Know any hot places to do a yachtmaster course

yeah but no but yeah but no

I just thought (thats how you spell it by the way) that twod be a good excuse to have a weeks holiday on a boat but dont know if its to theory orientated or to much to do with sails which i wouldnt mind as quite like sailing boats now ive moved away from the solent where there very unfriendly
wot do you reckon
 
Start by looking HERE. Eligibility for doing the YM course - normally done over 5 days - is not based on "engine" hours, it is a minimum of 2,500 logged miles including night passages etc.
 
Well there you go. You've already learned that there unfriendly in the Solent, you dont get that info in a course. What else are they going to teach you of any use?? You going to start stearing by stars?? /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
Night passage plays an important part in the exam and you will also be required to do blind navigation. How are you on secondary port calculations, EP's and CTS? You could do it on your own boat. Have a look HERE for more info on doing the course on your own boat.
 
I'd go to South Africa if I were to do a Yachtmasters. Good course available in Cape Town. The waters off the Cape can really test you and you get to sail up and around to the 'bique.
 
Night passages are great, and it's a good idea to try them voluntarily, for the time you need to do it for real. eg coming back from Studland Bay forum barbeque when thunderstorm brewed up, so decided to head home instead of staying for the night (wise move as it turned out)

I was comfortable cruising in the dark, as I'd done it voluntarily many times, otherwise it would have been a very uncomfortable first experience. First time I'd cruised by the light of lightning flashes tho!

It's one of the really nice things about Solent tho. Can head down to boat of a weekday evening. Head to somewhere like Cowes for meal ashore, then come home in the dark. Lots of places to go that aren't too far away. Then there's the Cowes fireworks etc - also great fun, but does demand that you can find your way around at night.
 
Hi Mark somewhere warm err let me see how about Spain wiv us.

There is no actual Yachtmaster "course" but there is a 4 day intensive "prep course" followed by the exam on the fifth day.

As others have pointed out pre exam experience is recommend as 2500nm 50 days at sea 5 days as skipper etc........ also it is best to have your radio operators licence and 1st aid certificate before the course, as even if you pass you will need to send copies off to the RYA with your pass certificate for your Yachtmaster.

All info and price on our web site link below. Are you going to the LBS? we will be on stand N1704 north hall.

I would strongly recommend you first do your shorebased theory course and exam first. regards Clive
 
I did a couple of sailing courses in Gibralter. (Comp crew & day skipper) Although I have a motor boat I swing both ways !
There are several schools there & you can do all levels up to Yachtmaster, sails or motor, either in stages or all in one go.
Very convivial atmosphere in Gib, cheaper than the Caribbean plus some testing water around the straits. Think my school was called ALLABOARD.
 
Petrolia Gib has no Motor training (school vessel) anymore cos they no longer have access to the Senator 47 they were using. Been gone 18 months now. The sailing schools in Gib kindly refer Motor enquiries to us. I am talking school boat tuition of course, they can do own boat power.
 
YM, suncoast

i did a course with Suncoast sea school in Duquesa, between malaga and gibraltar. Recommended. That's one of their number posting away down below, called clive. Altho it sounds a bit like too much fun in the sun, the principal (called Phil) is highly respected ex-solent instructor and may even be examinerr by now, or soon.

The general form is that you go for a week, sumink like arrive sat, training sun-thurs and exam on friday, leave sat. That way you will likely pass, instead of turn up for an exam and hoping. Also, the poor training school makes a few quid which they wdn't do if people just turned up for a test.

There is a fair old load to do in a course anyway, tho. I wd say (and some schools also say) that you shd do the shorebased theory course first, then the 1week practical prep, and on the last day they orgainse the exam and include the test fee with their charge. Yep, some of it irrelevant but then some of all exams is irrelevant - it checks your attention to detail, mental capacity, application to the subject matter and so forth.

Don't think (?) suncoast do the theory, but anyways loads of other people offer this. I used correspondence cmonline.co.uk and chose the option where you can go at yer own speed. Actually i started at heck of a pace but then realised four months till the practical course, so i slowed up a bit and did it a couple of months before.

At the end, an exminer come and does an all day exam. The instructor (in this case phil) is still onboard but the exmainer calls the shots. You can't have the same person doing the sunday-thurs prep AND the exam. Also, quite rightly, Phil doesn't spoon feed the exact exam even tho given he knows who the instructor will be he could take you the exact course and give all the likely questions, so it's a fair and wortwhile test, or at least mine was.

The practical is an all-day exam, and they can (and do) ask anything from practical or theory. In other words, the shorebased theory course "exam" -which is not invigilated is not really worth very much - cos the whole of the content and more (the practical) is examined more formally in the practical and you are not YM until after passing the practical. You aren't excused anything cos of shorebased ticket.

Pre-requisites for YM are only being 18, and having done 2,500 miles of which half offshore and some night passages er er Clive will know, i've forgotten.

Duquesa is a nice place to stay too - good for a winter break so you could rent somewhere take family out for sunshine hol while you go boating during the day. I flew to malaga and rented a car for the trip to duquesa.

You won't have a good time if you havent done theory beforehand tho, really -those who didn't had to slave away all evening and in truth they were winging it for some aspects of the exam too. But they passed, so what the heck.
 
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