Requirements for Yachtmaster Coastal & Offshore Exams

There is often some confusion with regards to the requirements for the RYA Yachtmaster Exams and so please see our guide below. If you still have any doubts or need any further assistance please do not hesitate to Contact us

Sea time requirements for the Yachtmaster Offshore exam

To be able to take the RYA Yachtmaster offshore exam you are required to have, as a minimum, the following experience, all completed within the last 10 years. All sea time must be on vessels of the same discipline as the exam to be taken, i.e. sail or power.

1. 50 days at sea on yachts up to 500GT and a minimum of 2,500 miles logged before you sit the exam. At least half the sea time must be in tidal waters.
2. During this time you would have completed five passages of over 60 miles**. Two of these passages would have been at night and two acting as skipper.
3. Five days experience as skipper on vessels less than 24m LOA.
4. Short-range radio certificate (VHF), or equivalent.
5. A valid first aid certificate.
6. You must be at least 18 years old at the time of the exam.

** All 5 qualifying passages must have been on a vessel between 7 and 24m in length.

See: Information on qualifying passages

Sea time requirements for the Yachtmaster Coastal exam

To be able to take the RYA Yachtmaster offshore exam you are required to have, as a minimum, the following experience, all completed within the last 10 years. All sea time must be on vessels of the same discipline as the exam to be taken, i.e. sail or power.

1. 30 days at sea on a vessel less than 24m in length, and a minimum of 800 miles logged before you sit the exam. At least half the sea time must be in tidal waters.
2. Two-days as skipper, on a vessel less than 24m in length.
3. 12 night hours.
4. Short-range radio certificate (VHF), or equivalent.
5. A valid First Aid certificate.
6. You must be at least 17 years old at the time of the exam.

If you hold the Coastal Skipper course completion certificate, then the miles required for Yachtmaster Coastal reduce to 400.

What if all my sea time has been on Superyachts over 24m in length?

The RYA has agreed that 50% (1,250) of the qualifying sea time gained on a vessel over 24m up to 3000gt can be used towards the 2,500 miles required for the Yachtmaster Offshore exam.

You will need to provide a testimonial or Discharge book confirming 1,250 sea miles.

The RYA ask to be contacted if the vessel is over 500gt to ensure it was a yacht that wasn’t breaking the law and also to avoid people on merchant ships claiming the mileage

You do still have to provide evidence of status on board by way of testimonial or discharge book. You do still need to provide a breakdown of the actual miles during that period of time from the testimonial

The other 50% of the qualifying sea time must have been completed on vessels between 7 and 24 meters in length. Some Superyachts have large tenders and chase boats, in this case, any miles gained at the helm goes some way to 1,250 sea miles.

Tenders/chase boats:

Most tenders are not accepted even the larger ones from the super yachts. It must be classified as a cruising vessel – A cruising vessel needs to have inboard diesel engines (preferably 2), a galley, heads, salon area, chart table be more than 7 meters and less the 18 meters loa. A vessel you can go cruising on, so a family can go off for a week or more and live on the boat.

Tidal Miles – What areas qualify as “tidal”

“An area is deemed tidal if published stream, current or tidal range data is available, the influence of which is significant enough to require the effects to be taken into account to plan and execute a safe and efficient passage.” Note tidal stream not tidal height.

If there were published significant tidal streams or currents for your passages, that you consulted, and had to allow for when shaping your course to sail efficiently on you passage, then this could be tidal. This for instance would involve typically some form of course to steer in order to offset your intended course. This data would need to have been recorded in your passage plan.

**Please note if you have already completed these passages and do not have this data now, having already completed the passage, it would suggest that you have not taken into account the effects of published currents or streams.

If when shaping their course there was no data or the published stream or current was so insignificant that their course did not need to be offset to account for this data it could not be deemed as tidal.

What qualifies as a “day at sea”

Days on board: A day on board or as skipper is a period of eight consecutive hours living on board, the majority of which the vessel should have been at sea. Periods of less than eight hours cannot be aggregated to make up eight hours. Only one eight-hour period may be counted in any 24-hour period.

You can find more information about qualifying passages on the RYA´s website via this link: Qualifying passages

First aid qualification for RYA Yachtmaster

You must have a valid, in-date first aid qualification to sit the Yachtmaster Coastal or Offshore exam. RYA first aid, & STCW are accepted by the RYA, however, they do accept other first aid certificates as long as they meet the criteria set out on the RYAs website.

Please refer to the RYA exam candidates section: first-aid (rya.org.uk)

If you hold the STCW Elementary First Aid certificate that was issued more than 5 years ago then you will need to refresh your First Aid before sitting the Yachtmaster exam.

SRC / GMDSS Certificate

You will also need a GMDSS compliant Marine Radio Operator’s Certificate such as the RYA Short Range Certificate or higher.

If you have any doubts about the one you hold please ask us.

Commercial endorsement

A commercial endorsement is required for work on board British flagged vessels subject to the MCA’s codes of practice for small commercial vessels. In addition to holding a valid first aid and VHF certificate listed above you will need:

• Either an ENG1 or ML5 Medical
• STCW or RYA Sea survival certificate
• Complete the RYA’s online PPR Course

Once you have completed these three steps then you can apply for Commercial Endorsement through the RYA. It can take a few weeks for your certificate to arrive in the post, so plan ahead.

Converting from sail to power

Holders of the RYA Yachtmaster Coastal or Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate of Competence in a particular discipline (sail or power) are eligible for a “discount” in terms of the mileage and sea time that is required for the exam in the other discipline.

The exam that will be undertaken by the candidate is a full exam, however the fact that the candidate already holds an RYA Yachtmaster Certificate of Competence in one discipline, means that we can accept a reduced amount of mileage and sea time in the discipline for which they will now be examined.

The sea time shown below must be in the discipline in which you are to be examined (sail or power). All qualifying sea time must be within 10 years prior to the exam.

Yachtmaster Coastal

• 12 days at sea
• Minimum of 400 miles
• 2 days as skipper
• 12 night hours

Yachtmaster Offshore

• 25 days at sea
• Minimum of 1250 miles
• 3 days as skipper
• 3 passages over 60 miles including 1 overnight and 1 as skipper

It is essential that candidates for any exam be fully conversant with the entire syllabus relating to the relevant type of vessel (sail or motor) and that they have adequate experience to be confident in the capacity of skipper of that type of craft.