Yachtmaster Preps Course

Description

Our Yachtmaster Preps course is perfect for those looking to practice and perfect their skills before sitting the Yachtmaster Coastal or Offshore exam. For most sailors the RYA Yachtmaster is the ultimate aim and the certificate is recognised all over the world. With 20 years of sailing experience, our RYA Yachtmaster Instructor will take you through the drills and skills that are required to pass your exam. Early in the week the instructor will assess your ability and make a plan about where the practice is most needed, to ensure you get tailored time to put you in the best possible position to pass the final exam. Anyone wishing to experience the Preps course without going forward to the exam is welcome to join the course, but we require these experience-only applications to be made by email. The web booking system is designed exclusively for exam candidates. The crew will be a maximum of 4 Yachtmaster candidates and one experience builder.

There are two levels of Yachtmaster exam: the first is Yachtmaster Coastal and the second is Yachtmaster Offshore.

Yachtmaster Coastal has the knowledge needed to skipper a yacht on coastal routes but not necessarily the experience of longer passages. The exam will test your general skippering skills and general seamanship, knowledge of collision regulations, navigation, signals and meteorology.

The entry requirements for the YM Coastal exam are: 30 days at sea (two as a skipper), 800 miles and 12 night hours (all in the last 10 years). There are lower requirements if you have Coastal Skipper practical course. Half of the sea time has to be sailed in tidal waters.

Yachtmaster Offshore has the knowledge and experience to skipper a yacht in longer passages where the boat is a maximum of 150 NM from a safe haven. The exam will test skippering skills, boat handling, general seamanship, navigation, safety awareness and knowledge of the IRPCS, meteorology and signals.

The entry requirements for the YM Offshore exam are: 50 days, 2500 miles including at least 5 passages over 60 miles measured along the rhumb line from the port of departure to the destination, acting as skipper for at least two of these passages and including two which have involved overnight passages. 5 days experience as skipper. At least half this mileage and passages must be conducted in tidal waters. All qualifying sea time must be within 10 years prior to the exam.

The course starts on a Sunday evening and departs from Largs Yacht Haven, Scotland, and returns to Largs at approximately noon on the following Friday.

There is no formal course outline, which will allow you to work on the areas that you need the most. After the course we are able to organise an examiner for your Offshore/Coastal exam, if you wish. The exam would commence at approximately noon on the Friday and, depending on the number of candidates (usually 4), it could run through to the Sunday morning. The exam fee is additional to the cost of the course, for aspiring YM Offshore the cost is £231 and YM Coastal it is £200. The cost is set by the RYA and is payable to them by online card payment before the exam.