RYA Yachtmaster – Preparation and Exam

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RYA Yachtmaster – Australian Commercial recognition.

Since 1 July 2014, AMSA (the Australian Maritime Safety Authority) recognised RYA qualifications as acceptable for commercial use in Australian Territorial waters on commercially registered sailing vessels.  Holders of the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore and Ocean Certificates of Competence can now act as Master on commercial sailing vessels less than 24 meters LOA up to 100 miles to seaward from the coast or as Mate on commercial sailing vessels less than 35 meters inside the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone.  Holders of the RYA Yachtmaster Coastal Certificate of Competence can act as master on commercial sailing vessels less than 12 meters and up to 15 miles from the coast.

This recognition is achieved by AMSA EX18 – Marine Safety (Sail) Exemption 2014.
Effectively this means that once a person holds all of the necessary certificates they can commence working on commercially registered or surveyed sailing vessels.
To meet the criteria a person must:

Hold an RYA Yachtmaster Offshore or Ocean certificate of Competence with commercial endorsement from the MCA. (The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency)

Hold an approved, in-date First Aid Certificate

Hold a Marine Radio Operators Certificate (Long range)

Hold an in-date RYA, YA or ISAF Sea survival certificate or have completed the Elements of Shipboard Safety units or the relevant STCW course

Have completed the RYA Diesel Engine course.

Have completed the YA Powerboat handling course or have completed the RYA Level 2 powerboat handling course.

Make a declaration of medical fitness on the approved form.

Prior to undertaking an RYA Yachtmaster Exam, a compulsory prep week will assess your strengths and weaknesses and coach you in the areas required to pass the examination, however, our experience normally leads us to work on the following areas; passage planning, man overboard recovery, close quarters handling, skippering techniques, navigation in restricted visibility, pilotage and knowledge of the International Collision Regulations.

The instructor will debrief you fully as the week progresses and ensure that you get time to work on those weaker areas.  Before joining the intensive week of skills polishing, students should have the previous experience outlined below, completed RYA Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster theory or equivalent and a thorough knowledge of the Collision Regulations.

The examiner will ask each candidate to skipper the yacht on several short passages and complete various demonstrations of their skippering and sailing ability over the course of the week.

After the prep week, there’s generally a couple of days rest to re-coup, study any areas for improvement and provision the yacht as part of the exam.