Yachtmaster Ocean Qualifying Passage

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I've just returned from a "happy" week on passage from Norway to Holland, and as it was to windward all the way we realised the log had run over 700nm instead of the 400 or so we had planned in a straight line, so I was wondering if that might have accidentally qualified me for a Yachtmaster Ocean!

The RYA book (G158) says that for the passage to qualify "a minimum distance of 600nm must be run by the log, the yacht must have been at sea continously for a minimum of 96 hours and the yacht must have been at least 50nm from land or charted objects capable of being used for navigation/position fixing for at 200nm".

Getting an Ocean ticket would be a great achievement for me, as I've no hope of having the money to pay for a commercial milebuilder (or having the time), but I wonder if anyone could confirm if the passage is suitable. I'm not planning on going off to skipper ocean yachts or anything, but it'd be a nice present for an otherwise fairly miserable and boring week at sea.

I know that YM Offshore passages have to be 60nm on the rhumb line, but the syllabus here seems to suggest it's more about the time at sea than the direct distance per se. We had 40 knots over the deck for 36 hours and then no wind for another 36 so it certainly felt like an Atlantic crossing in miniature!

I'm also aware of the need to do a second short passage using sextant only but I understand that that only need be a channel crossing or similar which is good.

Any advice gratefully recieved.
 
The last paragraph is interesting, a few years ago I had hoped to gain my ‘Ocean’ and managed the passage kinsale to Spain then Spain to Milford Haven (650nm over 10 days), but really messed up my sextant work so never applied to RYA. If it is possible to do a short passage using sextant would West Wales to Ireland and sextant nav’ be acceptable?
It has always been my dream to obtain the Ocean but the voyage to Spain was I thought my last chance.
I have completed the shore-based course.
 
'To be eligible as an ocean qualifying passage the distance between the departure and arrival points by the shortest navigable route must be more than 600 miles'.

Thats from the RYA website. So sorry, nah.
 
Minn said:
To judge by a friend who did pay, her trip, with a very well regarded sailing school, was "Harwich, round the Dogger Bank and back", so it certainly doesn't seem that any sort of a straight line is needed.
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That is not a qualifying passage. That may have been a navigate for a bit with a sextant to see how it works passage.
 
There's a dozen or more GGR'rs now down in the South Atlantic and hammering on. I reckon their passages would probably 'qualify', doanchathink?
 
zoidberg said:
There's a dozen or more GGR'rs now down in the South Atlantic and hammering on. I reckon their passages would probably 'qualify', doanchathink?
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Aren't they doing a circumnavigation starting and ending at the same port?

In that case technically it doesn't qualify :)
 
bedouin said:
Aren't they doing a circumnavigation starting and ending at the same port?

In that case technically it doesn't qualify :)
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They haven't finished yet.... :rolleyes:

And to refute the 'technical' above, he/she/they could certainly submit - if 'they' had a mind to - a sector between two or more check-in points, such as the Canaries one and the Hobart one. It would be a very grumpy futtock of an Ocean Examiner who'd quibble with that ( although one or two of 'em are, notoriously ), especially as 'they'd have traversed more than a couple of oceans and not broken the boat on a rocky Cape Point shoreline or a charted reef in the Indian Ocean.

It seems a pity, to my eyes, that more video and/or pics are not coming out from the competitors. Keeping the public interest going for several more months, with just an occasional fireside chat by Don McIntyre, isn't going to cut the mustard.
 
The examiner is really going to asses you for your abilities and understanding of what is involved in longer offshore passages. The distances are important as it's a different mind set when faced with open ocean as opposed to a safe harbor within a day or two as an option when things break or people get injured or sick. But I'd talk to an examiner and ask his or her opinion. I think it's quite easy to see if you've got the right experience in a one to one interview/viva. The use of sun for position, weather observation, typical weather patterns, on going maintenance and checking of parts that wear, are all part of daily life on a long passage and should be second nature.
 
Praxinoscope said:
The last paragraph is interesting, a few years ago I had hoped to gain my ‘Ocean’ and managed the passage kinsale to Spain then Spain to Milford Haven (650nm over 10 days), but really messed up my sextant work so never applied to RYA. If it is possible to do a short passage using sextant would West Wales to Ireland and sextant nav’ be acceptable?
It has always been my dream to obtain the Ocean but the voyage to Spain was I thought my last chance.
I have completed the shore-based course.
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"Out of sight of land" is the criterion for the sextant stuff. You also need to take the exam within 10 years of the QP.
 
Quiddle said:
"Out of sight of land" is the criterion for the sextant stuff. You also need to take the exam within 10 years of the QP.
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htmaster Ocean exam pre-requisites
Minimum seatime All candidates must have completed a qualifying passage within the past 10 years as skipper or mate in sole charge of a watch on a suitable vessel, which meets the following criteria:
The candidate was fully involved in the planning of the passage, including selection of the route, the navigational plan, checking the material condition of the vessel and her equipment, storing with spare gear, water and victuals and organising the watch-keeping routine.
During the passage a minimum non-stop distance of 600 miles must have been run by the log, the yacht must have been at sea continuously for at least 96 hours and the yacht must have been more than 50 miles from land or charted objects capable of being used for navigation/position fixing while sailing a distance of at least 200 miles.
To be eligible as an ocean qualifying passage the distance between departure and arrival points by the shortest navigable route must be more than 600 mile.
See: Information on Qualifying passages.

Best read the RYA pages, really. :encouragement:
 
Passage:
A passage is a non-stop voyage from a departure port / safe haven to a destination port / safe haven. Where a passage must be of a minimum distance to meet exam pre-requisites, the distance should be taken as the shortest navigable route established when planning a safe and efficient passage.

Passages which artificially lengthen the distance will not be accepted.
 
capnsensible said:
htmaster Ocean exam pre-requisites
Minimum seatime All candidates must have completed a qualifying passage within the past 10 years as skipper or mate in sole charge of a watch on a suitable vessel, which meets the following criteria:
The candidate was fully involved in the planning of the passage, including selection of the route, the navigational plan, checking the material condition of the vessel and her equipment, storing with spare gear, water and victuals and organising the watch-keeping routine.
During the passage a minimum non-stop distance of 600 miles must have been run by the log, the yacht must have been at sea continuously for at least 96 hours and the yacht must have been more than 50 miles from land or charted objects capable of being used for navigation/position fixing while sailing a distance of at least 200 miles.
To be eligible as an ocean qualifying passage the distance between departure and arrival points by the shortest navigable route must be more than 600 mile.
See: Information on Qualifying passages.

Best read the RYA pages, really. :encouragement:
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Well I did all that and from 2 miles off the Finistere lighthouse to Milford Haven is 650 nm on the log, with Lands End being the first land we saw after 9 days, it’s just that I messed up on my sextant work, so never applied.
We originally planned for the Azores but after being hit by bad weather we lost too much time so just turned left and went to Spain instead.
 
Quiddle said:
"Out of sight of land" is the criterion for the sextant stuff. You also need to take the exam within 10 years of the QP.
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capnsensible said:
htmaster Ocean exam pre-requisites
Minimum seatime All candidates must have completed a qualifying passage within the past 10 years as skipper or mate in sole charge of a watch on a suitable vessel, which meets the following criteria.......
Click to expand...

As I understand it, it is not an absolute requirement that the sextant sights required for the Ocean oral exam are taken on the QP, but that there are still some absolute nono's if they aren't and I took Quiddle as just giving the criteria that must apply for the sextant stuff if not done during the QP - namely that bobbing up and down in the Solent was a non-starter. You actually have to go over the horizon.
 
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