onboard and would like to know more how to get the most out of them, this course is for you.
This course definitely takes the stress out of navigation and it may save your boat or even your life one day!
Crossing the English Channel using AIS to identify targets.
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Using Radar to identify boats without AIS, using ARPA and cross-checking the rocks by means of Radar.
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Your instructors: Rudi and Leon
This Reginasailing Theory course has not one, but two instructors, complimenting each other in the best of ways. You can learn from Leon’s 85,000+ nm of experience as a sailor and working as an RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Instructor for 15 years, and Rudi’s experience as a professional navigator. Understanding how the big vessels navigate can help us to act adequately as sailors.
In addition, Rudi is an eager sailor himself, owning a Hallberg-Rassy 36, equipped with the most modern electronic chart systems on plotters and PC’s that are feasible on a small sailing boat. Rudi sails most of the year (also during winters), has his home port in the Baltic, but loves Scottish waters. So Rudi knows both worlds and is a sought-after trainer for the commercial shipping industry.
Reginasailing is very proud to have Rudi onboard for this exclusive course in Malta!
Leon and Rudi are also good old friends, by the way, having both worked together in the marine industry for decades. Throughout the years, they have been each other’s customers (Leon buying from Rudi and Rudi buying from Leon) and now they are finally working together, performing navigation training under the banner of Reginasailing.
Rudi and Leon onboard Regina Laska in 2016 after they both had sailed to Fair Isle on their corresponding boats to have their Fair Isle Sweaters hand-knitted by Hollie.
Rudi (left) onboard one of “his” ships, the M/S Peter Pan of TT-Line, that he has equipped with electronic navigation. Modern electronic navigation found on pleasure crafts are so powerful these days that they have become rather similar to what is found on large commercial vessels – if you know how to use your equipment that is!
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What does the legislation say?
There is no doubt, any boat which is not equipped with a proper double ECDIS system (for big ships) or follow the new standard of the very stringent MGN319 rules for small craft, which come into effect in July 2025, must still use paper charts as their primary navigation tool. Full stop. And that’s also why the RYA does not hesitate to teach classic navigation with paper charts for the foreseeing future. Paper charts are still the only allowed way for sailors to navigate, which this brand-new MGN319 rule proves. Yet, most leisure sailors completely rely on their electronics nevertheless and by doing so, take a risk.
The aim of this course is to minimise the risk by means of understanding and training.
TZ iBoat on iPad or iPhone can be a good backup for your plotter system. If you use Furuno as your main navigation system, they even share data via the cloud.
And what are the fall-back systems onboard? According to the MGN319-rules you cannot rely on one system alone, but need a backup system both concerning power supply as well as chart display system. You need a second battery system, a second system fulfilling these rules or – simply paper charts, which neither need power nor a charting hard- and software! But you need to master how to use paper charts, which is taught in the Day Skipper and Yachtmaster Theory courses. Now: What is your backup system on your own boat? Do you rely on electronic charts only? Is your sole backup system possibly your smartphone?
The Moody 47 “Wahkuna” collided with “P&O Nedlloyd Vespucci” on 28. Mai 2003. Both had Radar. Both saw each other on Radar. But lack of training lead to the Moody sinking after the collision and the crew were lucky enough to climb into their life raft. With training, this could have been avoided.
Further, Rule 5 talks about lookout by all available means, including audible- and visual means as well as by the use of a marine Radar, if fitted. So owning a radar comes with a responsibility and since the rules say you need to use it, the operator needs to know how and must have received adequate training. Or otherwise, you will rely on scanty Radar information, which can be fatal as the collision between a sailing boat and a freighter in the English channel showed in 2003, leading to the sailing boat sinking.
Don’t forget:
When an accident occurs due to a navigational error, the skipper can get into big trouble, not only regarding the safety of his family and friends onboard, but also regarding any insurance claims questioning your seamanship. Knowing the rules and being well trained is key to safety.
