BCAB Sea Kayak Advanced
Leadership Award Training

• 3 Days – £300
• 4 Days – £380
• 5 Days – £450

09:00-17:00

This course is suitable for ages of 16 and above.

This course consists of one day’s theoretical training, followed by practical training days on the water. For example, if you select the 5-day course, you will spend 1 day doing your Open Water Navigation and Tidal Planning theory course, and 4 practical training days at sea. 

• Open Water Navigation and Tidal Planning 

This 1-day classroom-based course allows students to plan more advanced sea kayak journeys including to offshore islands with open crossings greater than 2 nautical miles, in areas of tidal movement above 3 knots and winds of Beaufort Force 5 or more. Participants will have the opportunity to put into practice their planned routes during the remainder of the course. Poor visibility and night navigation will also be covered as part of the training. For more information, please see our page dedicated to Open Water Navigation and Tidal Planning. 

• Leadership Skills

The leader is a positive role model who inspires others with their passion and enthusiasm for sea kayaking and the ocean environment. You will become familiar with the core values of the British Canoeing Awarding Body (BCAB), such as environmental sustainability, educational philosophy, access and equality. You will learn how to balance empowerment and command to ensure safety.

Leadership is about providing an encouraging and supportive atmosphere where the needs, differences and abilities of individuals are recognised, and their personal strengths nurtured. You will learn how to create challenges, set goals and motivate your group. You will develop the ability to implement an effective communication strategy which involves and engages the whole group. 

• Situational Awareness and Decision Making

You will develop your in-the-moment dynamic risk assessment skills which will be applied to a changeable and diverse environment. You will come away feeling confident to make sound trip planning decisions and reliable real-time judgements in order to optimise safety and enjoyment of the group. You will learn how to be responsive throughout the journey to the changing conditions in the context of the capabilities of the group. You will practise a range of rescue and self-rescue techniques and increase your understanding of their appropriate application. 

• Personalised Action Plan

At the end of the course, you will have opportunity to complete a personalised action plan with your coaches. This provides an opportunity to discuss areas that may require further attention and ideas and methods to take away.

This syllabus is specifically designed to prepare you for  your BCAB Sea Kayak Advanced Leader Award assessment. The assessment itself will not be undertaken as part of this course, and must be booked separately here.

Download detailed guidelines for the assessment here.

This is a ‘direct entry’ course, meaning it is up to you to decide the appropriate level course at which to enter. We are more than happy to help you decide which level you’d be best suited to; please do get in touch. You do not need to show proof of previous achievement. 

You should either hold the BCAB Sea Kayak Award, BCAB Coastal Sea Kayak Award or BCAB Advanced Sea Kayak Award or be paddling at that level. 

You should have previously carried out appropriate safety training such as the BCAB Coastal Navigation and Tidal Planning or be at that level. 

You should already be sufficiently confident:

• Manoeuvring your sea kayak in a range of environments.
• Rolling your sea kayak in moderate conditions and performing reliable self-rescue. 
• Paddling in force 4 winds, 2-3 knots of tide and 1-1.5m of swell and small surf. 
• Dealing with situations responsively as they arise.
• Planning trips with consideration for weather, currents, swell, tides and coastline.

This course is specifically designed to prepare participants for the British Canoeing Awarding Body  Sea Kayak Advanced Leader Award. It is not essential to take this course before taking your assessment for the award, but it will help equip you with the necessary skills.

 You may be an experienced, independent sea kayaker wanting to share your passion with others and be a dependable group leader at sea, or you may be an outdoor instructor looking to expand your range of qualifications. 

You will enter this course as an experienced independent sea kayaker who is ready to lead groups at sea. You should already have the ability to roll a sea kayak in moderate conditions. You should either hold theBCAB Sea Kayak Award or BCAB Coastal Sea Kayak Award, or be paddling at that level. 

You will not directly gain any qualifications by taking this course. This course will prepare you for assessment for the British Canoeing Awarding Body  Sea Kayak Advanced Leader Award. You can book your assessment separately here.

You’ll meet at our base near Solva to get kitted up for the practical training days (exact location will be shared in your confirmation of booking) and we’ll head to a nearby harbour which we’ve chosen to best suit the conditions on the day. 

• The use of one of our fleet of high quality P and H custom sea kayaks
• Touring paddling jacket
• Personal Floatation Device (PFD) 
• Spraydeck
• Paddle
• Drybag
• Long John wetsuit

In your confirmation of booking, you’ll receive a full list of basic items to bring on the day e.g. bathers to wear under the wetsuit, a water bottle, a towel etc.