rya yachtmaster course scotland

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Why choose BRITSAIL…?

• We don't charge for the use of our coastal sailing waterproofs (saving up to £25 per week).
• We don't expect the students to cover the cost of moorings and marinas during the week (saving £35-£45 per night between students). During a five-day course, we aim to use marinas for three nights and moorings for two nights so that you qualify having experienced both, with the choice of overnight stops being the student's decision, with some guidance from the instructor and a nudge from the weather!
• While you may choose to eat onshore during the week, we cater for eating on board every night rather than making an assumption and catering accordingly.
• We don't charge extra for fuel used during your time onboard.
• While we expect all students to treat our gear as if it were their own, accidents do happen, so we don't charge students for any accidental damage.
• The cost of running a course doesn't change significantly during the year, so we don't ramp up prices during the summer months just because we could charge more due to the higher demand.

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Day Skipper / ICC (Sail)

This 5 Day (Sun-Fri) or 3 Weekends Course (Fri-Suns) is for those needing to yacht charter or flotilla worldwide, in places like Croatia, Greece & elsewhere. Get the Internationally Accepted Photo I.D. Licence Card for chartering, insurance and the skills & CONFIDENCE to dock in tight marinas, sail safely, navigate, anchor, moor, deal with emergencies, set sails and ropes, obey the rules of the road, use electronic navigation & much more! No exams or tests - Our FOUR comfy, modern and larger sailing yachts run every week & weekend, and couples and friends can do different levels on the same boat. Full Board included. Watch Video > | Details Page >

• 5 Days or 3 x Weekends
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PowerBoat Level 2 / ICC

This 2 day course & Photo I.D Licence Card Certificate is the international standard driving licence for power and sportsboats. If you need to hire abroad or are buying your own boat you need this certificate and training. Get the skills & confidence in tight docking, mooring, navigation, anchoring, emergencies, sportsboat handling & more. Run on larger sportsboats by a team of Professional Instructors & PowerBoat Skippers every week & weekend. £229pp Everything included. Watch Video > | Details Page >

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More Users Videos of ScotSail RYA Sailing Courses in Scotland:

Choose to depart from our base in the 720 berth Largs Yacht Haven with its excellent facilities located only 40 minutes from both Glasgow and Prestwick International airports. For those of you wishing to venture further, you can choose to depart from a range of West Coast of Scotland locations.

RYA Sailing School - Learn to Sail in Scotland 1st ScotSail Training is one of Scotland's premier RYA sailing schools based at Largs and offers a full range of RYA Practical Sailing Courses in Scotland and RYA Theory Sailing Courses at Largs Yacht Haven, Scotland and Preston Marina Lancashire, England.   Practical Sailing Courses range from Start Yachting, Competent Crew & Day Skipper, through to Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster Offshore.   Our Theory courses are mainly VHF radio, Day Skipper Theory and Coastal / Yachtmaster theory run throughout the year.

Practical Sailing Courses let you sail to fantastic places whilst living onboard the yacht with other crew members sailing each day to different locations, our RYA Sailing Courses in Scotland allow you to visit wonderful places such as the Isle of Arran, East Loch Tarbert, Rothesay, Kyles of Bute and Milport. Simply put the choice is endless .   All our RYA Sailing Courses in Scotland are undertaken on our comfortable, spacious and modern training yachts equipped with the latest technology for learning in safety and unrivalled levels of comfort. Please visit www.ScotSail-Training.co.uk for details of all our courses, or continue to browse ScotSail.net!

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This is one of ScotSails most popular courses as it is a great way to get out on the water for a whole weekend getaway!

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ScotSail Weekend RYA Sailing Courses / Experiences:

During the course, you will be given the opportunity to practice your boat handling in a variety of marina and mooring situations, and whilst at sea will cover subjects such as watch keeping, deck work, sail trim and how to cope in emergency situations such as MOB (Man Over-board)

A skipper is responsible for the management of a yacht, so the course also includes basic engine checks, passage planning, preparing the yacht for sea, rules of the road and meteorology.

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The course is invaluable for those who want to learn how to start making decisions on board especially those beginners and crew who would like to become more actively involved in navigation. It is a comprehensive introduction to sailing for would-be skippers.

