Chieftain Training Reviews 341

TrustScore 5 out of 5

4.9

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Evaluating 96 reviews, reviewers overwhelmingly had a great experience with this company. Customers consistently praise the staff for their extensive experience, knowledge, and ability to make learning enjoyable and engaging. The courses are described as highly useful, practical, and well-paced, with many appreciating the hands-on approach and clear instructions. People found the overall service excellent, highlighting the supportive and professional environment that fosters confidence and skill development. However, some customers mentioned that instructors occasionally strayed off-topic with anecdotes, and felt that some end-of-day activities were irrelevant, leading to extended course times.

What people talk about most

Staff

Reviewers highlight positive aspects of staff, consistently praising instructors for their enthusiasm,... See more

User experience

Consumers find the user experience to be positive, with many reviewers praising the well-paced, fun, and... See more

Instructions

Users describe positive interactions with instructions, consistently praising the instructors as... See more

Product

Customers had positive experiences with the product, describing courses as practical, fun, and good... See more

Service

Clients share positive opinions on service, with many reviewers highly recommending the company for its great... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I attended the RYA First Aid course yesterday. The facilities are very good with plenty of parking. Our trainer (Alan) was very experienced with plenty of real life examples to enhance the material.... See more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Hi Chieftain Team, A really big thank you for an excellent Powerboat Level 1 course for my two children and my wife, despite the shocking weather (raining all day) they had a fantastic tim... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

A useful course for a new boat owner like myself. I would highly recommend booking both the RYA and Diesel Level 2 days together as you go into more detail with extra hands on experience than you will... See more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I did the RYA Sea Survival and then the second day as well. The pool session is tough but rewarding and worthwhile - if nothing else it teaches you that you never want to be in a liferaft. Great instr... See more


Company details

  1. Training Centre
  2. Boat Rental Service
  3. Boating Instructor
  4. Sailing School
  5. Training School
  6. Yacht Club

Written by the company

STCW & RYA Marine Training Centre based in Hamble, Southampton, Greenwich and Helensburgh. The company delivers a wide range of Sea Survival, First Aid, GMDSS, engineering, navigation, maritime security and powerboat courses for super-yacht, workboat and leisure boating crew and masters. Sailing and powerboat students will find we offer the widest range of shorebased, marine radio, yacht maintenance, engineering, first aid at sea and navigation courses of any RYA Training Centre. The centres are equipped with first class resources and training aids for GMDSS, marine engineering and survival training.


Contact info

4.9

Excellent

TrustScore 5 out of 5

341 reviews

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No history of asking for reviews

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Hasn’t replied to negative reviews

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Marine electrics

The Instructor Joe is an extremely experienced electrical engineer with a very broad range of knowledge . He broke down the basics of marine electrics into a simple format giving a good onsite into the general operations of a craft and troubleshooting
Very enjoyable and worthwhile course.
Dave Ruggles

31 January 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Well organised

Well organised, relèvent programme with hands on practical experience. Excellent for anyone going to sea, be he a novice or an ocean racer. Well done team Chiefians

31 January 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Amazing.

Carl was an amazing tutor and created an involving, fun and absolutely packed with knowledge course! Well done Carl and the team at chieftain.
Ed

18 January 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Excellent course

This was my second course with Chriftain training, I had no hesitation in returning. Everything about the powerboat CofC preparation course and exam was excellent. The facilities were spot on, the instructor was friendly and very knowledgeable. The boat was just right for the course. I am looking for more courses to do at Chriftain Training

21 November 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Outboard Engine Servicing Course

I was expecting the course to cover basic outboard engine servicing. Unfortunately a lot of the morning was taken up covering stripping down and fault finding in carburettors - something more akin to what a marine engineer would be expected to do.

The afternoon session was much more relevant and covered what I was expecting within an engine service, e.g. oil & spark plug replacement, filter changes, accessing and replacing water pumps, general fault finding, winterisation, etc.

The training workshop could have been heated better. It was very cold and it became difficult to handle tools and small components due to cold hands.

Toilet facilities need attention. There were several courses running on the day I attended and only one toilet available 🚽.

22 November 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Valuable course but too many delegates.

Great course content and very knowledgeable instructors. Overall the course was valuable however, lots of delegates on this course so the whole day was quite rushed, especially the pool session.

22 November 2024
Unprompted review
Chieftain Training logo

Reply from Chieftain Training

For any readers, this was some time ago but here was our email response to Nick at the time.

Thanks for your feedback yesterday, it is all read and I pay a great deal of attention to it. Likewise we keep an eye on Trust pilot etc reviews. I am gutted we only scored “average" yesterday

I am sorry we didn't deliver to your expectations, in particular I am sorry you felt rushed in the pool. It didn't feel rushed to us, we thought it all fitted in well and we are able to cover more than the syllabus in the 2 hr session. Clearly we need to reflect how we manage the pool to ensure students don't feel rushed. If you have a few minutes to let me know anything specific it would be appreciated.

My experience of other schools is that there is a lot more standing around while you wait your turn. We are the only school I know off that puts 2 rafts in the pool with larger groups. This keeps things moving and allows you to see variety. The added benefit is this gives us three raft doors. At most school you wait considerable time on the pool side to have one go at climbing into the raft. We have organised our pool session so that the capsize drill is the only time you are really standing around waiting. This gives us more time for the “lights out, abandonment session" at the end

There are very few Sea Survival schools that cover live flare firing, this obviously eats into our timings and our overheads but I feel it is a valuable experience. Was there any part of the day you felt we should have omitted?

Any specific comments you have will be appreciated

I realise you have done the course now, but if you would like to repeat it and take some more time to absorb the life raft and everything else i would be happy to book you in again free of charge, on a date with less delegates and we will do our best to slow things down

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Highly recommended to anyone serious about offshore preparedness!

It was an incredible experience from start to finish. The weekend was well-organized and packed with valuable learning, especially the pool sessions and case studies, which were both intense and practical. The pool sessions in particular gave us hands-on confidence in real-life survival techniques, and the case studies offered insights that made everything feel much more applicable to actual scenarios.

Our instructor were knowledgeable and kept everything engaging. We walked away with new skills and a much stronger sense of preparedness for offshore sailing. We’ll definitely be back for a refresher course in the future.

Highly recommended to anyone serious about offshore preparedness!

10 November 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Cheifton Training RYA Powerboat Level 2

Doug and the team at Cheifton Training put me through a RYA Powerboat level 2 course, he was quick to respond to my query, worked around my tight schedule and gave me 1 on 1 training and assessment. Thoroughly recommend catching up with Doug and the team to get you on the water!

7 September 2024
Unprompted review

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