Yachtmaster prep and exam - recommendations in solent area?

[CalmSkipper]

Hi

I'm looking to do Yachtmaster prep/exam in the solent area. Has anyone completed this recently and if so are there any sailing Schools they would recommend/avoid?

 

[Sailfree]

All the schools that are RYA approved have a good reputation & there are rarely any complaints on here. Many will compliment that school that they had direct experience of.

Experiences will vary by the often self employed instructor (often work for a variety of schools) that the school used but again if a school gets complaints that person is not used again.

Reputation is everything.

 

[jhr]

Two in the Solent that I have direct experience of:

Southern Sailing - boats tend to be older and mankier than some other schools but the level of tuition is excellent and a policy of a maximum 4 to a boat means a better teacher/pupil ratio than you sometimes get elsewhere. Also did the 1 day VHF shorebased course with them and it was good - though I knew more about VHF portable licenses than the instructor /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Hamble School of Yachting - Did a bespoke weekend with them, mainly for the benefit of Mrs jhr and No. 1 Son and Daughter, before going on a flotilla holiday. Nice boat (Dufour 34) and simpatico instructress, who didn't patronise the kids though she was a bit full-on about taking Mrs jhr outside her comfort zone on Day 1, which could have put the kybosh on the holiday. Luckily, things went better on Day 2. Food was excellent (they have a good reputation for their catering).

I'd recommend both of them. The Solent is a competitive environment for sailing schools and most operations that don't measure up tend to go belly-up.

 

[lw395]

It depends on the individual instructor you get. Ask the question: 'Is the instructor a practising YM examiner?'

Also when comparing prices, check what is included, e.g food, mooring fees...

 

[ChrisE]

Another vote for Southern Sailing.

I did mine with them in 1998, so they may have changed but at the time they had a reputation for high standards of sensible sailing.