• Course Details
  • Course Itinerary
  • Course Syllabus
  • Exam

RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Certificate preparation

An RYA Yachtmaster certificate of competence is often the ultimate aim of aspiring skippers. It is a well known, highly respected qualification worldwide, proving your experience and competence as a skipper.

Unlike other courses in the cruising programme, there is no formal training to complete in
order to become a Yachtmaster. Instead, provided that you have sufficient experience and
seatime, you can put yourself forward for an exam to test your skills and knowledge. Many
Yachtmaster candidates choose to book themselves into an RYA training centre like us for
some tailor-made tuition to prepare them for the exam, but this is not compulsory.

At Solent Sailing we will work on your strengths & weaknesses covering passage planning, man
overboard recovery, close quarters handling, skippering techniques, knowledge of the
International Collision Regulations along with navigation in restricted visibility and day & night
time pilotage.

A Yachtmaster should be able to enter any well-charted harbour for the first time, with
sufficient depth, by day or night. The only way to gain confidence is by practice, particularly
at night when skill is required in picking out navigation lights and buoys against a background
of shore lights.

With a maximum of 4 students per course, your fully qualified instructor will be able to devote
plenty of time to your individual needs with regular debriefings and coaching aimed at helping
you to raise your standards.

Fee's for Yachtmaster Certificate preparation:

£495 Low Season - November to March
£650 High Season - April to October

At Solent Sailing our fee's include: An extra day (6 not the usual 5), meals, waterproofs,
mooring fees, fuel and all incidental expenses except Exam fees, water taxi's and meals &
drinks taken ashore by choice.

Pre Exam requirements:

50 Days seatime - 5 days as skipper - 2500 miles logged - 5 passages over 60 miles -including 2 overnight and 2 as skipper
You should have completed the RYA Coastal Skipper / Yachtmaster theory shore based course
prior to this practical course.
Passport photo & Exam fee payable to the RYA (currently £163.00).
Over 18 years of age & qualifying experience gained over the age of 15.

Certification required before the examination:

VHF Radio Operators Certificate - First Aid Certificate


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Yachtmaster Preparation - Provisional Itinerary

Friday

  • 1830 Arrive at Yacht and check in.
  • Meet the instructor, collect food and move onto the yacht to settle in. Receive wet
    weather gear if required.
  • Stow away all provisioning and personal kit.
  • Instructor's safety briefing and yacht familiarisation talk.
  • Go for a sail if weather & crew experience permits, if not go ashore for an evening meal. Either way a good chance to break the ice, have a relaxing evening & chat to the instructor about what you want to achieve from the week.

    Saturday

  • 0730 Listen to weather forecast.
  • 0800 Showers at marina facilities, breakfast and clean up.
  • Recap safety procedures on deck. Introduction to deck gear, ropes and rigging and various parts of the yacht.
  • Engine start controls and rigging/slipping of mooring lines and fenders.
  • Slip mooring and motor giving everyone a chance to steer the yacht under power.
  • Practice coming alongside and leaving various pontoons with everyone rotating jobs and having the chance to practice in a variety of wind and tide situations.
  • Short sail to an anchorage or mooring buoy giving everyone the chance to get used to the yacht under sail practicing the basic sailing manoeuvres of tacking, guying and putting in and shaking out of reefs. This will give everyone the chance to refresh the basics of sail handling and trim.
  • 1300 Lunch at a mooring buoy or anchorage. Discuss the use of liferafts and how to handle emergencies such as flooding, fire and collision.
  • The first skipper of the day will plan a short passage taking into account wind, tide and pilotage information from the charts and almanacs
  • The Instructor will demonstrate MOB procedures on route with and without the use of an engine. Each student will get the chance to practice this manoeuvre.
  • On route the instructor will demonstrate poling out the headsail .
  • 1830 Enter a new harbour in the Solent and moor up. Stow sails and tidy up on and below deck.
  • 1900 Debrief on day's events whilst dinner is cooking in oven.
  • Prepare cross channel passage plans as re quested by examiner.
  • 2000 Supper followed by a trip ashore to a local pub or finishing of passage plans

    Sunday

  • 0730 Listen to weather forecast.
  • 0800 Showers at marina facilities, breakfast and clean up.
  • 0930 The first "Skipper" will plan a trip to an anchorage for lunch. On route each crew member will practice MOB. The instructor will recap the procedure for deciding a good anchorage and working out the required heights of tide.
  • Prepare to enter anchorage. The designated skipper will organise the foredeck crew to prepare the anchor and chain in anticipation of arrival.
  • 1400 Lunch at anchor.
  • 2nd "Skipper of the day" plans a trip to an evening destination that involves a cross tide course and entry into a shallow harbour.
  • Set sail for evening destination revising the collision regulations on route. Instructor will explain the procedures for handling navigation in restricted visibility followed by a simulated exercise to find a buoy in fog.
  • 1730 Arrive at a new harbour in the Solent and prepare supper.
  • Debrief the day's events.
  • Each candidate will plan a leg of a night sail that will involve entries or departures from harbours or finding unlit marks as a navigational exercise.
  • 1900 Depart for night sail exercise.
  • 0100 Arrive at destination.

