TonyBuckley
Well-Known Member
Yes
Day Skipper or Coastal Skipper
- Thread starter jimi
- Start date
Yes
mcframe
Well-Known Member
*I* learned a fair bit doing refresher/prep for the (as was then MCA CS Exam) 'cos my crew was 1*DS and 2*CC - occasionally the instructor would do a WKS bit of instruction to the other guys and then turn to me and ask "So what would you do?"
They all got their RYA certs of course completion, and the next day were my crew for me to get my MCA cert of comp.
If you don't have your own boat, then decent sailing schools often arrange crew experience like that.
mcframe
Well-Known Member
This is as good a time as any to remind folks that we (at least I) go down to the sea for pleasure and generally sail "Privately owned yachts, not in commercial use, up to 24 metres and over in loadline length and of less than 3000gt used for sport or pleasure and which do not carry cargo and do not carry more than 12 passengers"....
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Ubergeekian
Well-Known Member
The information I was seeking - it seems a forlorn hope - was clarification of the course you were recommending. I'm not entirely sure that many sailing schools would have a useful answer to the question "What course does a poster called Jimi on ybw.com advise people to do twice?"
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Ubergeekian
Well-Known Member
And thus, alas, is an olive branch treated.
I haven't jumped on every word you post. Quite the contrary - I have repeatedly said that I defer to your greater experience, that your advice seems sound .. and I have asked for clarification of one point. You, to my regret, have chosen to become abusive, hostile and personal over that request.
Good heavens, man, if you react like this to a simple question with a one line answer how on earth would you react if someone actually disagreed with you?
I like to think that it's my fascinating personality which draws him back.
goboatingnow
Well-Known Member
Just my tuppence
IN my view the DS is a brillant ticket. Its the first combined theory and practical exam to a high enough standard thats newbies meet. Its a great one to do.
The YM Coastal and ( I name I hate as, its a crude attempt to trade on the YM name) and YM OFFSHORE practical exams were never designed to be lead upto by theory exams. They were ( are) designed to be taken by people meeting the minimum requiremts who have acquired the correct experience over time. The exam syllabus, is about skippering the boat, Theory courses are more about rules and Navigation techniques.
The prep courses are a pure School invention, a " grind school" approach, they are good though and I'd reccomend it, as the course instructor gets you into the frame of the examiners thinking. Its like all "exam prep" courses, not about what you know, more about passing the exam.
In my view YM Coastal ( did I mention I hate that title) should be done away with as its too close to YM offshore and is often exmained on the same boat. I saw YM coastal canidates that actually were better the the YM offshore canditates ( all passed), but were only given YM Coastal certs as thats what they entered for.
The Coastal Skipper skipper Pracitical , is really an anomaly, as its kind of a Day Skipper++ course, with school certification. This has probably been driven by Sea schools, wanting more courses that they can self examine, As schools get little revenue out of the YM exams and organising examiners is a hassle ( especially to foreign RYA schools)
The YM theory prep courses are really Sea School revenue generators and thats why they are popular and heavily promoted. the comment abut only 50% going on to do the Ym practical exams is not a reflection on the school, many people, including outright beginners can manage the theory classes, but they are nowhere near the standard to pass the practical, equally they havent the sea miles, may never even have sailed a boat ( I gave these classes some years ago and several people doing them werent even sailors, they just like doing night classes!!).
IN my view the DS is a brillant ticket. Its the first combined theory and practical exam to a high enough standard thats newbies meet. Its a great one to do.
The YM Coastal and ( I name I hate as, its a crude attempt to trade on the YM name) and YM OFFSHORE practical exams were never designed to be lead upto by theory exams. They were ( are) designed to be taken by people meeting the minimum requiremts who have acquired the correct experience over time. The exam syllabus, is about skippering the boat, Theory courses are more about rules and Navigation techniques.
The prep courses are a pure School invention, a " grind school" approach, they are good though and I'd reccomend it, as the course instructor gets you into the frame of the examiners thinking. Its like all "exam prep" courses, not about what you know, more about passing the exam.
In my view YM Coastal ( did I mention I hate that title) should be done away with as its too close to YM offshore and is often exmained on the same boat. I saw YM coastal canidates that actually were better the the YM offshore canditates ( all passed), but were only given YM Coastal certs as thats what they entered for.
