RYA Sail Cruising & YachtMaster Scheme ( Practical)

The RYA Sail Cruising & YachtMaster Scheme should take a non sailor to a high standard to be able to skipper a yacht at sea.

Start Yachting

I started with the Practical Sailing Course Start Yachting. I had always wanted to sail around the world and own a yacht so this was the beginning for me. Expect to pay around £250 for the two day course. You will basically be part of a crew on a yacht with a Cruising Instructor and learn the very basics. The course is worth doing even if its just to give sailing a try. Most but, not all schools will provide all meals on board so it could also be considered to be a cheap minibreak. After I had done this course I was hooked and just wanted to sail more so be warned.

Start Yachting:
Suggested minimum pre-course experience: none
Assumed knolege: none
Course content: Introduction to sailing and seamanship
Ability after course: Basic sailing experience
Minimum duration: 2 days

Competent Crew

After I had done the course I did the RYA Competent Crew course. They say this is the minimum one would need to be a crew on a yacht. It not much different to the start yachting course but, as it is 5 days or a further 3 days if you have already done the start yachting course. One does start to get a feel for things and begins to understand the working of a yacht at sea. Expect to pay around £450 it can be taken over three weekends or 5 days or 2 days then 3. I did the later. If you do go down this route I would suggest a different skipper to the first course. After this course I went out and brought a Leisure 17.

Competent Crew:
Suggested pre-course experience: None
Assumed Knowledge: none
Course content: Basic seamanship & helmsmanship & meteorology
Ability after course: Usefull crew member.

Day Skipper

I decided to do my Day Skipper in the Solent in November having done my Competent crew in the Thames Estuary. The forecast was bad throughout the course with gale-force winds and we all got very wet. The instructor was highly skilled but, completely lacked people skills and crew moral was very low with a lot of arguments. Expect to pay around £500 for the Day Skipper course minimum duration 5 days. This is the course to do if you want to charter and is recognised internationally. I would suggest to anyone who wants to do there Day Skipper to do it during bad weather that way it will help you prepare for the day you are out on your own in heavy seas.

Day Skipper:
Suggested pre-course experience: 5 days sea time 100 miles 4 night hours.
Assumed Knowledge:  Navigation to Day Skipper shore based and basic sailing ability.
Course content: Basic Pilotage and watch organisation.
Ability after course: Skipper a small yacht in familiar waters.

Coastal Skipper

I decided to do my Coastal Skipper in Gibraltar as I wanted to do it in dry and mild weather. It did not go to plan as it rained heavy and the weather was really bad most of the time. My cabin got wet I had to my new oil skins as I did not bring any and the ones from the school were not upto standard. I quickly learnt that in Gibraltar things are done very differently. I was shocked that the instructor did not wear a life jacket or expect the crew to. I always did when on passage I had been in the drink once and did not want to put myself at risk. I paid around £600 the flight were under £100 return.

Coastal Skipper
Suggested pre-course experience: 15 days sea time (two as skipper) 300 miles 8 night hours
Assumed Knowledge: Navigation to coastal skipper shorebased. Sailing to day skipper standard
Course content: Skippering techniques for & passage planning
Ability after course: Skipper a yacht on coastal passages by day & night

I have not done the following:

RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Coastal
Previous experience & minimum sea time: 30 days seatime, 2 days as skipper 800 miles 12 night hours
Form of exam: Practical
Certification required before examination: Restricted (VHF only) Radio Operator's Certificate, First Aid Certificate.
Minimum duration: 6 to 10 hours for one candidate 8 to 14 for two

RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Offshore
Previous experience & minimum sea time: 50 days seatime, 5 days as skipper 2500 miles 5 passages over 60M including 2 overnight and 2 as skipper.
Form of exam: Practical: Restricted (VHF only) Radio Operator's Certificate, First Aid Certificate.
Minimum duration: 8 to 12 hours for one candidate 10 to 18 for two.

 RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Ocean
Previous experience & minimum sea time: Ocean passage as skipper or mate of watch
Certification required before examination: RYA/MCA Yachtmaster offshore Certificate, Yachtmaster ocean shorebased course completion certificate
Minimum duration: Normally about 1 1/2 hours.


Does just being a Day Skipper or even a Yachtmaster really mean that you are a good sailor well it should have given you some practical experience it does not guarantee anything. I have know many sailors who are great skippers and do not hold any qualifications and have met some Yachtmasters who make very poor sailors.