About Patrik
Patrik Lindr
I’m Patrik, a sailing instructor based in Squamish. I’ve been teaching sailing full-time for the past decade and hold some of the highest teaching qualifications in sailing, including IYT Recreational Instructor, RYA Yachtmaster Instructor & Cruising Instructor Trainer, and MCA Master 200gt.
Through Yacht Master Class, I would like to invite you into my experience of sailing, and share with you the best safe practices, skills, and techniques, so that you can have more confident and enjoyable time on water.
Many of my students – from complete beginners to Yachtmaster and Instructor level – have gone on to incredible adventures and professional careers of their own.
At a glance
750+ sailors coached
from beginners to advanced, expert, and instructor level
40,000+ nautical miles
as skipper and instructor across Europe and Canada
IYT + MCA
IYT Recreational Instructor and MCA Master 200gt
RYA Cruising Instructor Trainer
one of around 50 worldwide
Story
How I got here.
I did not grow up around water, and only started sailing – albeit intensively – later in my life. I feel this allows me a unique perspective towards the challenges of learning to sail.
From Prague to the ocean
My own journey began in landlocked Prague, Czech Republic. After graduating in Air Transportation Engineering, I started working in R&D for Volkswagen. It took me 4 years to realize that sedentary work sedated my heart. The office was way too small and my heart screamed for the mysterious freedom of the ocean.
I hopped on a bus to Sweden and bought an incredibly well built Albin Vega 27, which I eventually sailed on for half a year from the Baltic all around Atlantic Europe to the Mediterranean.
For me, it was an experience of a lifetime, not only because of the incredible places I got to see (many of them off the beaten path), inspiring people I got to meet (the Swedish saying that “sailors help each other” was proven over and over along the way), friendships I could build, but also because of the vast variety of conditions and scenarios – and quite frankly mistakes – that I could learn from.
Scotland and full-time teaching
I did not return to the office. The next Winter I headed over to rainy, windy, yet stunning Scotland. I passed my RYA / MCA Yachtmaster Offshore exams, before gaining a Cruising Instructor license, and started teaching at a local Royal Yachting Association school.
The first year full-time teaching was also a year of full-time learning for me. I realised that the more you know, the more you understand that there is so much more to learn.
The following year, I passed the ultimate Yachtmaster Instructor exams.
Europe, Canada, and BC
After teaching in many places around Europe, Canary Islands, and Canada, I still consider Scotland to be the best training ground I have sailed – and I love to return to teach a couple of courses every year.
In 2018, me and my fiance Sarah started a sailing adventure holiday company Wander the Waves. With clients (which almost invariably become our friends as well) we explore the most beautiful places of our home planet.
In 2019 we moved to British Columbia, Canada, where we continue to explore, and wonder. I had the privilege to teach the first RYA course on the West Coast of the American continent for a newly emerging local school.
Since then, I spend my springs, summers, and autumns teaching and exploring in Canada’s pristine wilderness, and the winters teaching and sailing in Scotland and Canary Islands.
Find a Sail and Yacht Master Class
I started Yacht Master Class in 2021, initially as a private tuition and educational content venture.
In 2023 I founded Find a Sail, a sailing marketplace platform startup helping students find the right course for them and connect with sailing schools worldwide.
In 2024 I had the privilege to be invited to learn from and sail with some of the very best of the best instructors within the Royal Yachting Association. I am humbled and honored to have been appointed as a Yachtmaster Cruising Instructor Trainer for the RYA. Never stop learning! I run instructor courses every year through various recognized training centres.
This role is held by around 50 instructors worldwide, and I am currently the only RYA Instructor Trainer in North America.
In 2026 Yacht Master Class expanded into a boutique sailing school to offer limited small group sailing courses on our training vessel in addition to private tuition.
Qualifications
Qualifications
Patrik Lindr | RYA Yachtmaster Instructor & Trainer based in Squamish, BC.
IYT Recreational Instructor
full range of recreational training, including the ICC
RYA Yachtmaster Instructor
Sail, 2018, revalidated 2023
RYA Cruising Instructor Trainer
appointed 2024, one of the highest teaching qualifications in the world, and the only one in North America
MCA Master 200gt
RYA Yachtmaster Offshore, Commercially Endorsed
RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Theory
exams 2018
MSc.
Air Transportation Engineering
Student Testimonial
It is one thing to be an expert but entirely another to translate that into great teaching skills. Patrik is one of those rare gems that do both!
Dewey
Train together
Train with Patrik
Courses run onboard Tarka of Orwell, our Vancouver 32 training vessel in Howe Sound.