    Monday

  • 0730 Listen to weather forecast.
  • 0800 Showers at marina facilities, breakfast and clean up.
  • 0900 Carry out some more manoeuvring under power using pontoons & mooring buoys
  • The instructor will demonstrate how to sail onto a mooring buoy in a wind against tide situation followed by each student having the opportunity to have a go.
  • 1200 Lunch at nearby mooring buoy.
  • 1300 1st Skipper of the day will plan a short trip to the evening destination. On route the instructor will demonstrate the use of electronic navigational aids such as GPS and Chart plotters. Each student will practice using waypoints.
  • Discussion on route about crew management and skippering techniques.
  • Each student practices MOB on route both with and without an engine.
  • 1700 Arrive at new harbour and learn how to secure to a town wall. General discussion about etiquette when rafting.
  • 1900 Depart for night sail exercises in central Solent area which will give each candidate the chance to enter or leave a harbour or find an unlit mark.
  • 2230 Arrive at evening destination.

    Tuesday

  • 0730 Listen to weather forecast.
  • 0800 Showers at marina facilities, breakfast and clean up.
  • 0900 Practice pile moorings in harbour.
  • 1000 Practice sailing on to and off pontoons.
  • 1115 1st "Skipper of the day" plans a short trip to lunchtime anchorage.
  • 1130 Set sail for lunch time destination practicing Man Overboard on route. Practice some slightly advanced sail trim techniques and rudderless sailing.
  • 1330 Lunch on route.
  • 1400 Arrive at lunchtime destination.
  • 1400 The instructor will demonstrate how to sail onto a mooring buoy in a wind with tide situation followed by each student having the chance to practice.
  • 1500 The second "Skipper of the day" plans a passage to a night time destination.
  • Depart for evening destination with discussion on route about weather and the factors that affect yacht stability.
  • 1900 Arrive at destination and sail onto the anchor for the night.
  • Debrief the day's events.

    Wednesday

  • 0730 Listen to weather forecast.
  • 0800 Showers at marina facilities, breakfast and clean up.
  • 0900 Sail off anchor and back towards Hamble practicing all aspects.
  • 1200 Early lunch on mooring buoy.
  • 1300 Leave mooring buoy and practice return to the fender sailing exercise.
  • 1430 Arrive back at Hamble.
  • Clean up yacht followed by debrief, time for a shower, preparation of application forms, in readiness for the examiner's arrival.
  • 1830 Examiner arrives. Set sail to his instructions.

    Thursday + Friday (dependant on number of exceptional candidates)

  • Finish exam and receive debrief from the examiner.
  • Final clean up & departure.



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    • RYA Yachtmaster (Offshore) Practical Exam

    Exam overview

    The examiner will set tasks to enable you to demonstrate your ability as skipper and may also ask questions on any part of the syllabus for all practical and shore based courses up to Yachtmaster Offshore.

    The course reviews all aspects of the RYA syllabus, with particular emphasis on command skills, boat handling under sail and power in confined spaces, plus navigation and pilotage techniques in daylight, at night and in reduced visibility. Adverse weather conditions and coping with emergencies are also covered.

    RYA Yachtmaster (Offshore) Exam course syllabus

    International Regulations for Preventing

    Collisions at Sea
  • General rules
  • Steering and sailing rules
  • Lights and shapes
  • Sound and light signals
  • Signals for vessels fishing in close proximity
  • Distress signals

    Safety

  • Safety harnesses
  • Lifejackets
  • Distress flares
  • Fire prevention and fighting
  • Liferafts
  • Knowledge of rescue procedures
  • Helicopter rescue

    Boat Handling

  • Coming to and weighing anchor under power or sail in various conditions of wind and tide
  • All berthing and unberthing situations in various
    conditions of wind and tide
  • Recovery of man overboard
  • Towing under open sea conditions and in confined areas
  • Boat handling in confined areas under sail
  • Boat handling in heavy weather
  • Helmsmanship and sail trim to sail to best advantage
  • Use of warps for securing in an alongside berth
    and for shifting berth or winding

