Geverifieerd Bedrijf
Really professional sailing school! They do what they promise and deliver a great experience to all the crew.
Our instructor, Hidde, was exceptionally skilled in sailing and navigation but also a very good trainer. And a very good cook!
We had a mixed crew with different skill sets and we worked together smoothly.
Would definitely recommend following a RYA training at Driven By Nature!
Highly recommend. I went for the Day Skipper course, the 6 day program. Great experience, make sure you have studied the theory before hand to make the most out of it. It was great that we did not stay only in the IJsselmeer but also sailed the Wadden Sea and North Sea. Great experience to learn how to sail with such tides and winds.
Great experience! We had an amazing instructor and we had a lot of fun learning and sailing with him.
i really enjoyed the program. even though i thought i won’t understand a thing, i definitely got a lot of useful information in sorted in my head, and then applied in practice!
Absolutely great! Great school, great captain. They will prepare you for life at sea! Hidde is fun and very knowledgable with amazing experiences! The best captain one can ask for.
This was truly an unforgettable week! I learned so much during the course and completely fell in love with sailing.😍
A huge thank you to our skipper. He didn’t just teach us the rules, he explained the reasoning behind them and why they matter. That made such a big difference, because we weren’t simply memorizing things; we were actually understanding them.
I also really appreciated his patience. He took the time to answer even my silliest questions 🫣😅. He created such a supportive and encouraging atmosphere.
Thank you to the whole team for this incredible experience, the knowledge and skills.
Did two XXL weekends for Competent Crew, everything was truly great - the learning, the boat, the paces we visited!
Excellent and comprehensive training course. Great learning atmosphere, very competent instructor.
I was enrolled in the RYA SRC GMDSS course with Driven by Nature but was unfortunately unable to attend on June 6th due to an unforeseen stomach illness.
When I contacted the Support Team immediately to inquire about rescheduling, I was unable to reach them on the phone on the day of the training, and they only replied one day later to inform me that they were "unable to reschedule the booking" due to the short notice. They explained that rescheduling or cancellation at this stage is not possible and pointed to their terms and conditions.
While the course itself seemed well-organized, the lack of any flexibility regarding a reschedule for an unforeseen health issue is very disappointing and was a very underwhelming experience. Potential students should be aware of this strict policy before booking, as there is no apparent recourse for genuine illness. I am now left with no clear option to complete the training without potentially paying the full fee again.
Antwoord van Driven by nature
2026.06.07
Dear Alessandro,
We’re sorry to hear you were unable to attend due to illness and hope you’re feeling better.
That said, we were a little surprised by this review. You informed us by email that you couldn’t make it approximately two hours before the scheduled start time. By then, the course was ready, the preparations were done, and your places had been reserved for you.
Expecting a full refund at that point is a bit like missing a flight because you’re unwell and then leaving the airline a one-star review for taking off without you.
We completely understand that getting sick is unfortunate and beyond anyone’s control. Unfortunately, cancelling two hours before departure is also beyond ours.
We wish you a speedy recovery and hope that, on reflection, this review might feel a little less fair than it did when it was written.
Regards,
Support team
George
We’re sorry to hear you were unable to attend due to illness and hope you’re feeling better.
That said, we were a little surprised by this review. You informed us by email that you couldn’t make it approximately two hours before the scheduled start time. By then, the course was ready, the preparations were done, and your places had been reserved for you.
Expecting a full refund at that point is a bit like missing a flight because you’re unwell and then leaving the airline a one-star review for taking off without you.
We completely understand that getting sick is unfortunate and beyond anyone’s control. Unfortunately, cancelling two hours before departure is also beyond ours.
We wish you a speedy recovery and hope that, on reflection, this review might feel a little less fair than it did when it was written.
Regards,
Support team
George
I had a great experience with Driven by nature. Hidde was a fantastic instructor, thanks again.
Successfully completed my 6 day Competent Crew course. Was an amazing experience. Hidde is a very good instructor, great personality and awesome cook. The Beneteau First 40 is a beautiful and well equipped sailing vessel. I had an awesome time. Driven by Nature is very professional and fast to respond on any questions you have. Wil be booking my Day Skipper Practicle course very soon.
Super well organised. They are very friendly , answer quickly and give their best to find compromises if needed
Looking through a large number of positive reviews I can not believe that we had an experience with the same company.
But unfortunately our impressions are far from positive.
This is a long text with emotions left aside, but perhaps it will help someone avoid our mistake and stay away from this company.
My husband and I were looking for a team to participate in the Fastnet race. We are experienced sailors and wanted to try the race with really harsh weather conditions with a skilled crew. But our Fastnet experience was harsh, unfortunately, not because of the weather.
The signal that something was wrong should have been the previous qualifying race in May. George and his son withdrew at the very last moment, leaving the crew very short-handed. Perhaps that is why the experience of that race, although much harder physically, was much more positive in total.
This race our boat crew consisted of ten people including the owner of the company George who was supposed to be the skipper.
We arrived at the marina a few days before the start for preparation and training. The skipper was not on the boat because he was staying at a hotel. The first thing we had to do was unload spoiled food and clean the refrigerator, and the bedding was prepared only thanks to another crew member who was on the boat early.
One of the following days George and his girlfriend brought food and disappeared again, appearing just before the start, so we prepared the boat and trained without a skipper. It was not George who did the route planning according to the forecast, the briefing and other necessary preparations. But we were lucky that two excellent and experienced school instructors were in our crew. During the race, they also did all the work of the skipper and in return received very rude and disrespectful behavior from the owner of the company towards them.
There was no sense of psychological comfort, no sense of security, not because of the rough sea, but because of the behavior of the skipper.
George just had fun during his watches, not caring at all that part of the crew was resting. The result of his fun was a spinnaker torn to shreds in the last miles before the finish. For some strange reason he also found it funny.
Of course, everyone was tired and very happy to finish, but before we even had time to tie down the boat and secure all the lines, the skipper and his girlfriend disappeared. They returned a few hours later to pick up their things. We never saw them again.
In addition to all of the above, I would like to note the very poor communication and organization of the process in general. One of the last moments of this was that several months before the start, George and we agreed, at his suggestion, that we would return back with part of the crew on the same boat.
As a result, the boat was reserved for a training course two days after the finish of the race, but George did not consider it necessary to inform us about this until the last moment.
I’ve have just completed the competent crew course with Driven by Nature and already excited to start Dayskipper with them, I truly recommend this company and crew, special thanks for the captains Mileo and captain Hidde who transferred their deep knowledge and experiences in several seas with confidence to us.
Looking forward to meet you all in Cape Horn.
