Day skipper or Yachtmaster?

Touchwood said:
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!
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Recommendation for Gael Sail, based in the Clyde. I did a Day Skipper course with them quite a few years ago, as I needed some paper qualifications. Instructor (Ron I think) was excellent, as was the boat (but I may be a little biased towards Sadlers). At the end of the course (having had me navigating in "RYA fog" a few times) he gave me the Coastal Skipper cert, saying I was clearly up to that standard.
 
andrewbroadbent said:
Recommendation for Gael Sail, based in the Clyde. I did a Day Skipper course with them quite a few years ago, as I needed some paper qualifications. Instructor (Ron I think) was excellent, as was the boat (but I may be a little biased towards Sadlers). At the end of the course (having had me navigating in "RYA fog" a few times) he gave me the Coastal Skipper cert, saying I was clearly up to that standard.
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Not quite the same as CS with an examiner.

http://www.rya.org.uk/coursestraining/exams/Pages/Coastalskipper.aspx

http://www.rya.org.uk/coursestraining/professional/courses/Pages/Coastalskipper.aspx
 
Touchwood said:
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.
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Open your mind and travel - I did CC on the Solent, DS on the Clyde, CS (course) out of Dartmouth, and CS (exam) out of Titchmarsh.
Shame OwnBoat&children have put a damper on the overnight >60NM passages, but I'll get YMO eventually...
 
I'd echo some of the advice already given:

ie
1) go straight for YM theory
2) For practical, if you already have some practical sailing experience, skip DS and go straight to Coastal Skipper (if you have the qualifying mileage and passages) hopefully on the preparation course you will learn a lot more than you would on a DS if you've got a half decent instructor. The CS exam is basically the same as the YM, standard expected is just not as polished.
 
jimi said:
I'd echo some of the advice already given:

ie
1) go straight for YM theory
2) For practical, if you already have some practical sailing experience, skip DS and go straight to Coastal Skipper (if you have the qualifying mileage and passages) hopefully on the preparation course you will learn a lot more than you would on a DS if you've got a half decent instructor. The CS exam is basically the same as the YM, standard expected is just not as polished.
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The exam is now MCA Yachtmaster Coastal, the RYA Coastal Skipper is just a course with no real pass/fail. You do get a certificate and I have heard of people not being given these after the course due to dire performance but generally the RYA ones are certificates of attendance.
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, there are no "qualifying miles" for the RYA stuff either as these are just recommendations. The MCA one maybe a requirement though.
 
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jimi said:
and?

that is known as the Coastal Skipper Practical.


You are confusing courses and exams.
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As I said above, the exam is now MCA Yachtmaster Coastal, the RYA Coastal Skipper is just a course.

If you read more carefully you will see what I meant. The old name of Coastal Skipper was removed recently from the MCA exam to avoid confusion with the RYA Coastal Skipper course and is now called Yachtmaster Coastal.
 
lustyd said:
As I said above, the exam is now MCA Yachtmaster Coastal, the RYA Coastal Skipper is just a course.

If you read more carefully you will see what I meant. The old name of Coastal Skipper was removed recently from the MCA exam to avoid confusion with the RYA Coastal Skipper course and is now called Yachtmaster Coastal.
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oh for goodness sake which part of

"For practical, if you already have some practical sailing experience, skip DS and go straight to Coastal Skipper (if you have the qualifying mileage and passages) hopefully on the preparation course you will learn a lot more than you would on a DS if you've got a half decent instructor. The CS exam is basically the same as the YM, standard expected is just not as polished."


Which bit of "CS exam" did you confuse with "CS course", perhaps the word E X A M should have given you a clue.


the reason the name was changed was because some people got a bit confused, I suspect they'll still be confused.

"From the 1st January 2010 the RYA’s ‘Coastal Skipper Certificate of Competence’ will be changing its name to the ‘Yachtmaster Coastal Certificate of Competence’.
Everything else; the syllabus, the standard of the exam and the way commercial skippers endorse their certificates will remain the same.
James Stevens, RYA Training Manager, explains, "Currently many trainee skippers are daunted by the standards of the Yachtmaster Offshore exam, but for inshore sailors and powerboaters the coastal exam is more appropriate and more achievable.
"This change will remove any confusion between the Coastal Skipper Course and the exam, which has resulted in many people thinking they are qualified when in fact they have only attended the course."
 
That's pretty much what I was trying to get across. The OP didn't seem to know the different courses so I was pointing out which was which because you weren't clear when you said coastal skipper exam which is no more :rolleyes:
 
lustyd said:
That's pretty much what I was trying to get across. The OP didn't seem to know the different courses so I was pointing out which was which because you weren't clear when you said coastal skipper exam which is no more :rolleyes:
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Wrong! read my post above. Its still exactly the same .. its just the word YM stuck in front of it!
 
PM sent - Calm down dear, it's only a forum. Maybe you should get out sailing and chill out a bit.
 
jimi said:
oh for goodness sake which part of

"For practical, if you already have some practical sailing experience, skip DS and go straight to Coastal Skipper (if you have the qualifying mileage and passages) hopefully on the preparation course you will learn a lot more than you would on a DS if you've got a half decent instructor. The CS exam is basically the same as the YM, standard expected is just not as polished."


Which bit of "CS exam" did you confuse with "CS course", perhaps the word E X A M should have given you a clue.


the reason the name was changed was because some people got a bit confused, I suspect they'll still be confused.

"From the 1st January 2010 the RYA’s ‘Coastal Skipper Certificate of Competence’ will be changing its name to the ‘Yachtmaster Coastal Certificate of Competence’.
Everything else; the syllabus, the standard of the exam and the way commercial skippers endorse their certificates will remain the same.
James Stevens, RYA Training Manager, explains, "Currently many trainee skippers are daunted by the standards of the Yachtmaster Offshore exam, but for inshore sailors and powerboaters the coastal exam is more appropriate and more achievable.
"This change will remove any confusion between the Coastal Skipper Course and the exam, which has resulted in many people thinking they are qualified when in fact they have only attended the course."
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Think you'll find the James Stevens has departed the RYA & no longer Training manager.
 
jimi said:
The CS exam is basically the same as the YM, standard expected is just not as polished.
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jimi said:
that is known as the Coastal Skipper Practical.
You are confusing courses and exams.
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The RYA website lists "Coastal Skipper" under courses and makes no mention of an exam, though it does say that candidates [are] often working towards a Certificate of Competence.

I can find no other mention on the RYA website of the "Certificate of Competence" associated with the Coastal Skipper course. It does not appear to be an ICC.

"Yachtmaster Coaster", on the other hand, is clearly an examination only (it is listed under exams) with a formal syllabus but no training element.
 
I've not been on the thread for a couple of days.. Are we arguing about whether a Coastal Skipper Theory course/exam exists??? :) Priceless!!
 
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