RYA Practicals/Certification Yachtmaster vs Coastal Skipper

[unlimited]

Hi all,


I have an upcoming opportunity to go to the UK for a work trip and am thinking of tagging on a "holiday" to go thru an RYA practical course and obtain a certification. I am not sure which practical or certification would be best for my objective so I am asking for some thoughts:


Objective
Obtain practical experience and a certification that would allow me to:

• Reduce insurance costs (future boat may be registered outside of US. Target value $60k-$180k USD)
• Charter boats in Caribbean/EU/Asia (altho I don't plan on chartering; I plan on buying in ~5 years)
• I don't plan on sailing commercially, altho it would be nice if the cert can double (or be easily upgraded) so that I can run a little charter operation or be delivery crew for 60+ ft monos/cats (partial retirement/supplemental income plan)

Experience

• Crew for Atlantic crossing on a 42' mono. 1960nm. 13 days.
• Delivery crew for 43' mono. 536nm (Washington DC to Connecticut through C&D Canal & NJ Coast). 8 days. Tidal waters.
• Recreational crew for 30' cat. 200nm (St. Lucia to St. Vincent over 2 weeks).
• Day sailing on 40' mono in Chesapeake Bay.
• Not much experience in the "technicalities" of cruising like being able to read GRIB files, handling VHF. I have been exposed to calculating tides and know how to use a chartplotter, etc.

I see on sailing schools like https://www.boss-sail.co.uk/ there are RYA Coastal Skipper (Practical) & RYA Yachtmaster Coastal courses. Both require 2 days as a skipper though - does taking over the helm count? (like taking over the helm thru C&D Canal while everyone sleeps) Please give me some thoughts as to which course/cert/etc you think would be best!


Many thanks!

[s/v Moondancer]

I took the Yachtmaster and Yachtmaster Ocean courses and exams at BOSS, they are a very good outfit.

The Solent is a good place to take the courses, tidal with lots of boat traffic and aids to navigation.

Your sea time is probably sufficient to take the Coastal Skipper exam but there is no audit system so nobody will check what you claim. Your Atlantic crossing will be far more than anybody else's experience on the course.

[unlimited]

Your Atlantic crossing will be far more than anybody else's experience on the course.

It was indeed a good experience but I'm not sure how much it'd contribute to the overall exam/course? We were sea sick for 80% of the time (and our only head broke, roller furling line broke, etc). Didn't learn much about weather planning since we just followed PredictWind.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by unlimited

It was indeed a good experience but I'm not sure how much it'd contribute to the overall exam/course? We were sea sick for 80% of the time (and our only head broke, roller furling line broke, etc). Didn't learn much about weather planning since we just followed PredictWind.

You should be fine if you take the Coastal Skipper course for everything except the running a charter business for which you'd need a Commercial Endorsement on top no matter which of the courses you take from Coastal to Ocean..
For crewing a Day Skipper would be perfectly adequate and also for your own boat anywhere.. Insurance across Oceans is getting harder to get every year with more and more conditions/restrictions every year.
A Coastal Skipper gives you a ticket for boats up to 65ft and 80gt..
You can do the Theory for C/S online.
As for weather planning.. get a good book on weather systems and learn to recognise cloud formations and what they mean.. realistically one can only plan for 48 to 72hrs ahead anyway.

[Sailer_Med]

I found the RYA courses to be valuable. I took Coastal Skipper, the practical is the same as Yacht Master Coastal and Ocean, the entry experience requirements do differ though.

The practical instruction is 5 days on the boat with an instructor and some other students. For Coastal Skipper there is no comprehensive test on the boat the instructor issues you a pass/fail. For Yachtmaster there is a 48 hour (continuous) comprehensive practical exam by a RYA examiner on the boat.

The theory courses are the same for all Coastal Skipper and YM.

[Uricanejack]

According to RYA website.
Options are now.
Competent crew,
DaySkipper.
Yachtmaster Coastal.
Yachtmaster Offshore.
Yachtmaster Ocean.

If you have the mileage a pre course study why not go for the Yachtmaster Offshore.

