Yachtmaster Offshore

[Seajet]

That's true in certain regards, though the main item I'd say different on larger boats is sheet loadings etc.

However a big heavy boat with crew coming out of every orifice - and almost certainly roller sails -, windlass etc - is a darn sight easier to operate when the going gets tough than a small boat with one crew which may well be an inexperienced partner.

It would be interesting to see an instant YM type try to take a boat like mine (but not actually mine ! ) across to the Channel Isles with one novice crew & no electronics...

 

[Twister_Ken]

However a big heavy boat with crew coming out of every orifice - and almost certainly roller sails -, windlass etc - is a darn sight easier to operate when the going gets tough than a small boat with one crew which may well be an inexperienced partner.
..

Mmm, well often it's just a couple in a bigger heavier boat.

Met such a couple last night. 60,000nm in a 41 footer.

 

[Seajet]

Now that's what I call quality stubborn; you'd think after that distance the partner would show willing to pick up a few basics !

 

[AngusMcDoon]

That's true in certain regards, though the main item I'd say different on larger boats is sheet loadings etc.

Nope. The biggest difference between a boat like yours and a 26m or 200T boat is the number & complexity of the systems - generators, fire fighting, 110V electricity, hydraulics, air con, power winches, fuel management - the list is huge. Someone who gets a YM having sailed only a 7m LWL will have no experience of all this.

 

[dunedin]

Nope. The biggest difference between a boat like yours and a 26m or 200T boat is the number & complexity of the systems - generators, fire fighting, 110V electricity, hydraulics, air con, power winches, fuel management - the list is huge. Someone who gets a YM having sailed only a 7m LWL will have no experience of all this.

This is getting somewhat off topic. 99.9% of Yacht Masters are unlikely to end up skippering 200T yachts. And this did originate as a qualification for all yachtsmen, typically amateurs.

If the professional skipper and SuperYacht market is getting more complex (and ship sized) then the answer surely is to review the scope of the Commercial endorsement requirements and make these more relevant, not over burden the base qualification away from its original purpose.

 

[dom]

This is getting somewhat off topic. 99.9% of Yacht Masters are unlikely to end up skippering 200T yachts. And this did originate as a qualification for all yachtsmen, typically amateurs.

If the professional skipper and SuperYacht market is getting more complex (and ship sized) then the answer surely is to review the scope of the Commercial endorsement requirements and make these more relevant, not over burden the base qualification away from its original purpose.

Agreed; in practice the youngsters (and it's mainly them) who take the YM Fast Track courses can expect to get what is effectively a deckhand job on a big yacht/mobo. About 10Yrs later, if they stick at it, they might make First Mate and a few years after that Captain. My impression is that most get fed up along the way and drop out as opposed to a lack of talent/training.

In this light the Fast Track YM qualification is a perfectly good springboard, nothing more, but nothing to be ashamed of either.

 

[lw395]

This is getting somewhat off topic. 99.9% of Yacht Masters are unlikely to end up skippering 200T yachts. And this did originate as a qualification for all yachtsmen, typically amateurs.

If the professional skipper and SuperYacht market is getting more complex (and ship sized) then the answer surely is to review the scope of the Commercial endorsement requirements and make these more relevant, not over burden the base qualification away from its original purpose.

Not sure the original purpose wasn't from the Board of Trade or whatever it was called that week?
The 'MCA' on tickets is not a record label.

 

[Bobwale]

Hi Steveej

It does appear that a 7m boat is minimum for both passages and sea miles/days. However it seems a little harsh to discount your sea time just because your boat is a foot under the required length and I think you'll find that most if not all examiners would not worry about such a minor detail so long as you showed you were fully competent. I did all my miles in my own boat and whilst it was a 26 footer, I only had the scantest of evidence to show I had actually done it at all and the examiner was far more interested in seeing if I lived up to the experience claimed. They are pretty good at spotting straight away someone who is not ready for it. I would say if you have done all thats required in your own little boat you'll probably be better prepared that most who do this exam - 60M passages and 2500M in a little boat is hard work and leaves little room for mistakes that a bigger boat could cope easily with. If I was an examiner I'd be giving you a big pat on the back for it. I think you'll find that examiners has some discretion here and it might be worth contacting a few (details from the RYA) to hear their thoughts but I'd be surprised if there was a problem with your sea time and passages. Obviously you wont be able to do your exam in your boat but a few days exam prep in the boat you will use ought to iron out any little bad habits you might have developed, and get you fully ready for your exam.

