RYA Yachtmaster Offshore practical exam

Congratulations. I hope you enjoyed the process and got something out of it.

The secret of 100% pass rate is filtering out the students who just aren't ready!

(You also need to hope that the students don't do something really stupid or UNSAFE during the exam. Endangering your crew is 'not helpful' if you want to pass.)
 
GHA said:
Well done!
I did day skipper with them ages ago, good bunch then, nice to see they're still about.

What was the most stressful bit?
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The beginning of the exam is perhaps the most stressful, the examiner started with theory questions and a passage plan and both of these went rather well hence I made a good initial impression and this carried through the rest of the 8 hours of the exam. I was the only candidate being examined which made the whole experience rather busy but shorter. Apparently I was one of the two of the best passes of the examiner this year so far.
 
Well done. But I wonder whether the 4 days of pre-exam cramming were necessary to pass the exam or if they were simply a confidence booster. I have experienced trained and ticketed skippers who claim to have "forgotten" skills that they parroted for their tests but have never understood and certainly would not have available in extremis. The skills for YM should be ingrained and constant, not just polished to last for 8 hours and then forgotten.
I am not trying to suggest any shortcomings on the part of the OP, just wondering whether cramming is necessary or even a good thing. I suspect, though, that the independent YM examiners may be inclined to raise the stress levels of crammed candidates to investigate any cracks.
 
awol said:
Well done. But I wonder whether the 4 days of pre-exam cramming were necessary to pass the exam or if they were simply a confidence booster. I have experienced trained and ticketed skippers who claim to have "forgotten" skills that they parroted for their tests but have never understood and certainly would not have available in extremis. The skills for YM should be ingrained and constant, not just polished to last for 8 hours and then forgotten.
I am not trying to suggest any shortcomings on the part of the OP, just wondering whether cramming is necessary or even a good thing. I suspect, though, that the independent YM examiners may be inclined to raise the stress levels of crammed candidates to investigate any cracks.
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You have a good point. Try to get a crew place on an exam and make your own first hand impression about the exam. If you know skippers who in your opinion are not up to YM standard then it cannot be their examiners fault but lack of the skippers' interest to keep their skills up.
The pre-exam “course” is normally 5 days long. It is impossible to teach everything needed in that time to pass the exam. Certainly you polish your skills but during that time you also need to learn local area, boat, your crew etc. The boat handling is actually only a small part of the exam and if you come to the prep course not ready then there is no instructor who will get you ready to pass the exam after 4 or 5 days of tuition.
 
awol said:
Well done. But I wonder whether the 4 days of pre-exam cramming were necessary to pass the exam or if they were simply a confidence booster.
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When taking an exam on a school boat it is a good idea to be familiar with the boat rather than come to it cold. For example if you are told there is a steering failure and you have to switch to emergency steering you should be able to find the tiller and fit it straight away.
 
I recommend encouraging future crew etc to keep asking you questions that helps keep your knowledge base.

Got caught out last weekend when Queen Mary 2 gave 3 blasts on its hooter while going past Cowes but then saw a small sailing boat just off its bows so perhaps it did engage astern to reduce speed but it was difficult to assess.
 
ziacek said:
Try to get a crew place on an exam and make your own first hand impression about the exam.
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That's something I'd quite fancy doing. I'm undecided as to whether I'd want to do it myself, and also what sort of standard is expected. Effectively observing somebody else's exam would be very useful.

Pete
 
prv said:
That's something I'd quite fancy doing. I'm undecided as to whether I'd want to do it myself, and also what sort of standard is expected. Effectively observing somebody else's exam would be very useful.

Pete
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+1

Not sure I want to take 5 days of annual leave for the polishing and knowing how it should be done.
 
prv said:
That's something I'd quite fancy doing. I'm undecided as to whether I'd want to do it myself, and also what sort of standard is expected. Effectively observing somebody else's exam would be very useful.

Pete
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I've done that, but after I'd passed the exam.
I would observe that the two exams were quite different. The examiners focussed on the candidates weaknesses to some extent, so if your theory is not 100%, the examiner might ask you a bit more to see if it's just one thing you're a bit weak on or is it general?
Or if you make a mess of a manoeuvre, you might get more chances to show your general standard is ok.

I think the candidates I crewed for came away a little wiser about a few things, but they passed.
They are people I would lend my boat to though.

If you want to know if you're ready for it, I'd suggest chatting to an examiner.
If you think you might want to do YM, you should do it IMHO. I suppose it's easy for me as I could get the time off, being a freelancer. (i.e. I did it at short notice when I was unemployed).
 
jac said:
I know. That's why I said for the polishing via one of the YM prep courses.

Seriously thinking of doing an own boat prep for 1 day where an instructor can give the do's and don'ts
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Why not just sit the exam? The cost for one day tuition can't be very different to the exam cost and think how good it will feel to know you have been that good all along. And you may save some money if you pass.
 
awol said:
Why not just sit the exam? The cost for one day tuition can't be very different to the exam cost and think how good it will feel to know you have been that good all along. And you may save some money if you pass.
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The failed exams are recorded, reports sent to RYA and on the next exam attempt you should fill in the results of the previous exams. In the week when I did the exam more people failed than passed and they spent in the area more time than I did. It does not sound a good idea to book an exam just to see if one can pass.
 
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