Starts:Tuesday March 3rd	Upon successful completion of this course you will receive a RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Shorebased certificate.
Teaching sessions: 5 Tuesdays, 6.00pm to 9.00pm and 4 days, 9.00am to 6.00pm
Duration: 47 hours of teaching with exams.
Teaching venue: Online (Tuesdays) + TBC (weekends). Exam venue(s): TBC (Cambridge).
Overview of the Course and Syllabus Syllabus

Enrolling in the RYA Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore Theory course represents a pivotal step towards becoming a proficient skipper, capable of confidently managing your boat on extended voyages. This course places a strong emphasis on electronic position finding equipment, taking and interpreting forecasts, plotting weather systems, and weather predictions using a barometer under both sail and power.

 

Format

The course will run hybridly; 5 online teaching sessions on Tuesday evenings and 4 full days in person. We do not recommend you take the course if you cannot make any of the whole days or are likely to miss more than one of the evening sessions. The time committment is relatively high including homework and it is easy to fall behind. 

 

Materials

Plotters and dividers are essential, please purchase them ahead of the course if you don't already have them (you should have received some for the day skipper theory course). We will provide the student course pack (training charts, training almanac, and exercise booklet), course notes, access to the RYA's chartplotter simulator, and an IRPCS booklet.

 

Timetable

Tuesdays: 17/02, 3/03, 17/03, 31/03, 7/04 6-9pm ONLINE

Full days: 10-11/04, 18-19/04 9am-6pm IN PERSON

 

Homework

Expect to spend at least an hour of private study on top of the teaching time each week as well as 3-4h of revision ahead of the exams, which will be held during the in-person weekends. 

Exams

There are a total of three exams: Chartwork, IRPCS (International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea), and Passage Planning. The Passage Planning exam has superseded the old Meteorology exam. Exams will take place in-person during the weekends.

 

Certificate

Upon successful completion of this course you will receive an RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Shorebased Certificate. This means that you will then not have to do any more shorebased navigation courses as you work your way up the practical side of the scheme all the way to RYA Yachtmaster Offshore level.

Prerequisites

Knowledge to the level of Day Skipper Shorebased or equivalent. Please note this course builds heavily upon the existing knowledge acquired at Day Skipper Theory. If you have not attended an RYA Day Skipper Theory course, please get in touch to discuss whether this course is suitable for you. You may wish to read through the syllabus of the Day Skipper Theory course to confirm if your prior knowledge covers all areas. This can be viewed here: https://www.rya.org.uk/course-finder/day-skipper-theory-course/.

Course Administration Details

The cost of the course includes everything you will need. It also includes your share of the room hire and instructor payment.

If you do not have an active Club membership then the website will automatically charge you an extra £30. You will then have valid membership of the Club for one year and will not need to pay this fee again for an event during that time. 

Sign Up & Questions

To sign up click the sign up button at the top or bottom of the page.

If you have any questions, please have a look at the frequently asked questions.  If that doesn't answer your question then please email aamw4@cam.ac.uk.