Questions
Straight answers
Questions sailing schools ask about Keely, answered plainly, before they book a walk-through.
01
Getting started
Sailing Course Online sells its courses and takes its bookings on Keely. Every walk-through uses the real screens, set up with your own courses.
- What is sailing school software?
One system for a sailing school's website, bookings and paperwork: course dates and places, deposits and balances, student forms, boats and instructors. Keely is one.
- Who is Keely for?
Sailing and powerboat schools in the UK that teach RYA courses, from a single centre to a group with several sites. It also suits schools that sell theory courses online.
- Can I see a real school using it?
Yes. Sailing Course Online sells its courses and takes its bookings on Keely, through its own website and Stripe account. In the walk-through we show you Keely set up with your own courses.
- How long does it take to get going?
About six weeks from the day you say yes to move your website and records across; less if you keep your own website. We agree the dates before we start, and your old system keeps running until the new one is checked.
- Who will I speak to after I sign?
A named person sets your school up with you and trains your office and instructors before you switch. After that, a person answers chat and email Mon–Fri 09:00–17:30.
02
Bookings and payments
- Can we still take bookings by phone and bank transfer?
Yes. Phone bookings go in the same diary as online bookings. Record cash or a bank transfer and we charge nothing on it, or send the customer a link to pay by card, which counts as paid online.
- Can students pay a deposit, and the balance later?
Yes. They pay a deposit when they book. Before the course, the balance is charged to the card they saved, or they get a link to pay if the card can't be charged again. You set the deposit and when the balance is due.
- Where does the money go?
Straight into your own Stripe account. Keely never holds your money and never sees card details. Stripe charges its card fees at your own rates.
- Do students need to download an app?
No. Booking, forms, joining instructions and their logbook all work in the phone's web browser. There is nothing to install.
03
Student paperwork
- What do students fill in, and who chases them?
Medical details, next of kin and any questions you add, signed on their phone. Forms are sent after booking, and Keely chases anyone who hasn't finished. The Forms desk shows the office who still owes what.
- Who can see medical notes?
Only the office and that course's instructor. Each form is kept exactly as the student signed it, so you can show what they told you and when.
- Does Keely issue RYA certificates?
No. Keely keeps your school's own records: the logbook and a numbered completion record that anyone can check on your school's website. RYA certificates still come from the RYA, through the school's principal or certificate administrator on myRYA.
04
Boats and instructors
- What happens if a boat's check is out of date?
Keely warns you and asks for a reason before that boat goes on a course. The reason is kept on record, with who gave it and when, ready for your inspection. The same happens with an instructor who doesn't hold the right ticket.
- Can instructors renew their tickets themselves?
Yes, from their phone. They get reminders 90, 30 and 7 days before a ticket runs out. They upload the new one, and it doesn't count until a manager has checked it.
- Do my instructors have to use phones?
No. If an instructor prefers paper, the office records the logbook entry and the instructor signs.
05
Your website
- Do we have to move our website to Keely?
No. You can keep the website you have and add a booking button or checkout links to it. If you do move it, your course pages show live dates and places, and your staff can change any page themselves.
- Will moving the website hurt our Google rankings?
Nobody can promise rankings. We map every page on your old site to its new address, set up redirects, and check them before and after the switch.
- Can we take our website with us if we leave?
Yes. Your data and your domain stay yours: we hand you a full export. Your web address stays registered in your name, and you can export your bookings, customers and forms yourself at any time.
06
Price and contract
For each school: £150 a month, plus 1.5% of bookings paid online. Prices exclude VAT.
- What does it cost?
£150 a month for each school, plus 1.5% of bookings paid online, pay links included. Nothing on cash or bank transfer. Stripe charges its own card fees. Prices exclude VAT.
- How long do we sign up for?
Your notice period is agreed with you before you sign, so it suits your season. There is no exit fee. What happens if you leave, on the pricing page.
- What if Keely isn't right for us?
If Keely isn't right for you in the first 60 days, leave and pay nothing more. We'll hand you your data.
- What do we pay in a quiet month?
The £150, plus 1.5% of whatever is paid online that month. If £4,000 is paid online in November, you pay £150 plus £60, before VAT.
07
Data and security
How Keely looks after your school's records and your customers' data.
- Where do card details go?
Customers type them into Stripe's secure payment fields inside your school's checkout. We never see or store them.
- What if Keely stops working on a Saturday in August?
Email hello
@keelyapp.com with ‘Stopping bookings’ in the subject, so it is the first thing we read. A person answers Mon–Fri 09:00–17:30. Your payments keep going into your own Stripe account whatever happens, and crew lists can be printed or downloaded the evening before, so the day can run from paper if it has to.- Is our data ours?
Yes. You can export your bookings, customers and forms at any time. Each school's records are kept apart from every other school's.
Book a walk-through
Book a walk-through
Ask us what isn't on this page
Thirty minutes with Jake. Bring your questions and your course list, and we will answer them on a real screen. No slides.
Jake Holmes runs every walk-through.
If Keely isn't right for you in the first 60 days, leave and pay nothing more. We'll hand you your data.
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We use your details only to arrange the walk-through. Privacy notice: keelyapp.com/legal/privacy