Nobody can take the responsibility from the skipper or navigator to follow the rules and acting with his best of seamanship, but what Reginasailing wishes to do is to offer a good, fun and interesting training, so using your equipment becomes second nature and you feel in command of your instruments.
Using the plotter needs more training than you might think.
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The Syllabus
There will be a mix of lectures with demonstrations and own tasks you have to do on your PC. You will learn how much you shall rely on AIS-information, Radar information and how you best make use of your electronic chart for safe and relaxed navigation, avoiding over-reliance and cross-checking with other means of data coming from other sources than GNSS (satellite-based navigation).
There are ample possibilities to discuss different brands of equipment during the dinners in the evenings, but the course itself concentrates on the functionality. It uses the state-of-the-art
The curriculum of the 3 days Radar and Electronic Navigation course in Malta consists of:
| 1. Radar Hardware 2. Interpreting the Radar 3. Setting up the Radar 4. Navigating with Radar 5. Avoiding Collision with Radar 6. Radar psychology
| 7. Chart Display Systems (MFD’s etc) 8. Software and Apps 9. Charts 10. Chart Work 11. Planning tools
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If you are interested in continuing with practical sail training after the course, you can continue directly in Malta with Prosailing Malta or onboard Regina Laska on one of the Practical coastal sailing or Practical offshore sailing legs.
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Relaxed electronic navigation in France
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The Preparation and Pre-Course knowledge
You should have a sound understanding for basic navigation, similar to the level of the RYA Day Skipper, SKS or higher. This is also why the RYA Day Skipper course is placed exactly before this course, so participants can seamlessly continue form the Day Skipper onto the Radar and Electronic Simulation course.
If you already have more experience, such as being an RYA Yachtmaster or have the SSS or have gone the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Theory course, the better. You will also benefit from becoming a better radar operator and navigating safer and more comfortable.
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Radar, Navigation, Nachtsegeln
Course Info
What’s so special?
The Reginasailing theory courses are unique in many aspects. The main benefits are:
- Combining theory with hands-on simulation on PC’s
- Concentrated learning during a pleasant week covering everything you need to know for safe sailing even when visibility drops to poor visibility or even fog.
- Combining holiday with fun learning
- Beautiful venue at the famous Corinthia St George Hotel
- Dinner at the renown Royal Malta Yacht Club (Members only and their guests)
- The Reginasailing atmosphere: make friends, meet again at reunions, at sea or at other courses. Become part of the Reginasailing family!
- Discuss your dreams, plans and boat equipment during evenings and lunches
- Learn from an instructor with well above 85,000 miles of sailing experience (Leon) and a professional trainer in Electronic Navigation and Radar technology (Rudi)
Exclusive dinner for Reginasailing at the Royal Malta Yacht club serving fresh local salt-baked fish (Seabass, Red Snapper and the local delicacy Gurbel)
Come and get to know Malta and the great Reginasailing Family.
The venue: The 5-star Corinthia St George Hotel:
Reginasailing has been offering Yachtmaster Theory courses in Malta since 2017. Thanks to excellent connections and loyalty Reginasailing has been upgrade to the 5-star Corinthia St George Bay Hotel in St Julians with extraordinary discounted price due to our loyalty! Prices have been kept the same for years, we may enjoy their best conference rooms and it is encouraged to bring your spouse for a relaxed holiday even if they don’t participate at the course. A spouse stays for free and only pays for the breakfast!
Prolong your stay over the week-ends to enjoy some own sight-seeing and exploration of this historically interesting island! Especially Valletta is definitely worth a visit! Prolonging at the same discounted price is subject to availability and can only be guaranteed for early bookings.
The Corinthia St George is one of the absolute top hotels in Malta, offering us a first-class conference room with a direct exit to the pool area with sea view. The Hotel is situated directly by the sea and offers great opportunities for combining your RYA theoretical course with holiday. It can’t get any better!
