In a time dominated by digital navigation tools and easily accessible walk-on pontoons, how challenging can the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore qualification be? Theo Stocker set out to discover the answer by preparing for the test.
Numerous highly skilled and experienced sailors operate successfully without holding any certifications and are perfectly fine with that, but not having a Yachtmaster bothered me for some reason. I was quite confident in my abilities, yet uncertain.
Obtaining the qualification earns you the title of RYA Yachtmaster, a goal I have aspired to for years. My friend Andrew and I have discussed pursuing this certification since before his son Daniel, who is now 16, came into the world. Maybe it was finally time to pursue our RYA Yachtmaster Offshore certification.
Every sailing course I’ve completed—ranging from RYA Dinghy Level 2 to Coastal Skipper (approximately 20 years ago)—has been what the RYA defines as a ‘course-completion’ qualification: finish the week and if you can perform the syllabus tasks, you earn the certification, validated by your training center.
Conversely, the RYA Yachtmaster Certificates of Competence (Coastal, Offshore, and Ocean) are managed by the RYA under the auspices of the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA), representing the highest level of training for leisure sailors and the foundation of commercial qualifications needed for anyone aspiring to work as a professional mariner. You must satisfy certain pre-requisites, but passing hinges solely on your performance during a demanding, day-long practical examination.
It has been 51 years since the RYA started evaluating Yachtmasters, assuming this role from the Board of Trade (now the MCA) in 1973, with Yachting Monthly having made a modest contribution to shaping some practical seamanship components of the examination.
Undoubtedly, much has transformed over the years—navigational technology, engines, deck equipment, marinas, and notably, the vessels themselves. I was keen to evaluate how the RYA Yachtmaster program has adapted over time and whether it, like many facets of sailing, has simply become easier, or if it retains its former rigor.
The crew (L-R): Matt Sillars, Andrew Eastham, Row Staples, and Theo Stocker.
What was I getting myself into?
From the beginning, the RYA emphasized that the Yachtmaster qualification is not a course you attend; it’s a one-day examination where an examiner will form an impartial assessment of your skills and then recommend you to the RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Qualification Panel for certification or not.
Technically, no prior instruction is necessary before the examination, and theoretical preparation is optional. However, taking the exam represents a considerable investment of time and finances without confidence in passing, and you will undoubtedly require theoretical acumen equivalent to the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore shore-based course, complemented by practical experience and competencies that align to improve your chances of success.
Thus, it is highly advised that you engage in several days of preparatory practice, preferably right before the examination, on the same boat and with the same crew to ensure you are in peak form. You don’t want to be familiarizing yourself with the nuances of a boat or crew while attempting to project calm and knowledgeable competence.
A hearty meal every evening, along with the occasional beer, sustains the crew.
Numerous sailing schools offer Yachtmaster preparation courses, typically five days long for four candidates, concluding with two days of examinations since only two candidates can be assessed within a 24-hour period. The test itself lasts between 8-12 hours for one candidate and 10-18 hours for two. No more than four candidates can undergo the evaluation simultaneously, as the days are long for both candidates and examiners alike.
It was also made clear that while we had four days to prepare, this was not a class where we would be taught everything necessary; these skills should have already been developed through our years of sailing experience. The week’s goal was to review the entire Yachtmaster syllabus, stripping away any pretenses to uncover our weaknesses and bad habits.
While we expected to refine our rough edges, if we were learning new skills for the first time, it likely indicated that we weren’t quite ready for the exam yet. No pressure!
Insights from Yachtmaster Offshore instructor Matt Sillars
This week is not designed for learning to be a Yachtmaster Offshore. You must have already completed 90% of the groundwork before this. The preparation days focus on validating skills and identifying areas for improvement rather than teaching new techniques. Additionally, it’s remarkably difficult to feign experience; an examiner will quickly detect someone overinflating their competencies.
Matt assists Theo and Andrew with some last-minute revision on tidal corrections.
