Day Skipper Practical Examiner wanted

Iain C

Iain C

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Hi
I'm looking to get the DS practical out the way in the Spring. Can anyone recommend a good freelance instructor/examiner, preferably Portsmouth/Gosport based who might be able to do the honours for us? I have my own boat.

Thanks

Iain
 
You dont have to take an exam as such.

By going through the course, the Instructor will ensure you can complete the syllabus and then the school with award you a certificate.

AN instructor cannot work totally freelance, he has to be associated with an RYA Recognised Training School. Many do this as associates.

I am sure you will find somebody quite quickly.
 
Iain C said:
Hi
I'm looking to get the DS practical out the way in the Spring. Can anyone recommend a good freelance instructor/examiner, preferably Portsmouth/Gosport based who might be able to do the honours for us? I have my own boat.

Thanks

Iain
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I presume you know that the Day Skipper is a five day (and night) course with a course completion certificate at the end of it? There is no Day Skipper exam as such, you have to do the five days - and of course if it is on your own boat you will need to provide crew.

If you are sufficiently experienced and you just want to sit an exam then Coastal Skipper is the way to go. You can sit a 12 hour practical exam on your own boat, but again you will need to supply a crew. For this all you need to do is apply to the RYA and they will arrange an examiner.

- W
 
webcraft said:
I presume you know that the Day Skipper is a five day (and night) course with a course completion certificate at the end of it? There is no Day Skipper exam as such, you have to do the five days - and of course if it is on your own boat you will need to provide crew.

If you are sufficiently experienced and you just want to sit an exam then Coastal Skipper is the way to go. You can sit a 12 hour practical exam on your own boat, but again you will need to supply a crew. For this all you need to do is apply to the RYA and they will arrange an examiner.

- W
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Alternative is ICC.
 
What is the Day Skipper "in the way of" that makes you want to get it "out of the way"?

As Webcraft says, DaySkip is a course, not an exam.
And as MoodyNick says, you can't just pick up a wandering instructor off the beach and have him issue you with a certificate.

If you really want the course completion certificate, the only way to get it is by completing the course (at an RYA recognised seaschool).

If you want some kind of certificate but don't want the training, then as alant says, you're probably better off going for the ICC -- but bear in mind that the ICC is very much focussed on boat handling, rather than on any of the other things that are involved in skippering a boat. It is not the same as a Day Skipper.

The Coastal Skipper (or "Yachtmaster Coastal") is several steps up the scale from ICC, but it's another possibility.
 
Day Skipper

If you can't spare a whole 5 days at once, it's possible to do the course/exam over 3 weekends. Some friends of mine did it that way from Conway in N Wales.
Bear in mind that many foreign companies won't acknowledge the RYA Day Skipper but insist on the ICC before chartering; which to my mind is an inferior qualification, awarded by the likes of Scumsail after a few days flotilla sailing.
 
You can complete the Day Skipper course by undertaking own boat tuition. If you are in Gosport, try John at Team Sailing, Haslar. Good chap.

You can use that course completion certificate as evidence of competence for the issue of an ICC. The standards are mostly similar.

You can take a direct asessment for an ICC also on your own boat. It is in two parts.

There is an oral/written test to include basic knowledge of Regulations, Safety, Pilotage and Navigation.

There is a practical test including a safety briefing, engine checks, weather considerations, departing pontoon, 360 turn in confined space, securing to a buoy, MOB, sailing a triangular course, trimming sails etc, and coming alongside a windward pontoon.

Not the easy giveaway a lot of people assume!!

You can get the Application for ICC from the RYA or most sea scools, it gives all details.

Personally, I have always rated the ICC as a valuable certificate as it is recognised in so many places, it is a proper Licence. The Day Skipper course completion certificate is an important rung up the ladder of learning and demonstrating confidence however, and the 2 complement each other extremely well. In my opinion!

Happy sailing.
 