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How to become an RYA Yachtmaster Offshore in Scotland?

RYA Yachtmaster is the pinnacle of the RYA scheme and the certificate required by professionals. But what does it take to become an RYA yachtmaster in Scotland? This is a question that Daniel Smith, a Scottish RYA yachtmaster examiner based on the Clyde sets out to answer.

The Yachtmaster MCA recognised Certificate of Competence comes in 2 levels. Coastal and Offshore. Here we will be looking at the offshore level.

Firstly, let’s look at the pre-requisites that are required to present yourself for the exam. These can be found from the RYA but to summarise, you need 50 days at sea, 2500 nautical miles sailed, 5 passages over 60 nautical miles (2 that are overnight and 2 as skipper) and finally 5 days skippering. This amount of experience doesn’t come quickly so how is it achieved?

One way of achieving the above pre-requisites is through doing RYA courses . If a student were to do Competent crew , Day skipper , a and few weekends sailing they might end up with 1000 nautical miles. To achieve the rest a good way forwards is to charter a small yacht with others who have done a bit of sailing. Scotland, and the Clyde in particular is the perfect place for this. Often without an instructor onboard skippers need to really start taking on the responsibility of running the yacht and the learning doesn’t stop.

Now is a good opportunity for some theory. The Yachtmaster theory course is a 60 hour shorebased course teaching to the right level for Yachtaster offshore. At somepoint a VHF certificate and a first aid certificate need to be achieved also. These are both 1 day courses.

The next practical course that the skipper will be ready for is the Coast a l skipper course . This course looks at making longer coastal passages and being more confident sailing in the dark. On completion of this course chartering again will benefit the skipper, allow them to do some more interesting sails without an instructor and build yet more miles.

By this stage the student will be well on their way to becoming an RYA Yachtmaster. They are ready for the final push. Sailing InTuition offers the next block as a 3 week intensive block. The Intensive Yachtmaster Prep combines other courses to fully prepare the student for exam day. A Better sailing course improves the students sail trim and sailing manoeuvres. This is a weekend of local sailing within the Clyde with the focus being on sailing the boat efficiently and being slick when under sail.

The next block of the intensive Yachtmaster prep is a milebuilder . This is included for a number of reasons. One is to help those skippers who need a final push to get the mileage above 2500. Another is to help provide some of the five 60 mile passages that need to be completed. During the milebuilder these passages will be completed through the night and also if ready, the skippers will be given the opportunity to skipper these passages. The aim being by the end of this block the pre-requisites are completed.

The following weekend is spent Close quarter boat handling . Many Yachtmaster exams are failed in the marina with the stress of berthing causing the skipper to make mistakes. This weekend course builds confidence and ability so that they are berthing like a professional taking all the stress out of this element of the exam.

Now we are ready to add the final polish to the aspiring Yachtmaster. The next 5 days is spent with a Yachtmaster examiner. A Yachtmaster prep and mock exam course prepares the student for the exam and then runs them through an exam from beginning to end. Letting them know if they would have passed or failed if it were the real thing. This mock exam is very valuable and takes the mystery and some stress out of the final exam. At the end of this block comprehensive feedback will be given with areas to be addressed.

The final block allows 3 days for addressing any small issues remaining before the instructor steps off and the external RYA Yachtmaster examiner steps on. With all the hard work above this is the easy part of the journey, an opportunity to show the examiner breadth and depth of knowledge and acquired skill.

The journey to Yachtmaster will be different for everyone. Those who have done lots of sailing before will step on the ladder higher up and may be able to miss out a couple of steps. All courses above can be booked as individual courses so it is possible to make a tailored Yachmaster programme to suit any candidate. Email Daniel Smith for advice.

There are many places in the UK and across the world offering RYA courses and intensive Yachtmaster programmes and fast track schemes. The Scottish coastline is beautiful and the Clyde has it all from busy harbours, heavy commercial traffic, and complicated buoyage systems to remote anchorages. Scotland is the perfect place to become a Yachtmaster.

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RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor – All You Need To Know

What is the rya coastal skipper practical motor.

The goal of the RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor course is to teach the skills and techniques required to skipper a motor cruiser safely on coastal and offshore passages by day and night. 