Getting ready for the Yachtmaster Offshore
As I readied myself for the week, I realized I had significantly ‘lost touch’ with detailed knowledge of the Collision Regulations, particularly concerning lights, shapes, sounds, and buoyage light characteristics.
You will need a solid working familiarity not only with the most common regulations but the entirety of them, including some of the more obscure sections of the rule book. Professional mariners are expected to know every regulation verbatim; Yachtmasters must get at least 80% of the lights and shapes correct and effectively demonstrate their comprehension to pass.
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The lights exhibited by trawlers deploying gear, as well as those on towed vessels of various configurations and sizes, along with the sound signals from vessels in all kinds of situations, were, at best, a bit hazy for me.
It’s easy to think these specifics are seldom encountered in routine coastal sailing, leading one to consider them irrelevant, but the purpose of the Yachtmaster certification is to enable you to navigate the sea not just as an amateur, but at a professional level.
In fact, with a commercial endorsement on your RYA Yachtmaster, you could readily join the ranks of professional mariners should you ever wish for a job transition. Knowing the regulations also reduces the likelihood of appearing before an inquiry. Although the details can be finicky, they are not beyond learning.
While everyone recognizes the motoring cone, do you actually use it? And what about the other shapes?
Expert opinion from Yachtmaster Offshore instructor Matt Sillars
The Collision Regulations are something you must know; it would be really unfortunate to fail your Yachtmaster because you overlooked reviewing them beforehand. Many examiners often use packs of flashcards to quiz your knowledge of lights, shapes, buoyage, and collision avoidance during quiet moments on exam day. It’s not meant to feel like an interrogation, but if you miss more than two out of ten, the examiner won’t be able to certify you.
A helpful tip regarding sound signals is to avoid being overwhelmed by all the extra sounds associated with basic signals; a few distinct meanings need to be retained, which can later be combined but are simpler to separate into individual components to decipher their meanings.
A safety brief should be tailored to your crew’s experience level and familiarity with your vessel.
Yachtmaster Offshore training
The week’s forecast was excellent. Typically, the only day without sunshine and a steady breeze was when we had the photographer onboard. The rest of the week featured sufficient wind for us to engage with – nothing compares to attempting to sail onto a mooring with no wind, and a strong breeze often complicates marina maneuvering.
The objective for day one was to cover all skills that would be assessed in the exam to allow Matt to gauge Andrew and my current capabilities. After stowing food and equipment, our day commenced with standard safety briefings, engine inspections, and discussions about firefighting protocols.
Safety briefings
A competent skipper always ensures their crew receives a safety briefing. If you regularly sail with the same crew, it’s unnecessary to deliver the same briefing each time; however, a periodic reminder of the key points is advisable as details can easily fade. For us, the safety briefing ensured our onboard crew were aware of the equipment on a previously unfamiliar vessel.
Keep tethers and the first-aid kit in an easily accessible location.
For a crew of novices, we would include instructions on using a fire extinguisher and donning life jackets; however, for seasoned sailors, merely indicating where safety equipment is located suffices. Critical items like tethers, firefighting gear, seacocks, and wooden bungs, along with details on how the distress and man overboard functions operate on this particular boat’s chartplotter and VHF radio, are all relevant.
On deck, being aware of the locations of the man overboard (MOB) recovery equipment, the engine fire extinguisher, and the liferaft is crucial.
Engines
I’ve performed engine checks for many years, and it’s easy to become familiar with your engine at a fundamental level. Various acronyms exist to aid in remembering what to check; however, recent advice emphasizes including one critical step in engine inspections: isolating the engine prior to opening its casing.
You may already be doing this, but if not, there’s a risk that amid the usual hustle of preparing to sail, someone on deck might start the engine while you’re working near the drive belt. Turning off the isolator prevents this from occurring until you’re finished.
The acronym I found most useful was: IWOBBLE: Isolate; Water (strainer); Oil (level and color, engine and transmission); Belt (wear and tension); Bilges (clear); Leaks (no oil or fuel spills); Exhaust (clean, and check for water flow once the engine has started).