Take a look here, its all here, from the RYA themselves. Suggestions of attempting the Coastal Skipper exam should be weighed against the need for much greater previous experience, night hours etc. Without that previous experience you may not be allowed to take the exam.

http://www.rya.org.uk/coursestraining/courses/sailcruising/Pages/Dayskipper.aspx

Some sailing schools do 2 days over the first weekend classroom theory, 5 days on the boat then a final 2 days in the class room. All continually assessed. If you get it wrong on the first attempt, then dont worry the instructor will guide you and let you have another go.
 
ICC v day Skipper

Get your day skipper. Then apply to RYA for an ICC which they will then issue (FOC if you are a member) so you get the best of both worlds
 
All

Thanks very much for the replies and PMs. To be honest I've never been one for the RYA tickets as such...I never did a dinghy course before instructor for example...I've always thought that experience was more important than the ticket, and I have sailed with some frankly scary "day skippers". I just think that sometimes having some kind of ticket is useful...I was on holiday once and a watersports centre refused to hire me and the other half a Laser Pico, despite me saying that as I helm an 18' Skiff a Pico should not present too much of a problem!

I have about 4000 miles, mainly as crew, so I think I will log up some more miles/experience on my own boat as skipper, and then go for the new "Yachtmaster Coastal" ticket, partly so I have the ticket, and also so I know that my skippering, rather than just sailing, is up to the job.

I do actually have an ICC already, through what I consider to be a shocking loophole in the RYA system. As I am a dinghy instructor (a course held on an inland lake, sailing Wayfarers, Toppers and Lasers) and I did my PB3 course in tidal waters (no navigation remember, just power-rolling Laser 2000s and recovering windsurfers in a small 30hp RIB), the RYA gave me an automatic ICC. I think this is pretty ridiculous if I'm honest...the first thing I did with it was bareboat charter a Bavaria 40 in Sardinia, but obviously I had the experience to do such a thing. However, I could have had that ICC without ever having even set foot on a yacht, let alone maneovred it in close quarters next to some VERY expensive boats in Porto Cervo or slogged up to La Maddalena in 30 knots...

Frightening really!
 
Iain C

Just take a look at the RYA web site, With 4000 miles as crew, you wont have a lot of work to do to add the necessary miles need to do YM off shore. As I understand there is little difference between 'coastal' and 'off shore' mainly sea miles and I suspect you would easily qualify for the later. Take a look at the syllabus.
 
galadriel said:
Iain C

Just take a look at the RYA web site, With 4000 miles as crew, you wont have a lot of work to do to add the necessary miles need to do YM off shore. As I understand there is little difference between 'coastal' and 'off shore' mainly sea miles and I suspect you would easily qualify for the later. Take a look at the syllabus.
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There is a significant difference in the depth of knowledge and experience the examiner will be looking for between YM Coastal and YM Offshore. Crewing experience is not the issue, it is skippering experience and depth of knowledge that is required. Whichever exam you choose to sit I think it would be worth getting an instructor on board for a day first for a pre-exam checkout.

- W
 
I'd agree with you Webcraft. I'll hold my hands up and say that of all those miles, it would always be the skipper who would make the ultimate decisions, do the nav, and do the close quarters boat handling stuff. I've got plans for plenty time afloat this year, so I'll get well and truly up to speed during that, and either get a check-out and then the exam at the end of this year or the beginning of next. It is a learning curve at the mo, but with previous experience and the DS shorebased under my belt, VHF license etc all sorted, I feel well equipped to go out there and get some decent skippering experience.
 
Iain C said:
I'd agree with you Webcraft. I'll hold my hands up and say that of all those miles, it would always be the skipper who would make the ultimate decisions, do the nav, and do the close quarters boat handling stuff. I've got plans for plenty time afloat this year, so I'll get well and truly up to speed during that, and either get a check-out and then the exam at the end of this year or the beginning of next. It is a learning curve at the mo, but with previous experience and the DS shorebased under my belt, VHF license etc all sorted, I feel well equipped to go out there and get some decent skippering experience.
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Have fun - let's hope it's a great season. And if you do sit and pass either of the RYA exams later on in the year you will feel you have achieved something - in spite of the sometimes dismissive comments on here neither ticket is a formality.

