Day skipper or Yachtmaster?

Touchwood

Touchwood

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I have a fair amount of sailing experience, but there are many gaps. Years ago I did the RYA Day Skipper/Competent Crew theory course, but never followed up with the practical element.

I want to correct that omission, and was thinking of repeating the Day Skipper course, this time with the practical also. My objective is principally for personal satisfaction and enjoyment, I can't see me actually needing the qualification ever.

It has been suggested to me that I skip (pun intended) the Day Skipper course and go directly to the Yachmaster; theory this winter and practical as a holiday during summer next year. My only reservation is that it may be a bit more intensive than I want - particularly the practical element - I'm far from confident of being able to display the level of experience and confidence I gather is needed for Yachtmaster.

Any thoughts or advice?
 
Why not?

Split the difference and take Coastal Skipper theory, getting in lotsa sea-miles before deciding your practical target.
OR ask a convenient sea school to assess your potential. A couple of hours at sea for £50 per hour will set your mind at rest and help you focus.
 
Touchwood said:
I have a fair amount of sailing experience, but there are many gaps. Years ago I did the RYA Day Skipper/Competent Crew theory course, but never followed up with the practical element.

I want to correct that omission, and was thinking of repeating the Day Skipper course, this time with the practical also. My objective is principally for personal satisfaction and enjoyment, I can't see me actually needing the qualification ever.

It has been suggested to me that I skip (pun intended) the Day Skipper course and go directly to the Yachmaster; theory this winter and practical as a holiday during summer next year. My only reservation is that it may be a bit more intensive than I want - particularly the practical element - I'm far from confident of being able to display the level of experience and confidence I gather is needed for Yachtmaster.

Any thoughts or advice?
Click to expand...

It depends on how much experience you have and how you feel. You will need a certain number of sea miles including night time passages, for the YM practical. The criteria is on the RYA web site.

I never did any practical assessments except YM practical, but I did do the YM theory prior to this, and I think you would need this as a good deal of the day is testing your theory. The YM theory is a good winter course to do, I enjoyed it.
 
Decide what you want better experience or proven proficiency in.

Day Skipper is now a lot more comprehensive than when I did it but the main point is that its more about boat handling. Taking a boat out from a marina/mooring/anchor planning a day cruise safely, MOB, and returning.

YM is more about passage planning but they expect you to be already proficient in the boat handling.
 
Tom Price said:
Split the difference and take Coastal Skipper theory, getting in lotsa sea-miles before deciding your practical target.
OR ask a convenient sea school to assess your potential. A couple of hours at sea for £50 per hour will set your mind at rest and help you focus.
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware there was a dedicated Coastal Skipper theory course.

Day Skipper / Yachtmaster (offshore) / Yachtmaster (Ocean)
 
Perhaps the answer is to do the Yachtmaster theory, and see how it goes then decide which level of practical to do, perhaps after doing a weekend at a sailing school to see just how you get on. Most schools will be able to arrange something like this if they are worth dealing with and will do their best to help you, happy customers bring in more happy customers
 
If you've already done the Day Skipper theory you shouldn't have to do it again: You can book the 5 day practical independently. Get a book and revise the theory beforehand if you're rusty. Whilst DS theory is a pre-requisite for the practical, no school would turn you away if you did it a few years ago and have revised. Many wouldn't if you just show up, but that's not recommended given you're supposed to be using it in the practical.

Day Skipper practical covers a broad range of basic skills and can be a nice confidence enhancing tick in the box. Even if you pretty much know what you're doing, it's nice to have it confirmed.

You can put the cash you save from DS theory into YM theory. It's only a 5 day course and worthwhile even if you never do the practical exam.

You can decide where to go from there as funds, opportunities and inclination dictate.
 
There seems to be some confusion regarding theory and proctical courses. As Fire99 points out there are 3 theory courses relevent to the OP. The middle one is more correctly called the Coastal Skipper / Yachtmaster Offshore theory course, and given you clearly have significant sailing / nav experience would be the recommended course to improve your theory, rather than re-doing the simpler course.

In terms of practical courses, the RYA do Comp Crew, Day Skipper or Coastal Skipper, each of which will lead to a certificate, provided you meet the standard. The Day Skipper or Coastal Skipper certs will get you an ICC if required. There is no formal RYA Yachtmaster practical course, but a number of schools do a Yachtmaster Prep week, prior to a Yachtmaster exam. A 1 week coastal skipper course may well be an appropriate practical course for you. Alternatively, some own boat training could also be a good idea.
 
There is great personal satisfaction in gaining the MCA / RYA YM Offshore cert of Comp. Suggest that you take a look at the detail contained within your RYA logbook. The examiner can and will assess your competence in absolutely any of the areas listed. Give them credit that they'll quickly find any weaknesses you may have. You need to be able to demonstrate an all-round competence. There's likely to be some "given" exercises, for example MoB under sail. Mooring / anchoring on and off under sail. Blind navigation and so on.