Every vessel is unique, including their MOB marking systems.
It’s important to ensure that any experienced sailors on your boat know how to perform some of these checks so that you, as the skipper, aren’t the only one stuck in the engine bay trying to troubleshoot if the engine fails as you approach the harbor.
Marking relevant fittings with bright paint can help guide you toward the appropriate nuts to adjust for each task.
Insights from Yachtmaster Offshore instructor Matt Sillars
During the exam, you may not need to bleed the engine, but you will need to verbally explain how you would manage various engine emergencies, including fires, fuel shortages, overheating, and propeller entanglements. Thus, familiarize yourself with the fuel, water, and cooling systems on your boat so you can accurately point to the necessary components.
Marina maneuvers often fill cruising sailors with trepidation.
Yachtmaster Offshore marina maneuvers
Once the boat and crew were prepared, we tackled our first instance of ‘pontoon bashing.’ Operating a boat you are unfamiliar with in the tight confines of a windy and tidal marina is always a bit nerve-wracking, making this a useful evaluation tool for the instructor to quickly assess your confidence and skills.
As someone who generally maintains a boat on a mooring and anchors whenever possible, complex marina berths are less familiar to me, implying that I needed to focus more on honing this skill.
‘Parking’ can appear rather dull to an outside observer, but the rows of costly vessels, daunting bow rollers, and anchors create a scenario that truly sharpens your focus. Additionally, it forces you to attempt berths that, while sailing normally, you might aim to avoid but could have to use in a cramped marina setting.
Assess prop kick while alongside, then experiment with the boat’s response in open water.
Gaining your bearings
Initially, we verified the accuracy of the depth sounder using a lead line, ascertaining whether it was calibrated to depth below the keel or the waterline—an essential piece of information. While alongside, we put the engine into reverse to observe where the prop wash came out. The stern will swing towards the opposite side when reversing.
We also assessed the boat’s pivot point when moving forward and backward, as well as determining the time required to regain steerage in either forward or reverse. These assessments can be conducted in open water.
Evaluating the wind and tide is crucial before embarking on any maneuver, considering how these elements will affect the berth itself rather than just outside the marina entrance. At Mercury Yacht Harbour, during strong tidal currents, you might encounter a troublesome diagonal cross-current within the berth, causing some boat owners to avoid entering or leaving except at slack tide.
Allowing the vessel to come to rest aids in assessing its natural position.
Approaching a finger berth can be easier if it’s positioned outside your turn.
Challenging berths
Next, we tackled a variety of different berths with increasing difficulty—coming alongside an exposed hammerhead was straightforward, while slotting between two already-parked boats required a bit more strategy.
Exiting a large bay filled with multiple moored vessels adds a layer of complexity. In this scenario, with a strong westerly wind and an ebbing tide, I figured it would be simpler to perform the complete maneuver in reverse rather than switching direction and losing steerage halfway through.
Always consider how you’ll exit the berth, how other boats will align, and whether you want sunlight or wind in the cockpit and companionway.
Communicate clearly to your crew about which lines should be released first before commencing the maneuver, and continue to keep them updated throughout.
Entering finger berths was straightforward for ‘open’ spots on the near side of the pontoon, allowing the vessel’s momentum to guide it into the berth. Conversely, ‘closed’ berths on the far side were trickier, often requiring an initial pass by the berth before turning or reversing.
Changing your desired orientation in the berth may mean beginning the entire approach in reverse rather than forward. Be prepared for this to become a spectator attraction as onlookers eagerly await a mishap, much like Romans in the Colosseum.
Advice from Yachtmaster Offshore instructor Matt Sillars
Understanding the tide and wind’s effects on your vessel is fundamental to marina maneuvering. You also need to anticipate the direction your boat will “want” to go in any situation, using this knowledge to your advantage—consider stern kicks, sliding, and pivot points.
