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I had a yacht, a little experience of long solo passages, some technical knowledge, and a strong desire to sail offshore. Winter was the time to back it up with books.
In the RYA scheme, theory alternates with practice through these stages:
1. Essential Navigation prepares crew to work under someone else’s direction.
2. Day Skipper gives skippers the basic minimum. They shouldn’t venture more than twenty miles from shore or sail in more than force 5.
3. Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore requires prior sea time and supports the practical qualifications Coastal Skipper, commercial Yachtmaster Coastal and commercial Yachtmaster Offshore. It covers everything a skipper should know. Oddly, after looking through several IYT schools’ programmes — BlackSeaSchool, Yes Nautic and GoodStream — I couldn’t find mention of theory courses for their Coastal or Offshore qualifications.
4. Yachtmaster Ocean. The final stage, requiring YM Offshore. It covers celestial navigation, global currents and multi-day passage-making.
My question: where could I take a Coastal Skipper course and be sure of learning something new?
First, I visited the website of ForceSail and contacted its owner, Alexander Guskov. He presents his own theory course as based on the official RYA syllabus, but it carries no official certification.
Next, I wrote to Vladimir Semchenko, reputedly a gifted navigation teacher. Unfortunately, after Kabestan closed, he hadn’t joined another school and no longer taught. He suggested British Offshore Sailing School, BOSS, or Hamble School of Yachting.
BOSS offers online theory through NavAtHome. I thought: if it’s a popular platform recommended by British schools, why not explore the online-course market?
#training #rya
In the RYA scheme, theory alternates with practice through these stages:
1. Essential Navigation prepares crew to work under someone else’s direction.
2. Day Skipper gives skippers the basic minimum. They shouldn’t venture more than twenty miles from shore or sail in more than force 5.
3. Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore requires prior sea time and supports the practical qualifications Coastal Skipper, commercial Yachtmaster Coastal and commercial Yachtmaster Offshore. It covers everything a skipper should know. Oddly, after looking through several IYT schools’ programmes — BlackSeaSchool, Yes Nautic and GoodStream — I couldn’t find mention of theory courses for their Coastal or Offshore qualifications.
4. Yachtmaster Ocean. The final stage, requiring YM Offshore. It covers celestial navigation, global currents and multi-day passage-making.
My question: where could I take a Coastal Skipper course and be sure of learning something new?
First, I visited the website of ForceSail and contacted its owner, Alexander Guskov. He presents his own theory course as based on the official RYA syllabus, but it carries no official certification.
Next, I wrote to Vladimir Semchenko, reputedly a gifted navigation teacher. Unfortunately, after Kabestan closed, he hadn’t joined another school and no longer taught. He suggested British Offshore Sailing School, BOSS, or Hamble School of Yachting.
BOSS offers online theory through NavAtHome. I thought: if it’s a popular platform recommended by British schools, why not explore the online-course market?
#training #rya
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