The opening speech welcoming guests to Malta
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The view from the balcony outside our executive conference room
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Hotel prices for 2026 (same as for 2025):
Superior room with sea view (single occupancy): EUR 115 per night including breakfast
Your spouse just pays EUR 20 extra for the very extensive breakfast.
Coures date:
- Radar and Electronic Simulation course: 20- 22 February 2026
An evening at the Royal Malta Yacht Club. The sail training week is just as well a social event where we gain from each others’ experiences and enjoy the company.
Number of participants:
In order to grant the exclusive character and an individual and efficient learning experience, the number of participants have been limited to around 10 students.
No paper charts in this course!
Price for the course:
- Course Fee: Radar and Electronic Simulation course (3 days): EUR 560 plus travel, food and hotel
Included in the price is the G34 RYA Introduction to Radar booklet, which you will get in the course.
Additional costs:
- Hotel: The cost for the hotel nights are paid on site directly to the Corinthia hotel and booked via Reginasailing
- Coffee breaks, water, lunches and dinner (see below)
- Obviously your individual travel cost to Malta
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Outside overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
What to bring:
Nothing, possibly notebook and pen.
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Tea&Coffee/Water/Lunch/Dinner:
Coffee breaks are at 10:30 and 15:30.
Previous participants have requested to take these breaks in the hotel lobby at our own expense so everyone can choose their favourite coffee or tea, whether it is a freshly made cappuccino, an espresso or a fruit tea, rather than getting the usual pre-brewed coffee from a thermos in the conference room.
Coffee break in the foyer of the venue (Corinthia St George).
Coffee breaks in the sun.
Water bottles are supplied on our conference table and cost 3 EUR per large bottle. The total number of water consumed is divided through the number or participants (including me, of course).
Lunches are planned, but not necessarily, to be enjoyed jointly. Some wish to have a lunch break on their own or having a short nap after an intense morning! Often lunches are great fun, I must admit, joining in for more talks about our joint sailing dreams…
To enjoy an efficient lunch, we choose from the menu and order during morning coffee breaks. At around 12:30 we walk over to the lunch terrace of the hotel at “Henry J Beans” or to the beautiful terrace overlooking the St George Bay in the nearby Verdi Hotel. We are then promptly served thanks to the fact that we ordered it during the morning break. Alternatively, we stay in the hotel lobby for some club sandwich or salad or we go for a short walk to the near by beach for a simple salad in the sunshine.
Waiting for lunch in the near-by Verdi Hotel
If your spouse or partner is making you company for a holiday on Malta but does not join the course, they are obviously very warmly welcome to join for lunches and dinners!
A salad or wrap for lunch at Henry J Beans just outside our conference room.
Dinners can be enjoyed on your own or jointly with the group. Typically I join you for most (but maybe not all) of the evenings. We enjoy dinners in my favourite restaurants in vicinity.
Dinner at Fresco’s
The Reginasailing group at the MEZ restaurant, tasting the spices of the Indian Ocean.
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Frescos as seen on their own homepage
Possibly the top of evenings is when we jointly meet at the renown Royal Malta Yacht Club, (also famous for hosting the annual Rolex Middle Sea Race). As a member of the RMYC, I may invite my participants as guests at this exclusive club.
Pre-dinner drink on the terrace of the Royal Malta Yacht Club.
Reginasailing dinner at the Yacht Club.
Flights and getting to and from the airport:
Malta is one of the easiest places to fly to from all over Europe. KM Malta, Lufthansa, Ryanair are just a few of the many airlines that fly into Malta several times per day.
The the easiest way around on Malta is to download the BOLT-App to your smartphone and let one of the over 1,000 BOLT-drivers pick you up anywhere and drive you exactly where you need to go.
Fly to the sunshine in winter to this thrilling and very different island in the Mediterranean!
Book early:
Please contact me, preferably including some short information about yourself, if you are interested to participate in one of the upcoming theory courses.