While it’s easy to concentrate on bow and stern springs, utilizing a midships line can be incredibly beneficial. By driving into it forward while steering away from the pontoon, you can draw the bow inward, maintaining the boat parallel.
Drive against a stern line to hold the vessel alongside.
Also, consider the ‘favored’ side whenever entering a marina row. Depending on the current conditions, you will be pushed to one side or another, so you want to remain on the upwind or upstream side to preserve your options and keep your vessel clear of the bow rollers positioned downwind.
A ball fender can prove particularly useful, as it won’t roll away like a sausage fender and features more elasticity. Secure it to the primary load point before executing a maneuver.
Lastly, don’t forget to have an exit strategy should the approach not go as anticipated so you can retreat and try once more.
It’s not cheating to have pre-calculated tidal heights for your sailing day (the beer is optional, but can be a nice touch).
Yachtmaster Offshore navigation
Successfully navigating a boat from point A to point B safely and efficiently has always been at the heart of the RYA Yachtmaster qualification, just as it was upon its inception. Nonetheless, the navigational tools available have experienced a remarkable evolution since 1973, and particularly over the past ten years.
GNSS, chartplotters, AIS, smartphones, and internet access have led to a revolution in navigation. Many sailors have nearly abandoned paper charts, leading some to question whether the traditional navigational skills taught within the Yachtmaster program have become obsolete.
Planning
On our first evening, Matt assigned us homework; Andrew would guide us from Hamble to the Beaulieu River, and I would return us. This wasn’t particularly challenging, as I’ve frequently made that trip with minimal planning. Nevertheless, that’s not the core of the lesson; should these waters be unfamiliar, I would need to navigate much more meticulously and actively, so this short journey was meant to test our pilotage and passage-planning skills.
An extensive list of preparations was in order for each day leading up to the exam.
Certainly not cheating
Utilizing electronic and internet-based sources of information wasn’t just permissible but welcomed and encouraged for this task; however, we also needed to demonstrate mastery of traditional methods for calculating tidal heights, tidal streams, and courses to steer at secondary ports.
While smartphone chartplotters may have liberated us from the old stereotype of a skipper fluctuating between deck and chart table like a rabbit, it is equally easy to get trapped staring blankly at our phones, mindlessly tracing a triangle across the screen, nearly oblivious to our actual position in relation to the physical world.
The key is being able to utilize every navigational resource available to interpret your surroundings and cross-check that information against various data sources.
Taking time to input your passage plan into the plotter and ensuring it is set up to provide necessary information is crucial.
It felt akin to cheating to retrieve tidal heights on my phone; however, I discovered that the planning phase became almost busier as a result. Various online data sources can yield differing information from unknown origins, so never assume that what a screen displays is accurate. For instance, Navionics and Admiralty EasyTides can differ by as much as an hour at times.
Additionally, it’s tempting to let a machine calculate your route and suggest a path that seems reasonable on the screen but may not function effectively in reality. The machine won’t accommodate the need for distance from a shallow lee shore and won’t be concerned if the waypoints you choose are visually discernible from the deck. A single, extended course with a prominent headland will be much easier for the helm to follow than numerous short, ‘artificial’ courses. Figuring out secondary port calculations caused both Andrew and me plenty of stress as we dredged them from our long-term memory, making interpolation errors surprisingly easy to commit under pressure.
The Advantages of Paper
Inputting our plans into the chart plotter requires time—not just because of the actions required to locate all functions within the plotter’s menus but also due to the fundamental principles involved. Most plotters still do not excel at planning, making paper charts faster and simpler for obtaining an overview of navigable waters. To date, I have yet to discover a way to accurately determine a course to steer using a chartplotter, even for a single hour, let alone for a longer voyage.
While a chartplotter or phone on deck is immensely helpful for tracking your position during pilotage, it’s not the easiest method for presenting the vital information you require at your fingertips. A notebook with pre-arranged details about anticipated tidal heights, alongside sketches of buoys, lights, courses, radio communications, and other pertinent data, remains the most effective format.