If you have not already done your RYA Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster Offshore Theory, then you should do that first. You can find more information about our online course here; RYA Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster Offshore Theory .

Or if you look here if you are looking for an RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Sail .

What Does the RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor Allow You to Do?

You will gain practice in planning and skippering longer passages with a significant number of night hours where watch-keeping rotas become relevant. At the end of the course, a successful candidate would be awarded a course completion certificate.

An RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor course gives you the confidence to skipper a motor cruiser in unfamiliar waters, out of sight of land, both during the day and at night. It also gives credibility to the holder’s higher skill levels and will likely be looked at positively by insurance companies.

Occasionally, charter companies may ask for an RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor certificate for their larger sizes of vessels or for chartering in more complex waters.

Nobody will be ready to jump straight into a commercial RYA Coastal Skipper Motor exam on completion of an RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor course, but the skillsets taught will enable the student to continue building their knowledge and experience as they progress in their motor cruising career.

Who Can Do an RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor?

The RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor course is open to anyone who meets the basic minimum criteria.

• 17 years of age or older
• 15 days spent at sea
• 300nm at sea
• 8 night hours experienced on the water
• 2 days as skipper

If you have boating experience but not skippering experience, then you will want to take the RYA Day Skipper Practical Motor course. You can read more about that here.

Can You Go Straight to the RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor course?

You should aim to complete your RYA Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster Offshore Theory before attending your RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor course.

While this is not a beginner’s course, so long as you have the relevant experience and skippering skills as described above then you can indeed, go straight into RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor.

It should be noted however, that on the RYA Day Skipper Practical Motor course certain building blocks in your learning will have taken place and so if you do not have at least a few days of experience as a skipper of a small vessel then it is recommended that you start at the RYA Day Skipper Practical Motor to consolidate your knowledge of boat handling and skippering techniques.

How Long Does an RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor take?

The RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor is a minimum of a 5-day live-aboard course, however, some schools may choose to extend this.

Is There a Set Syllabus?

There is indeed a syllabus. Each of the following topics represents a specific part of the learnings that will be covered on an RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor course in varying levels of detail.

Passage planning, preparation for sea, pilotage, passage making, ability as skipper, handling under power, adverse weather conditions and emergency situations detail the various aspects of the syllabus.

Read on to learn in a little more detail about how each of these is covered in a little more detail.

What Might I Learn on an RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor Course?

The RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor course is one of the most rewarding courses within the RYA cruising scheme.

On this course, you will advance your cruising and navigational skills from those previously learned. The RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor will take your RYA Day Skipper Practical Motor skills to a higher level. With this, you will gain more independence in your skippering.

The highlight of the RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor course will see you take on a passage that involves some kind of watchkeeping, something you may not have been part of before, especially while also responsible for skippering and navigation. This passage will ideally be out of sight of land and include numerous hours both during the day and at night.

Inevitably, the passage will also cover more than one tidal period or window while also overlaying various weather forecast times. Covering these in a practical scenario, under the guidance of an experienced instructor will allow you to truly see and feel how much these will affect your passage and why we need to take careful consideration of them at all times.

Further passage planning and preparation to a coastal level will be covered, while pilotage will now be covered by night as well as day. 

Handling the vessel under power will not be forgotten about as you will be put through more advanced learnings both at sea and in close quarters. 

Finally, of course, during the week you will cover various emergency situations, including the recovery of a casualty and understanding how to handle adverse weather.

What Is the Cost of a Course?

As ever, many schools differ in price. We would recommend that you take a look around at the various options and find what suits your needs the best. Cheapest is not often better.

This can range from knowing if you will have to share a cabin while onboard to whether food and berthing charges are included to how many other students you will be sharing your week with.

Where Should I Do My RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor Course?

There are many thoughts on where is best, but to be truthful, it is what works for you best. 

One thought is to do it in an area that you wouldn’t normally cruise in, that way, you can gain learnings and experiences that are uncommon to you.

It is also important to know where you might be cruising. Ideally, you want to be cruising out of sight of land at some point on an extended passage that covers a number of night hours. You do not want to be returning to the same home port every night.

