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"Astro navigation -a tough, rather dry subject you may think? So did I, and spent some time reading various books to prepare for the course, trying to get my head around such things as the celestial sphere, the PZX triangle and various angles, but felt somewhat insecure about the topic.

In particular, I had my doubts it would be possible to train people within five days to the point that they can do sight reductions for a variety of heavenly bodies and plot their position.

But until then, I hadn’t met Leon. It is amazing how he manages to dissect the gruesome theory behind the secret of position fixing using the stars into several, easily digestible steps, focusing on the essential bits of information, one at a time. Being able to explain a complex matter in simple terms shows the true mastership. And, after three days, it all fell into place, like a nice puzzle.

Leon’s teaching style is extremely committed and highly entertaining, and the course takes place in a very familiar atmosphere. Since Leon is genuinely interested into his students, he quickly finds out who needs what kind of help or support to get the hang of it.

Although not everyone might consider number crunching to be romantic as Leon jokingly claims, there is no doubt that with him leading the way through the maze of the stars, it is actually quite fun!

The course being held in Malta is a bonus, and I also enjoyed Leons daily suggestions for after-course activities at lot, with him introducing us to the secrets of Maltese cuisine, and – as a particular highlight – granting us access to the famous Royal Malta Yacht Club.

All this contributed to the participants quickly becoming part of the Regina-family of like-minded people."