Question on day skipper shore based theory

[jon and michie]

Hi - I finally have time to start doing more course wise - I want to do my day skipper theory to then do the practical maybe beginning of next season.
So my question is the theory assessment taken at the end of the course in one lump or as the course progresses ?
many thanks for any advice
Jon

 

[hinch]

we did it in 2 halfs when i did it last year as we had to break half way through for the first covid lockdown

 

[Jamie Dundee]

We did ours at the end of the course in one go, although it was an intensive course run over 4 consecutive Saturdays.

 

[LittleSister]

You've been on the forum quite a while, and may perhaps find the Day Skipper course a bit basic and unchallenging.

I know someone, relatively new to sailing, who felt that way very early on, managed to switch to the Yachtmaster theory course at no extra cost, and passed without difficulty.

But do whatever suits you and you circumstances best.

Good luck with it. Enjoy!

 

[Bristolfashion]

We did a week combined DS practical and theory. Started with a day or 2 of theory, put it into practice for about 4 days & exam on the last day. Excellent, but mainly because of the excellent tutor, Emma.

 

[MoodySabre]

I did my theory at evening classes and there was an exam at the end.

 

[jon and michie]

Thanks for replies so far - My main concern is - is my brain going into overload if the exam is at the end where if you did each chapter (if you like) as you went along your more likely be able to retain more information if you get my gist

 

[Jamie Dundee]

Thanks for replies so far - My main concern is - is my brain going into overload if the exam is at the end where if you did each chapter (if you like) as you went along your more likely be able to retain more information if you get my gist

If you suffer from brain meltdown after a DS theory course you’d probably better avoid getting up in the morning It really is pretty simple and if you can’t retain the information until the end of the course there is little chance of you remembering on the water 6 months later.

 

[jon and michie]

Not too intense then

 

[PlanB]

We did the four-weekends-in--a-row option and were taking it very seriously, fretting over the exam, and the instructor said you'd have to be really bad to fail.
Only one person did - a Russian who had never set foot on a boat

 

[jon and michie]

You've been on the forum quite a while, and may perhaps find the Day Skipper course a bit basic and unchallenging.

I know someone, relatively new to sailing, who felt that way very early on, managed to switch to the Yachtmaster theory course at no extra cost, and passed without difficulty.

But do whatever suits you and you circumstances best.

Good luck with it. Enjoy!

I've had my boat for 5 years now and only ventured on the river crouch learning what the craft can/cant do - its a single engine duo prop without bow/stern thrusters.
and have my reeds day skippers pocket book to hand.
yes in the beginning we were total novice's - I had done my powerboat 2 in a rib previous but on a more higher side boat that is a different ball game as we found out.
now 5 years on we want to explore more and get into chart work and not rely on a chart plotter (although handy). so what do you recommend day skippers or yacthmaster ?

 

[LittleSister]

I tend to think if you are familiar with the basics of tides and charts, and don't struggle with such ideas, then go for the Yachtmaster Theory.

I get the impression that Dayskipper theory is a gentle introduction to the basics, assuming little previous knowledge, and Yachtmaster Theory assumes you know most of the basics, and want to deepen your understanding and learn to deal with more detail and more challenging tasks/opportunities. Others who are more familiar with the syllabus and current practice may be able to confirm or correct that.

I've not done the Dayskipper Theory, but my ex-partner who started on it, having done a bit of sailing, found it unchallenging: she'd picked up much of it for herself or from me (she is very bright and has an appetite for learning). It was she who changed to do the Yachtmaster Theory after a couple of the Dayskipper sessions (classroom based evening classes).

I did the Yachtmaster Theory years ago (when Morse was still on the syllabus!) when I'd already done some mainly long-distance cruising in a friend's boat. He'd introduced me to the basics of, e.g., navigation, but I quickly got into it, and picked up more as I went along by asking questions or deducing things for myself, and soon did most of the navigation (pre-GPS days) for our motley crew.

Other considerations include how much time and energy have you got to put into studying and practising/homework, and how quickly do you tend to learn? Don't over-stretch yourself if you don't have the time or inclination: it would be better to sail through Dayskipper than to grind to a halt, or come to loathe, doing Yachtmaster Theory. Also, if two of you are planning to do it together, probably best to gear it to the least able and motivated of the two, rather than have one of you become frustrated and alienated.

That's just my particular two-penn'orth off the top of my head. It would be good to hear others' views, especially from those who have taught the courses or taught/examined people who have done them, and from those who have completed both levels.

p.s. I expect that the syllabus for the two courses is somewhere on the RYA website, and it would be worth having a look, doing a comparison, and see how you feel about which one might best suit you.

p.p.s. Remember that the object of the exercise is enjoyment - to enjoy doing the course, so you can better enjoy sailing. It isn't a competition.

 

[jon and michie]

Many Thanks LittleSister for your advice - I think I will look at the RYA website syllabus first and go from there.
Jon

 

[goeasy123]

I and my wife did the Day Skipper theory on-line. You can self pace and keep going round 'til you pass.

But honestly, we both found the theory course disappointing. The practicals we did on two seperate occassions were worse as were the Yachtmaster courses we crewed on. On different occassions examiners demanded conflicting responses and, when pressed, all were critical of the course content and structure.

For me the only reason to do a Yachtmaster or Day Skipper is to satisfy the requirements of a organization for you to have a qualification. We did it to because the bare boat charter company we wanted to use required it, unless you could claim to have a certain level of experience. They preferred experience over qualifications.

You'll learn a lot more by sailing with experienced sailors and it's likely to be more rewarding. We joined the Cruising Association and used their Crewing Service to do this.

 

[gordmac]

I did the dayskipper years ago as a nightclass. Well worth doing even if, like me, you have several years of boating experience. I would suggest it contains pretty well everything you need to know for boating around the coast. Perhaps if you want to sail across the Atlantic you may want to cover more. It seemed rather biased towards sailing but, in my class at least, most sailed and I suppose a lot of it is more important to tall things with dangly bits that can only go slowly.

 

[capnsensible]

Many Thanks LittleSister for your advice - I think I will look at the RYA website syllabus first and go from there.
Jon

My wife is an instructor for an online theory school. Time and again she sees people struggle with coastal / Yachtmaster theory course because they didn't get to grips with the basics first.

There are now 12 modules on the Day Skipper theory course with the exam at the end. As others have mentioned, it's not overly difficult but a good grounding (!) should you want to progress with the more challenging Coastal/YMO course. This has changed enormously over the last few years and may not be as old hands on here remember it!

 

[JSpalding]

I wouldn't worry about your brain going into meltdown in the exam as I was told there isn't exactly a pass mark, its just down to what your instructor thinks... e.g. are you safe?
I did my day skipper theory online and any questions I struggled with the instructor simply had a chat with me about it to assess if I had made a silly exam-pressured mistakes/typos or had actually got the fundamentals wrong.
I actually really enjoyed my day skipper and would definitely recommend it, I learnt so much more from my instructors than I expected, they were always happy to chat and pass on tips and tricks.

 

[dougtate]

I've quite enjoyed day skipper theory. I've completed all the course work though not done the assessment yet. Coursework doesn't count towards the assessment. The navigation / calculation based bits are easy enough, a bit of memory is needed for the rest, nothing too hard as long as you don't try to cram too much at once and / or know some of it already. For me as a river based person looking to upgrade to a sea environment it's been useful. Practical later this month.