- W
 
webcraft said:
And if you do sit and pass either of the RYA exams later on in the year you will feel you have achieved something - in spite of the sometimes dismissive comments on here neither ticket is a formality.
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Part of the problem is that a lot of people claim to have "done their Yachtmaster", "taken their Yachtmaster Exam" or "got their YM ticket" when what they really mean is that they have sat through 40 hours of classroom tuition, completed the end-of-course theory test, and been issued with a course completion certificate!
 
webcraft said:
There is a significant difference in the depth of knowledge and experience the examiner will be looking for between YM Coastal and YM Offshore. Crewing experience is not the issue, it is skippering experience and depth of knowledge that is required. Whichever exam you choose to sit I think it would be worth getting an instructor on board for a day first for a pre-exam checkout.

- W
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I do agree that the depth of knowledge that you would be expected to demonstrate during the exam would greater for a YM than for a Coastal skipper, however the syllabus is much the same, otherwise, which part of the IRPCS do you omit, which part of passage planning is less important?

As the RYA web site says: "In other words, the theory is the same for both, but less practical experience and skill is required for the Yachtmaster Coastal exam."

The requirement for Coastal exam is 30 days at sea, 2 days as skipper, 800 miles and 12 night hours. Whilst for YM it is 50 days at sea, 2500 miles, 5 days as skipper, 5 passages over 60miles incl 2 overnight and 2 as skipper.

Iain C, what I'm saying is the difference between the two exams is not that huge, you need the same knowledge. With the experience you have told us about, even if not as skipper, I dont suppose for one minute you would have been sat there with your eyes shut! I think you should and could go that little extra distance and prepare for the YM. However, this is something only you can decide.

What I can say is that taking the YM practical exam is a very inspiring experience. Whatever knowledge you have when the exam starts, you will finish with even more knowledge. The examiner is not there to 'trip you up', on the contrary, he is there to help you demonstrate your best. He will guide you if you are not 100% in what you do, then give you another chance to demonstrate your renewed understanding.
 
Great advice, gets to the root of what its all about.

The RYA publication G27, Instructors Handbook has the definitive words in the chapter 'The organisation and conduct of Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster Offsnore exams'. Clearly will have the name change in its next issue.

It makes things very clear to potential candidates, reccommended!
 
galadriel said:
I do agree that the depth of knowledge that you would be expected to demonstrate during the exam would greater for a YM than for a Coastal skipper, however the syllabus is much the same, otherwise, which part of the IRPCS do you omit, which part of passage planning is less important?

As the RYA web site says: "In other words, the theory is the same for both, but less practical experience and skill is required for the Yachtmaster Coastal exam."

The requirement for Coastal exam is 30 days at sea, 2 days as skipper, 800 miles and 12 night hours. Whilst for YM it is 50 days at sea, 2500 miles, 5 days as skipper, 5 passages over 60miles incl 2 overnight and 2 as skipper.

Iain C, what I'm saying is the difference between the two exams is not that huge, you need the same knowledge. With the experience you have told us about, even if not as skipper, I dont suppose for one minute you would have been sat there with your eyes shut! I think you should and could go that little extra distance and prepare for the YM. However, this is something only you can decide.

What I can say is that taking the YM practical exam is a very inspiring experience. Whatever knowledge you have when the exam starts, you will finish with even more knowledge. The examiner is not there to 'trip you up', on the contrary, he is there to help you demonstrate your best. He will guide you if you are not 100% in what you do, then give you another chance to demonstrate your renewed understanding.
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On one assessment, during the initial briefing by an examiner (after which most candidates ask him "do you expect the MOB to be done under sail or power?"), YM candidates were advised that he would expect them to take a yacht offshore, out of sight of land & safely return vessel + crew under most conditions. The CS candidate was told the examiner would expect her to demonstrate capability to successfully skipper the boat from the Solent to Penzance.

PS one answer to the MOB, was "MOB is not an academic exercise".

Debatable perhaps, which is the more 'interesting'.
 
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