RYA Yachtmaster (Offshore) Practical Exam
Course length
1 weekend
Pre-requisite experience
As for Yachtmaster (Offshore) Practical Exam Preparation course.
Exam overview
The examiner will set tasks to enable you to demonstrate your ability as skipper and may also ask questions on any part of the syllabus for all practical and shore based courses up to Yachtmaster Offshore.
The course reviews all aspects of the RYA syllabus, with particular emphasis on command skills, boat handling under sail and power in confined spaces, plus navigation and pilotage techniques in daylight, at night and in reduced visibility. Adverse weather conditions and coping with emergencies are also covered.
A Yachtmaster Practical exam preparation course is also available.
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RYA Yachtmaster (Offshore) Exam course syllabus
International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea
- General rules
- Steering and sailing rules
- Lights and shapes
- Sound and light signals
- Signals for vessels fishing in close proximity
- Distress signals
Safety
- Safety harnesses
- Lifejackets
- Distress flares
- Fire prevention and fighting
- Liferafts
- Knowledge of rescue procedures
- Helicopter rescue
Boat Handling
- Coming to and weighing anchor under power or sail in various conditions of wind and tide
- All berthing and unberthing situations in various conditions of wind and tide
- Recovery of man overboard
- Towing under open sea conditions and in confined areas
- Boat handling in confined areas under sail
- Boat handling in heavy weather
- Helmsmanship and sail trim to sail to best advantage
- Use of warps for securing in an alongside berth and for shifting berth or winding
General Seamanship, including maintenance
- Properties, use and care of synthetic fibre ropes
- Knots
- General deckwork at sea and in harbour
- Engine operations and routine checks
- Improvisation of jury rigs following gear failure
Responsibilities of skipper
- Can skipper a yacht and manage the crew
- Communication with the crew
- Delegation of responsibility and watch-keeping organisation
- Preparing yacht for sea and for adverse weather conditions
- Tactics for heavy weather and restricted visability
- Emergency and distress situations
- Victualling for a cruise and feeding at sea
- Customs procedures
- Standards of behaviour and courtesy
Navigation
- Charts, navigational publications and sources of navigational information
- Chartwork including position fixing and shaping course to allow for tidal stream and leeway
- Tide and tidal stream calculations
- Bouyage and visual aids to navigation
- Instruments including compasses, logs, echo sounders, radio navaids and chartwork instruments
- Passage planning and navigational tactics
- Pilotage techniques
- Navigational records
- Limits of navigational accuracy and margins of safety
- Lee shore dangers
- Use of electronic navigational aids for passage planning and passage navigation
- Use of waypoints and electronic routeing
Meteorology
- Definition of terms
- Sources of weather forecasts
- Weather systems and local weather effects
- Interpretation of weather forecasts, barometer trends and visable phenomena
- Ability to make passage planning decisions based on forecast information
Signals
- Candidates for Yachtmaster Offshore and Coastal Skipper must hold the restricted (VHF only) Certificate of Competence in radiotelephony or a higher grade of certificate in radiotelephony