A sketch chart conveys a significant amount of information quickly.
Execution
In many respects, the role of a navigator on a small vessel has become more challenging than easier; there are now so many tools available for use. Not only do you need to be able to read a chart and plot your position, but you must also effectively navigate through various phone applications, plotter interfaces, and glean the right information from your radar and AIS systems.
It’s easy to become distracted from the main task at hand, which remains to keep your awareness broad and engaged with your surroundings, especially as reliance on switching from one screen to another can narrow your focus.
After departing from Beaulieu, I quickly confirmed via my phone that while the indicated tide height on Navionics was not significant, the Bramblemet tide gauge was displaying an additional 30cm of water. We would have enough depth to navigate safely.
A competent crew will maintain an accurate course and provide essential information as you go.
I’d plotted a direct course yet utilized the cross-track error function on the plotter to keep us to the starboard of our course, enhancing our distance from windward, clear of Stansore Point and Calshot Sands. I also tried to set waypoints near easily identifiable landmarks, even if this elongated our route slightly.
Knowing we could optimize our approach through Navionics upon getting closer, I realized in the end that while asked to determine a visual fix, the objects I chose for a three-point fix weren’t marked on the chart, and I had neglected to return and establish an accurate one.
Practicing with just one of these tools builds familiarity with its functions and usability.
Blind navigation
There is nothing quite like losing one sense to enhance your reliance on another. While the traditional ‘blind navigation’ drills recognized and cherished by sailing instructors are less ‘blind’ than they once were, they remain as challenging as ever. They are the optimal opportunity to develop proficiency in navigation techniques that one might typically avoid, if possible.
Over the course of four days, we engaged in various exercises within a relatively small area at the base of Southampton Water, pinpointing arbitrary spots indicated by Matt. He selected locations on the chart and directed us to navigate consecutively from one to another, circle a third, and come to a stop at the last.
Even possessing all onboard tools, this effectively simulates finding your way into unknown narrow channels or rocky harbor entries. We experimented with the chartplotter’s route functions, used radar exclusively, and relied solely on visual pilotage.
The challenge heightened when we needed to verify one navigation method against the other, necessitating the coordination of various systems in rapid succession—information overload and unfamiliarity with radar, plotters, or phone applications posed potential distractions at crucial moments.
Utilizing VRM/EBL from a recognized radar target to maintain a course toward an unmarked location.
How do you ensure that you remain precisely aligned between two theoretical points while utilizing radar alone? It turns out that this is possible using the VRM/EBL function (Variable Range Marker/Electronic Bearing Line); this approach involves measuring the distance to the imaginary target from a known, identifiable point on the radar display, then positioning the VRM/EBL center to this point, recording the bearing and distance from this location to your current position, before reverting the center back onto your recognized radar contact.
Simply steer to keep the object gliding along the EBL, and once it intersects with the VRM, you’ve arrived. Knowing the buttons to press to accomplish this on your radar is a separate challenge altogether and caused us considerable frustrations.
Expert insights from Yachtmaster Offshore instructor Matt Sillars
Electronics should not be considered cheating. You have to understand how to use them and discern which information you can rely upon and what requires verification through other sources. Navigation has not fundamentally changed; you still must rely on multiple sources of position data to reliably ascertain your location and the necessary course to follow.
Instead of employing three bearing lines, your position might be evidenced by a GPS fix, radar range, depth, and a transit point; trusting a single source of information alone to determine your location has never been deemed competent seamanship.
Next month—Find out how Theo and Andrew fared during the remainder of their preparation week and whether they successfully passed their Yachtmaster Offshore examination at its conclusion…
Special thanks to the Hamble School of Yachting for providing their Sun Odyssey 37 for use. The Hamble School of Yachting offers a variety of sailing courses, charters, and adventures, ranging from Competent Crew to professional MCA qualifications.
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