It will probably be an interesting enjoyable week sailing either way. The difference will depend on how much prep you are interested in doing ahead of time.
There are multiple providers of the shore study programs, by book, on line or in a classroom.
Showing up without a shore prep course is theoretically ok. If you have a lot of experience and already know everything.

If you have a desire to sail in a commercial capacity, being American you will require an American certification, 6 pack ect. Even so knowledge gained will still be helpful.

[ChrisJHC]

Originally Posted by unlimited

Hi all,


I have an upcoming opportunity to go to the UK for a work trip and am thinking of tagging on a "holiday" to go thru an RYA practical course and obtain a certification. I am not sure which practical or certification would be best for my objective so I am asking for some thoughts:


Objective
Obtain practical experience and a certification that would allow me to:

• Reduce insurance costs (future boat may be registered outside of US. Target value $60k-$180k USD)
• Charter boats in Caribbean/EU/Asia (altho I don't plan on chartering; I plan on buying in ~5 years)
• I don't plan on sailing commercially, altho it would be nice if the cert can double (or be easily upgraded) so that I can run a little charter operation or be delivery crew for 60+ ft monos/cats (partial retirement/supplemental income plan)

Experience

• Crew for Atlantic crossing on a 42' mono. 1960nm. 13 days.
• Delivery crew for 43' mono. 536nm (Washington DC to Connecticut through C&D Canal & NJ Coast). 8 days. Tidal waters.
• Recreational crew for 30' cat. 200nm (St. Lucia to St. Vincent over 2 weeks).
• Day sailing on 40' mono in Chesapeake Bay.
• Not much experience in the "technicalities" of cruising like being able to read GRIB files, handling VHF. I have been exposed to calculating tides and know how to use a chartplotter, etc.

I see on sailing schools like https://www.boss-sail.co.uk/ there are RYA Coastal Skipper (Practical) & RYA Yachtmaster Coastal courses. Both require 2 days as a skipper though - does taking over the helm count? (like taking over the helm thru C&D Canal while everyone sleeps) Please give me some thoughts as to which course/cert/etc you think would be best!


Many thanks!

A commercial endorsement only applies to Yachtmaster Offshore or Ocean. You also need to pass a medical check, have a current first aid certificate and meet some other requirements.
Looking at your CV, I suggest that you’re not yet ready for Yachtmaster Offshore.
This is based on your statements around never actually being a skipper (and no, helming doesn’t count!), rarely/never used a VHF, “being exposed” to calculating tides, etc
All of those should be second nature for a Yachtmaster Offshore.

I would suggest Day Skipper or Coastal Skipper.
Either of those will allow you to get an ICC which is required for chartering in many countries.

[unlimited]

Originally Posted by ChrisJHC

A commercial endorsement only applies to Yachtmaster Offshore or Ocean. You also need to pass a medical check, have a current first aid certificate and meet some other requirements.
Looking at your CV, I suggest that you’re not yet ready for Yachtmaster Offshore.
This is based on your statements around never actually being a skipper (and no, helming doesn’t count!), rarely/never used a VHF, “being exposed” to calculating tides, etc
All of those should be second nature for a Yachtmaster Offshore.

I would suggest Day Skipper or Coastal Skipper.
Either of those will allow you to get an ICC which is required for chartering in many countries.

Thanks ChrisJHC. According to RYA, the following can receive a commercial endorsement:

• RYA Day Skipper practical course completion certificate supported by a Day Skipper shorebased course completion certificate. The Day Skipper shorebased course may be undertaken online or in the classroom. In either case, the exams must be invigilated.
• RYA Yachtmaster Coastal/Offshore/Ocean COC

It's rather interesting that the "RYA Coastal Skipper practical" is not listed as an option to be commercially endorsed, yet the RYA Day Skipper practical is...I wonder why.

[Pete7]

The Day Skipper cert would fit a cat 4 commercial vessel, so daylight hours only and 20 miles offshore etc. My rib was coded to level 4 and I did some part time commercial work with it when not diving. However, I had my advanced power boat ticket commercially endorsed rather than my DS or CS tickets.

The CS practical is a course rather than formal assessment. Assessment is similar to the RYA YM but requires less experience and a shorter assessment. Presumably if the CS assessment is passed then its this that is endorsed, rather than just the practical certificate.

Pete