Hope this helps a bit.

Bob (former Cruising Instructor)

 

[Seajet]

Nope. The biggest difference between a boat like yours and a 26m or 200T boat is the number & complexity of the systems - generators, fire fighting, 110V electricity, hydraulics, air con, power winches, fuel management - the list is huge. Someone who gets a YM having sailed only a 7m LWL will have no experience of all this.

Yes it is sheet loadings etc .

just as well I've sailed lots of boats then isn't it ?

The barge I was on in france was 280 tons with an air started main engine, 110volts & 2 generators, aircon all over; systems of that kind do not affect handling & operation of the thing.

The skipper was an ex-window cleaner so regarded me as Brunel reincarnarted, up to then they relied on a yard for even the smallest jobs.

I also had a go on TS Royalist and seemed to have a grasp of what was going on.

Systems of the type you describe are a whole different skillset to YM Offshore, I suspect one is either the type to bother learning such things long ago or just be flummoxed but not many will affect the sailing & navigation.

A zero to hero type new to all boats but brought up on 40 footers would have a helluva lot less chance than someone who had spent a few years sailing AND OWNING a lot smaller boat than mine.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Yes it is sheet loadings etc .

Learning how to handle the higher sheet loadings safely takes most people only a day. It's a skill all deck crew will have been taught on day 1; it's not a skill just the skipper has. Maybe it took you longer. Learning how to manage the whole boat as a commerical skipper at the top end of the YM range, including all the systems, takes many years, for which neither the zero to hero nor pootling about in a 7m boat is sufficient preparation.

Instead of posting your CV here all the time why not try it on yotspot... "Extensive experience of skippering 7m yacht, went on TS Royalist once as a passenger, seemed to have a grasp of what was going on".

 

[Seajet]

Glad you can read, at least a bit; instead of homing in on any post I make and trying to rubbish me - presumably because I once said silly boats are silly - here's a whacky idea - why not get a life.

 

[Neil]

Hi Steveej

It does appear that a 7m boat is minimum for both passages and sea miles/days. However it seems a little harsh to discount your sea time just because your boat is a foot under the required length and I think you'll find that most if not all examiners would not worry about such a minor detail so long as you showed you were fully competent. I did all my miles in my own boat and whilst it was a 26 footer, I only had the scantest of evidence to show I had actually done it at all and the examiner was far more interested in seeing if I lived up to the experience claimed. They are pretty good at spotting straight away someone who is not ready for it. I would say if you have done all thats required in your own little boat you'll probably be better prepared that most who do this exam - 60M passages and 2500M in a little boat is hard work and leaves little room for mistakes that a bigger boat could cope easily with. If I was an examiner I'd be giving you a big pat on the back for it. I think you'll find that examiners has some discretion here and it might be worth contacting a few (details from the RYA) to hear their thoughts but I'd be surprised if there was a problem with your sea time and passages. Obviously you wont be able to do your exam in your boat but a few days exam prep in the boat you will use ought to iron out any little bad habits you might have developed, and get you fully ready for your exam.

Hope this helps a bit.

Bob (former Cruising Instructor)

Please read the end of post #38

 

[Serin]

I'd agree with that, but I don't know how you reliably test that in a 1 day exam?

I think all exams are a bit like that. The key to them is that you never quite know what will come up and therefore have to cover all the bases. I've long thought that the purpose of exams is as much to force you do the work as to test your knowledge and abilities. And the Yachtmaster syllabus represents a pretty comprehensive grounding in nautical matters.

That said, my own exam, if you can call it that, took the form of a week on a boat with four other candidates and an examiner, during which we took a turn at all the various roles on the boat and, during which, I learned a great deal as well. It was one of the best week's sailing I can remember. That was in the mid nineteen seventies.

 

[Minchsailor]

That said, my own exam, if you can call it that, took the form of a week on a boat with four other candidates and an examiner, during which we took a turn at all the various roles on the boat and, during which, I learned a great deal as well. It was one of the best week's sailing I can remember. That was in the mid nineteen seventies.

+1 to that. My own yachtmaster I did in '77 with Loch Eil Outward Bound. A week on a 27ft boat (4 of us + instructor/examiner) out of Mallaig. It was extremely useful and challenging.