Check here for RYA practical schools.

What Is the Pass Mark for the Course?

There is no specific pass mark as such. The instructor’s aim is to introduce you to the skills, techniques and experiences of cruising out of sight of land, on a watch system and making landfall.

These may all be introductions to you in this area and as such, each student will find they are at a different level.

The instructor for your course will guide and personalise any learnings so as to improve your knowledge and skills as best as possible.

As long as you are willing to put the effort into learning these skills and have come with the relevant knowledge and experience then you should be confident in achieving the desired standard to be awarded the RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor course completion certification.

What Comes After RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Motor

This is the highest practical course within the RYA cruising scheme. Ideally, you want to go on and consolidate all your learnings and gain experience in a range of conditions, boats and passages.

As you venture out on your travels, be sure to study any special characteristics you will come across in new unfamiliar waters such as med moorings, unusual winds or IALA B.

Once you have consolidated your knowledge, you can start to think about aiming for your RYA Yachtmaster Coastal Motor or RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Motor.

Releated Posts

RYA Coastal Skipper Practical Sail – All You Need To Know

RYA Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster Theory – All The Information You Need

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Fastrack to Yachtmaster Offshore

Product code:, rya yachtmaster offshore fastrack course, join a fastrak training course.

FASTRAK is the original comprehensive, eighteen-week, professional seamanship training programme designed and run by the British Offshore Sailing School. With full Royal Yachting Association (RYA) recognition, it is run by a highly experienced team of yachting instructors, who have taught all over the world. BOSS runs three highly successful eighteen-week FASTRAK courses per year. With small group sizes, we can ensure that the highest possible standard of instruction is given to each individual.

Students selected for this intensive course can expect to receive quality training that is second to none. From day one you will be working towards the RYA/MCA Yachtmaster® Offshore qualification. During your time with BOSS you will spend over 90 days afloat, aboard a variety of yachts, learning good practical seamanship, constantly improving personal technical expertise and above all learning those vital skippering skills.

You will experience sailing yachts with both tiller and wheel steering, masthead and fractional rigs with hank on, luff groove and roller furling headsails, allowing you to gain a wide base of experience. 23 days of your course will be shore based, utilising our custom built classroom facilities at Hamble. Here, students will be shown the intricacies of navigation, meteorology, safety, electronics, use of Radar and the rules regarding avoidance of collisions at sea.

The BOSS FASTRAK course is aimed at both those who are committed to establishing a career in the marine industry and those looking for a career break. It is not just a series of RYA courses put together but a careful mixture of programme learning, technical instruction and the all important skipper experience building. Combine this with regular appraisals of your progress and you have a unique package designed specifically to make the most of your 18 weeks. The course includes;

• Skippering Experience
• Sea Survival
• RYA Small Craft First Aid
• Navigation Cruises
• Close quarters Boat Handling
• 60 Mile Skippered Passages
• RYA Coastal Skipper
• RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Coastal
• RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Offshore
• Skippering Skills
• 2,500 miles

And much more.... 

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RYA Start Yachting Course, Largs Scotland

The RYA Start Yachting course is designed to give a taste of sailing over two days and nights and requires no previous experience. The course is for beginners who are interested in sailing . Our experienced instructors will guide you through health and safety and make sure that you are comfortable. We can advise on clothing for the trip too.

You will live on board one of our yachts for the weekend, with up to four other crew members plus the instructor.  There will be a mixture of experience which means that there will be other crew members who can give you a helping hand. Cooking will be shared between the crew to add to the experience.

By the end of the weekend you will have learnt how to steer a course, handle the lines, tie knots - and, most importantly, find out if you have a natural talent or just love sailing!

If you are keen on sailing you may wish to use your weekend towards our competent crew course .

Course starts on a Friday at 18:30 departing from Largs Yacht Haven, Scotland.

Have any questions about our Start Yachting course?

Get in touch with our admin team on 01475789837 or  make your booking below!

Number of participants

We will start our cruise in the beautiful tourist port town of Cascais on the outskirts of Lisbon. We will visit Porto, we will stop at the marina right at the mouth of the Douro River, not far from the famous Port wine cellars, which we will visit. We end up in the Spanish port city of La Coruña, home to the world’s oldest lighthouse still in operation. Port & Paella, sun and sailing – a winning combination!

