question about Yachtmaster certificate

[Woodlouse]

Most of them, I expect. That level of commitment will almost certainly go with ownership.



I think it's fair to point out that some yachtmasters have very limited experience.

I think you're probably wrong there. That level of commitment usually goes towards earning money on other peoples boats. You're most likely right in saying that most yacht masters will own a boat eventually, but when actually taking their exam I'd be surprised if the number was more than 1 in 5.

 

[Woodlouse]

As for some sailing schools pumping out substandard yacht masters. I can only say 'balls'.

All yacht master examiners are independent. The sailing school prepares them for the exam, but after that they have no say in the matter. If this system is still giving the qualification to people who don't deserve it then it is the fault of the system, not the school.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

The Yachtmaster Offshore ( and Ocean ) do not require any knowledge of boat ownership at all; when I did my course a fellow student had never owned so much as a Mirror dinghy, he'd sailed a lot on other people's boats.

At least one chap at my club is a YM Offshore in a similar situation, until buying his small cruiser a few years ago had never owned any sort of boat in his life.

Unsurprisingly, such people find they've suddenly run into a brick wall of ignorance, and are only slightly better off than a complete novice, in fact it's slightly horrifying...

.

From your avatar, I guess you were a flyer for the government. Were you any worse a flyer because you didnt own the aircraft?

I dont understand what you are trying to say. The YM syllabus covers what it covers. It doesnt pretend to cover everything you could know about a boat - there are lots of other RYA courses covering other boaty things and of course there are even more subjects not covered by a course at all. So what? The YM cert, as I said earlier, simply shows that on the day concerned you were up to scratch against the requirements of that syllabus, however limited that might be.

I take it that you were examined by Mike Dymond, since you seem to reckon he is the best.