The RYA guys were great, they told me that to get their certification card, I was supposed to take the full course and a written test, which they did give me. I sat at the bar taking the test, talking with the two guys who were running the shop, about my sailing background, handed them the written test when I was done, they quickly scanned it and said, "OK so let's go get you on a boat!" Great guys, I had lots of fun racing with one of their student classes, on a Laser Pico.

After the first race, (which I won by a wide margin) the guy in the motorboat says, "You've done this before!"

Yeah, once or twice.

So they gave me my RYA card that day, which allows you to go to any RYA site and rent a boat, no BS.