    General Seamanship, including maintenance

  • Properties, use and care of synthetic fibre ropes
  • Knots
  • General deckwork at sea and in harbour
  • Engine operations and routine checks
  • Improvisation of jury rigs following gear failure
    Responsibilities of skipper
  • Can skipper a yacht and manage the crew
  • Communication with the crew
    		•  
  • Delegation of responsibility and watch-keeping
    organisation
  • Preparing yacht for sea and for adverse weather
    conditions
  • Tactics for heavy weather and restricted visibility
  • Emergency and distress situations
  • Victualling for a cruise and feeding at sea
  • Customs procedures
  • Standards of behaviour and courtesy

    Navigation

  • Charts, navigational publications and sources of navigational information
  • Chartwork including position fixing and shaping course to allow for tidal stream and leeway
  • Tide and tidal stream calculations
  • Bouyage and visual aids to navigation
  • Instruments including compasses, logs, echo
    sounders, radio navaids and chartwork instruments
  • Passage planning and navigational tactics
  • Pilotage techniques
  • Navigational records
  • Limits of navigational accuracy and margins of safety
  • Lee shore dangers
  • Use of electronic navigational aids for passage
    planning and passage navigation
  • Use of waypoints and electronic routing

    Meteorology

  • Definition of terms
  • Sources of weather forecasts
  • Weather systems and local weather effects
  • Interpretation of weather forecasts, barometer trends and visible phenomena
  • Ability to make passage planning decisions based on
    forecast information

    Signals

  • Candidates for Yachtmaster Offshore and Coastal
    Skipper must hold the restricted (VHF only)
    Certificate of Competence in radiotelephony or a higher grade of certificate in radiotelephony

    • What happens during a Yachtmaster exam?
      The examiner will meet you on board the boat. All exams are nerve-racking, even for highly experienced or  professional skippers. Talking to the examiner and making sure you understand what is required will help you unwind. The examiner understands that the first hour or two is hard and will emphasise that the idea is to find out what you can achieve rather than pick holes. You will be asked to undertake a short passage, although you may have to plan a longer one. Discuss with the examiner what you are being asked to do. In general, you should skipper the yacht in your normal style. If this means putting the kettle on every half hour, then do it. The duration of the exam will be between 8-12 hours.

      Navigation

      You must know your position more or less accurately throughout the exam. Good skippers spend time on deck observing. A common mistake is to be busy plotting fixes when a glance on deck would confirm the boats position from a navigation buoy or transit. You should know how to use a GPS, but remember that marks are not awarded for over-navigating. The test usually involves practical problems involving tidal streams and tidal heights. It is not cheating to have looked them up beforehand. There are sufficient variables on the day without having to worry about numbers that can be looked up the week before. Run through a few tidal calculations to ensure that you are happy with the methods you are going to use to calculate heights and streams.

      Boat handling

      The exam involves boat handling under sail and
      engine and you should understand exactly how your
      boat is going to react. The handling under engine is
      usually done in a harbour and often involves some
      sort of berthing and unberthing on pontoons, piles
      or moorings. Practice so you know your turning
      circle. Does it have a predictable kick astern? Can
      you turn in a confined space?
      Similarly, practice manoeuvring under sail, picking
      up mooring buoys and short tacking. Don't hesitate
      to change sails or reef if you think the boat has
      unsuitable sails for the task ahead. The examiner
      is not looking for first-time success every time
      but you do need to demonstrate a good understanding of how the boat reacts at slow speed. Again, experience in a variety of conditions is the key to success.

      Man overboard

      The exam will almost always include some kind of
      simulated man overboard recovery. Nearly every
      month yachting magazines suggest new ideas for
      this manoeuvre and there are as many methods as
      there are yachting books.      		  
      You have to discover a system that works for you and your boat. It might involve a tack or a gybe, but it must end up with the yacht stopped next to the man in the water. Clarify with the examiner whether he expects you to handle the boat with or without the engine.

      Safety

      Most candidates understand safety procedures and are safety conscious. Do remember that if you have decided that harnesses should be worn at night you should follow your own advice.

      Meteorology

      Listen to the forecast before the examination.
      You will be asked questions about the present weather situation and this might affect a passage plan. You need to understand how weather systems
      influence sea conditions and how to make yachting
      plans based on this knowledge. Frequently, decisions based on the weather include other variables, such as type of boat and strength of crew, so the examiner might ask you to consider a number of possibilities. Your opinions based on experience are required; there is rarely a definitive answer.

      Ability as a skipper

      The most important assessment on the day is whether you are fully in command of the yacht. Being in charge is not about shouting or giving a stream of commands. It is about leading the crew, communicating with them, making sure that they understand what is going on and listening to them when they have something to tell you. It is a quality sensed by the crew when they feel safe and confident that the correct decisions are being made. Even the best skippers make mistakes, but the overall impression is one of quiet competence. The examiner is looking for this ability, which is based on experience and knowledge; hence the requirement for skippered passages before taking the exam.

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