Yachtmaster on the east coast - good idea?

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Vid

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It's time I took my YM and I've booked a place on a course with an east coast sailing school for early in the summer.

Now, I've only sailed on the east coast a couple of times - once with the people I'm doing the YM with, a weekend sailing the Orwell, Deben and Walton Backwaters. The other time was a week last summer when I took my own little Achilles 24 to Brightlingsea, West Mersea, Burnham on Crouch and Queenborough.

So, is it a good idea to take my Yachtmaster in relatively unfamiliar waters?

My thoughts are that a) finding a good school is important and b) well, if it's the Yachtmaster then I should be good enough in unfamiliar waters.

I'm most familiar with the Solent and know the South West well, so have I made the right choice?
 
Its a very good idea, especially as navigation is often more challenging than many other popular areas. What you say about being good enough to sail in unfamiliar waters is also very good point.

As for looking for a school, my old man teaches on the east coast, so take a look at www.colinstraceysailing.co.uk, have a chat with him as he works with both east coast and solent based schools, so he should be able to help.
 
Vid said:
It's time I took my YM and I've booked a place on a course with an east coast sailing school for early in the summer.

Now, I've only sailed on the east coast a couple of times - once with the people I'm doing the YM with, a weekend sailing the Orwell, Deben and Walton Backwaters. The other time was a week last summer when I took my own little Achilles 24 to Brightlingsea, West Mersea, Burnham on Crouch and Queenborough.

So, is it a good idea to take my Yachtmaster in relatively unfamiliar waters?

My thoughts are that a) finding a good school is important and b) well, if it's the Yachtmaster then I should be good enough in unfamiliar waters.

I'm most familiar with the Solent and know the South West well, so have I made the right choice?
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Go to the Best Les Rant also SYH based (he has a web site) Les runs his own boat & actually goes sailing :eek:. spinnaker also used :eek::eek::eek::eek:
 
As long as you are razor-sharp on secondary port calculations and tidal flows, then you'll be fine. I second the suggestion to talk to Colin Stracey (and I'm not related to him!) - very helpful and knowledgable.
 
alan17 said:
Second Les Rant. Good and thorough. Does love his spinnaker.
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That's good to hear. Some of you may or may not noticed my indifference to the RYA courses. I have never seen a spinnaker on our local school boats, I expect the course content that needs to be covered is tight for the five days, but then again if it's not long enough to cover downwind sailing maybe it needs to a longer course?

When I first collected our boat, which was our first and with me a relative newcomer to sailing, I was determined not to let the spinnakers stay in the locker, unfortunately in my 3 weeks of sailing courses, we had not even poled a headsail out!

Best of luck OP on your Yachtmaster examination. If you can arrive, read the chart and do a night entry somewhere you have never seen before with a crew of strangers, you are certainly worthy of 'Yachtmaster' status!
 
Guapa said:
I've been told it's more an H&S and insurance issue :(
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I'm not sure about that. There's plenty of schools offer some form of race training with spinnakers. I suspect the RYA just don't consider it important enough to get space on the syllabus of their cruising courses. If they did they'd probably be accussed of a racing bias.

Anyway, easy enough to get spinnaker experience. Just hop on a racer.
 
dt4134 said:
I'm not sure about that. There's plenty of schools offer some form of race training with spinnakers. I suspect the RYA just don't consider it important enough to get space on the syllabus of their cruising courses. If they did they'd probably be accussed of a racing bias.

Anyway, easy enough to get spinnaker experience. Just hop on a racer.
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Do they train with cruising chutes then?
 
alan17 said:
Second Les Rant. Good and thorough. Does love his spinnaker.
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I think you'll find he has two spinnakers now. Any downwind leg lasting more than 5 minutes will see the kite hoisted.

Les is perhaps the most competent skipper I've sailed with. If you sail on his boat remember to pee sitting down, and trim your finger and toenails so nothing can scratch the woodwork - otherwise you're in for a *******ing.
 
AliM said:
As long as you are razor-sharp on secondary port calculations and tidal flows, then you'll be fine.
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xyachtdave said:
Best of luck OP on your Yachtmaster examination. If you can arrive, read the chart and do a night entry somewhere you have never seen before with a crew of strangers, you are certainly worthy of 'Yachtmaster' status!
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There's a bit more to it than these posts indicate (did mine recently). Sailing on and off bouys and pontoons, simulated engine failures at awkward times, MOB, blind nav, longer leg navigation (i.e. course to steer calcs), crew briefings, sail trim, as well as a lot of testing questions about weather, colregs, first aid and theory in general.

The OP asked about using unfamiliar waters as a venue. I think it's a good idea. It's very easy to become complacent in your home waters, as long as you are up to scratch then unfamiliar areas will keep you sharp - giving the examiner a good impression. In the space of 10 - 12 hours it's hard for them to scrutinise every discipline in full, so there's always going to be an element of 'general impression'. A good school / coach is a very good idea.
 
Well, I'm doing my YM this week on the East Coast - four days refresher then practical next weekend.

Wish me fine seas and fair winds...
 
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