Discovery adventure sail full of interesting, exotic places. It’s not often that you visit four countries on two continents on one holiday! The sailing adventure is planned in such a way that there is time to wander the streets of the towns and cities visited. Each place is completely different, with a different atmosphere and a different culture. Sailing in the Gibraltar area is a powerful experience in itself due to the current, weather and heavy boat traffic – great for revising your col regs! Malaga is easily accessible by plane, as is Lisbon for all major airports.

Three days of ocean crossing to the island of eternal spring. We will sail from Arrecife, stopping at the beautiful and rustic Isla Graciosa, north of Lanzarote followed by Islas Selvagenas which is a Portuguese nature reserve comprising of several small islands about 130 miles northwest of Lanzarote. The next stop will be Porto Santo, a small neighbour of Madeira with a beautiful, almost empty golden beach of several miles. Once on Madeira we will visit some of the marinas in the south of the island and end up in Funchal, the capital of Madeira. The entire trip should be less than 400 miles. Informal coaching on the way, keeping your skills fresh in the winter months.

Jersey – Dublin – Largs

A brisk, action-packed cruise across the English Channel and the Irish Sea.

The area of Brittany and the Channel Islands has one of the largest tidal ranges in Europe, with very strong tidal currents. Yachting paradise and hell at the same time. Amazing sailing experience and good experience.

Who hasn’t sailed the Biscay, it’s as if he wasn’t even a yachtsman. The Bay of Biscay is called the weather kitchen for Europe. The weather here changes quite quickly and with stronger winds, bigger waves can form. That’s why we count on a 10-day cruise so that we can wait for the optimal moment to set sail. The cruise itself should take about 3 days. If there is time left, we will take some cruises along the coast of Brittany around Brest. Both La Coruña and Brest are harbor pearls of the Atlantic Ocean.

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• Certificates of Competence

RYA Yachtmaster Coastal Exam

Full details of the exam syllabus and requirements are shown in the RYA Yachtmaster Scheme and Logbook (G158) available from the RYA webshop.

RYA Yachtmaster Coastal practical exams can be taken under sail or power and your certificate will be endorsed accordingly. You or a training centre provide the boat and the RYA provides an examiner. Note: All qualifying sea time and passages must be gained on vessels appropriate to the type of exam i.e. gained in sailing vessels for a sail exam and power vessels for a power exam.

The exam will include an assessment of your skippering skills, boat handling, general seamanship, navigation, safety awareness and knowledge of the IRPCS (collision regulations), meteorology and signals. You will be set tasks to demonstrate your ability and may also be asked questions on any part of the syllabus for all practical and shorebased courses up to RYA Yachtmaster Coastal level.

RYA Yachtmaster Coastal exam pre-requisites

Boats used for exams.

You may use your own boat or a boat that you have chartered or borrowed. You will be responsible for ensuring the boat is seaworthy and suitable for the area in which the exam takes place and equipped as shown below.

The boat used must be between 7m and 18m LOA and be in sound, seaworthy condition, equipped to the standard set out in the RYA book Cruising Yacht Safety (code C8). The boat must be equipped with a full up to date set of charts and navigational publications and be efficiently crewed, as the examiner will not take part in the management of the boat during the exam.

Before you book your exam please check that you:

• can provide a boat (either your own or a training centre's boat)
• have completed the required mileage and experience as skipper
• hold an SRC (Short Range Certificate) or higher level GMDSS radio operators qualification
• hold a valid first aid certificate
• have read the syllabus in the RYA Logbook (code G158)
• have read and comply with the pre-requisites above.

Additionally if not on the boat, you will need to bring to the exam:

• laminated or waterproof charts
• GPS set (may be hand held)
• tide tables
• pilotage information for the local area, eg pilot books, port information etc
• plotting instruments.
• Photographic ID card or document, such as a passport or driving licence

If you need your Certificate of Competence in order to work on board a commercial craft subject the MCA's codes of practice, you will need to get it commercially endorsed .

Useful links

Arranging your exam, commercial endorsements, exam payments service, mca manning requirements, professional qualifications.