The advice to brush up with the shorebased course and get feedback from a sea school as to your sailing skills sounds good. The RYA website will give the latest, up-to-date guidance.

Good luck :)
 
laika said:
Whilst DS theory is a pre-requisite for the practical
Click to expand...

No it isn't, it's recommended knowlege. There are no prerequisites until you get to the MCA exams for Yachtmaster Coastal and above. everything before this is a suggested experience level; if you feel you are above that level then go for it.
Go here for more info
Cheers
Dave
 
With a lot of experience, but no sailing qualifications, I did a weeks own boat prep. for YM, then the exam.

It was quite high pressure stuff, and my learning curve was steep.

With hindsight, (and notwithstanding thousands of miles as skipper, and 30 years sailing ), I would do a 5 day Day Skipper course, then a few weeks of putting it into practice, before a weeks prep. fo the YM exam.

The DS week would ease you in gently, and clarify the "RYA" way of doing things, before diving into the serious stuff.

Good Luck whatever you choose to do.
 
As you have already done the Dayskipper theory albeit some time ago, I would do some revision of that and do a 5 day Dayskipper practical course/exam this summer. Possibly do the Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster offshore in the winter although I found that there was not much difference between that and Dayskipper apart from the level of accuracy required.
There's a link to the RYA course page here http://www.rya.org.uk/coursestraining/courses/sailcruising/Pages/default.aspx although I find it a bit confusing eg can't see why the Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster offshore is given such a long title.
 
Thanks to all for your responses and advice.

It seems the courses available and their interrelationship is a little more complicated than I thought. I've looked into it further, and decided to take the advice most offered; that is to take the shorebased coastal skipper/yachtmaster theory course over the winter, and then probably the day skipper or the coastal skipper practical after a sailing school assessment.

I'll enjoy the theory course, and hopefully not find it too demanding, and the practical, if nothing else, will be a nice excuse for a sailing holiday!

Again, many thanks to all.
 
I would say definitely go straight to the Yachtmaster theory (as has been said it's the same course for Coastal and Offshore) It's all stuff you definitely ought to know and it's not too demanding when done as 2 terms of evening classes. As for practical tuition and exam, why not book in with a sailing school and let them advise you on what level of exam you are ready for? If you want the paper qualification, make sure you check out the experience levels required, it's a little more specific than just the number of miles covered.
 
Touchwood,

your idea seems fine, just don't be too put off by the YM practical; I did the old 'theory level 2' over a winter then years later, ( as someone else was paying ! ) did a week 'refresher' then week YM & exam, all hugely enjoyable.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned but I would say critical though; do some research on which sailing schools to go with !

Have Fun
 
In some ways it depends upon your aptitude and the amount of effort you are willing to put in. If you were ok at 'O' level Maths and have a little bit of a background in sailing and some exposure to nav, just skip the DS Theory & go straight to CS/YM Theory.

Also you don't need the course to learn the ColRegs, get a book and learn at home, means you've got one thing ticked off before you start.

The practicals are different. If you've not got the practical experience it is difficult to blag the Coastal Skipper or Yachtmaster exams.
 
Seajet said:
Touchwood,

One thing I haven't seen mentioned but I would say critical though; do some research on which sailing schools to go with !

Have Fun
Click to expand...

Thanks, Seajet - rest assured, I fully intend to be quizzing the forum for recommendations for the sailing school. The shore-based YM is a no-brainer - has to be local anyway, and I will be going to the course run by the bloke with whom I recently did my SRC, so I know he's capable.

For the practical, first thing to decide is whereabouts? Not the North East where I live, I think - not only is it cold, but there's a dearth of places to go and a high risk of poor sea state preventing sailing at any time of the year.

Spoke with my son last night - he did the YM theory a couple of years ago, and fancies following up with the day or coastal skipper practical, so we're planning to do it together. He fancies somewhere further South. I've been told however that West Scotland has a lot to recommend it. I've chartered up there a couple of times and it's a great place to sail.

So, any recommendations/thoughts gratefully received - and yes, I will have fun!
 
Hi Touchwood
Just jumping in late on this thread with my two-penneth.

W.C.Scotland is a great place to sail and I have done 95% of my sailing/training there and go back as often as I can (not often enough) as the scenery and wildlife is incredible.

When doing courses though be aware that you won't see a marina apart from first/last days (or at all depending on the school) so if pontoon bashing is something you need to learn that is worth pondering.

Most nights will be spent at anchor in my experience so again, not lots of practice at picking up buoys etc.

However, the sailing is wonderful.

I would forget the Day Skip Practical and go straight to the Coastal, there's not an awful lot of difference in my experience and you may feel short changed with the D.S.

Robert @ Oban Sea School was my favourite instructor. he sailed a Bruce Roberts 34 he'd built himself and was very good at his job.
I know Crystal Yacht Charters out of Craobh Haven do courses but I've only bareboat chartered from them although he seems a thoroughly nice guy (very easy going).

best of luck and fair winds.
 
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