Yacht masters course

[utpdm]

So having qualified with an OOW Unlimited in December, I've been on a few vessels and the guys onboard have mentioned getting involved in the windfarm work.
Most places are asking for yacht masters as a minimum qualification for employment. How do i go about this and what are the costs and duration involved ? i've looked online and it seems a little bit complicated to navigate around (maybe due to my lack of sleep) Can you guys help me please.

Thank You

[ETwhat?]

The cost of the course will depend on how good a sailor you already are, but the general idea is that you can do the exam, which will b over a weekend unless your the only one,about ?150, a prep week which will get you used to the boat and then exam ?700, and then theres the learn to sail option depends on how bad you are.

i guess the reason they are looking for YM is that it will allow you up to 200 tons as a master, and thats probably fine for whatever workboats they are using. there are some minimum milages that you need to have aswell and that will need to be on yachts not ships.

i can add some info on what the exam looks like, (YM instructor) if no one gets here before me.

[utpdm]

Thanks, if you could give me a heads up on the exam that would be great. So the cost overall is probably under ?1000.
How would i build up these 'minimum mileages' (I saw it mentioned on one website) Is it sort of like you have to get the miles on the ship by being employed (sort of like shipping companies saying they won't employ you without deck experience, but how can you get experience if no one takes a chance on you)

[Ducki52]

There are training companies in Cowes, and almost certainly elsewhere who offer 'mileage builder' courses for just such a predicament. You could always take out a bare boat yacht charter and pootle around the Solent and south coast with your mates for the summer, maybe a few trips across the channel etc to get your miles up.

[gadget123]

The wind farm guys tend to want Yachtmaster (Power) as that is the minimum qualification which you can skipper their vessels with.
As you have OOW unlimited it might be worth talking to the companies directly as you may find that you do not actually need to do the yachtmaster exam.

[ETwhat?]

The wind farm guys tend to want Yachtmaster (Power) as that is the minimum qualification which you can skipper their vessels with.
As you have OOW unlimited it might be worth talking to the companies directly as you may find that you do not actually need to do the yachtmaster exam.

Sadly the OOW ticket is a watch keepers ticket the YM is a masters (but obviously for very different kinds of boats) but you cant be the master of anything with the OOW however you dont need very much to sit a master 200 or 500 Ton which might actually be an easier way to go about it. although i cant remember what the requirements are of the top of my head. also the RYA had the bright idea of changing the names around a few years ago, theres now three Yachtmaster levels, coastal, offshore and ocean, coastal limits you to 20 miles, offshore 150, for commercail work offshore would be the most common.

As gadget says your wanting a Power ticket rather than sail but you will still be expected to handle the thing in a slightly more refined manor than a lifeboat and thats probably your biggest issue, theres obviously nav stuff, and apart from the fact that its happening faster and in less detail thats kinda the same as are the rules of the road. Miles are an expensive thing to build and you will need two trips over 60 as skipper, the rest you can probably get from a big ship and some establishments may be sweet to you aswell (dont ask dont tell).

theres places like U Kant Sail Afterwards down in cowes who will certianly take your money and get you the ticket, but anywhere in the solent theres a huge number of schools, best thing is to talk to a school they will cover if they think you have the minimum requirements to go for the ticket after thats its probably a practice on the boat for a few days and go for the exam.

for some of the info

http://www.rya.org.uk/coursestraining/exams/Pages/Yachtmasteroffshore.aspx

[Sail tom]

You'll need powerboat miles I would think, I'm currently doing the yachtmaster Practical sail, its hard getting the miles. I was quite lucky having been yacht sailing since I was born so got a fair couple of thousand miles. Yacht deliveries are a good way to get free miles I have done a few with just paying a share of food. It's who you know and being in the right place at the right time.

[ETwhat?]

As a point all qualifying miles and passages must be within ten years, though i doubt that will be an issue Tom,

[Sail tom]

That's what made me start preparing for the practical this year. I started logging the miles when I was 12, 19 now so only Gita few years left!

[ETwhat?]

Its the one thing that a proper degree is good for long summers for sailing, but will get a week when i get ashore from this trip. really need a boat thats big enough to take the bike now, or a much lighter bike.

[Ducki52]

Its the one thing that a proper degree is good for long summers for sailing, but will get a week when i get ashore from this trip. really need a boat thats big enough to take the bike now, or a much lighter bike.

A bike with sails perhaps?

[ETwhat?]

that would make the engine rather unnecessary, so no i think i will just stick the keeping the toys separate for now

[utpdm]

Thanks guys, i'm busy looking through the internet and e-mailing companies and training centres looking at what i can do.

[YoungMariner]

As far as I'm aware, you'll receive certain exemptions on the Yacht Masters course. However, you would do well to contact the MCA and determine what the requirements are for obtaining a 200gt or 500gt Masters ticket. Probably not a lot.

[Lewis]

You can get an international certificate of competency with any deck officer ticket. Might save you time and money doing RYA courses

http://www.rya.org.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/cruising/Web%20Documents/Boating%20Abroad/ICC%20Form.pdf