The Coastal Skipper skipper Pracitical , is really an anomaly, as its kind of a Day Skipper++ course, with school certification. This has probably been driven by Sea schools, wanting more courses that they can self examine, As schools get little revenue out of the YM exams and organising examiners is a hassle ( especially to foreign RYA schools)
The YM theory prep courses are really Sea School revenue generators and thats why they are popular and heavily promoted. the comment abut only 50% going on to do the Ym practical exams is not a reflection on the school, many people, including outright beginners can manage the theory classes, but they are nowhere near the standard to pass the practical, equally they havent the sea miles, may never even have sailed a boat ( I gave these classes some years ago and several people doing them werent even sailors, they just like doing night classes!!).
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Phideaux
Well-Known Member
I thought that the Coastal Skipper practical qualification, now called the Yacht Master Coastal, was not a sailing school certification but a totally separate exam assessed by a YM examiner. I do realise that many candidates take a five day YM practical preparatory course offered by many schools and on the sixth day the instructor leaves the boat and the examiner goes aboard. Perhaps it is the "certificate of completion" given by the schools at the end of the five day course, that you are referring to?
Ubergeekian
Well-Known Member
My impression is that the RYA is trying to draw a distinction between courses, which mostly seem to be called <Something> Skipper, and exams, which are Yachtmaster <Something>. That's not a bad idea, but it could do with some tidying up.
For example, it seems a bit odd that the practical course aimed at preparation for Yachtmaster Coastal is called Coastal Skipper, while the theory course for the same qualification is called Coastal Skipper / Yachtmaster Offshore.
If I was running the show I'd name the theory courses
- Essential Navigation and Seamanship (as at present)
- Basic Navigation and Seamanship (currently Day Skipper)
- Further Navigation and Seamanship (currently CS/YO)
- Advanced Navigation and Seamanship (currently Yachtmaster Ocean)
Doug_Stormforce
Well-Known Member
There are quite a few common myths purported in this thread.
I don't think it is necessary to quote all of the myths but to clear up some facts;
The Coastal Skipper Practical Course should be run as a 5 day course, not broken up over weekends.
The Coastal Skipper Practical Course is not, and was not intended as an exam prep. The syllabus is different from the contents of the YM Coastal and Offshore exams.
One of the reasons the RYA changed the name of the old CS Cert. of Comp. to YMC Cert. of Comp. was that so may people (understandably) confused the Coastal Skipper Course with the Coastal Skipper Cert. of Comp. Now that the names are changed it should not be too difficult to recognise that they are two entirely different things.
The Dayskipper and the CS/YM Offshore Shorebased courses do not share the same syllabus. There is of course some common ground, just as GCSE French and A Level French both involve French verbs or GCSE Maths and A Level Maths both involve multiplication.
The above is fact, my own advice however to aspiring skippers would be to work through the scheme, take the Coastal skipper practical course and then after a bit more skippering experience look at the YM Coastal and Offshore Prep weeks. It is generally assumed when you attend a YM prep week that you have already gained experience skippering on coastal or offshore passages (as appropriate).
I don't think it is necessary to quote all of the myths but to clear up some facts;
The Coastal Skipper Practical Course should be run as a 5 day course, not broken up over weekends.
The Coastal Skipper Practical Course is not, and was not intended as an exam prep. The syllabus is different from the contents of the YM Coastal and Offshore exams.
One of the reasons the RYA changed the name of the old CS Cert. of Comp. to YMC Cert. of Comp. was that so may people (understandably) confused the Coastal Skipper Course with the Coastal Skipper Cert. of Comp. Now that the names are changed it should not be too difficult to recognise that they are two entirely different things.
The Dayskipper and the CS/YM Offshore Shorebased courses do not share the same syllabus. There is of course some common ground, just as GCSE French and A Level French both involve French verbs or GCSE Maths and A Level Maths both involve multiplication.
The above is fact, my own advice however to aspiring skippers would be to work through the scheme, take the Coastal skipper practical course and then after a bit more skippering experience look at the YM Coastal and Offshore Prep weeks. It is generally assumed when you attend a YM prep week that you have already gained experience skippering on coastal or offshore passages (as appropriate).
