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RYA/MCA Coastal Skipper & Yachtmaster Offshore Shorebased:
The full course title above is rather long, so it is generally shortened to Yachtmaster Offshore Shorebased or Yachtmaster Offshore Theory.
YACHTMASTER OFFSHORE SHOREBASED THEORY COURSE AIMS:
To advance your navigation skills and learn the principles of navigation and passage planning for coastal and offshore passages. It is aimed at those who will go on to attend an Advanced Powerboat, Coastal Skipper Practical, Yachtmaster Coastal or Yachtmaster Offshore course.
HOW LONG IS THE YACHTMASTER OFFSHORE SHOREBASED COURSE?
Choose the format that suits you.
- Six day course: 6 consecutive days
- Night School: 15 evenings (usually 1 per week over the winter)
- Night School Plus: 1 weekend plus 9 evenings
- Weekends: A mixture of weekends and/or long weekends to make up 6 days
- Online: in your own time, at your own pace
Each variation of the RYA / MCA Yachtmaster Shorebased course can be booked from the navigation courses tab on the menu bar.
WHAT ARE THE PRE REQUISITES FOR YACHTMASTER OFFSHORE SHOREBASED THEORY?
- RYA Day Skipper Shorebased or equivalent knowledge (essential)
- Some experience of putting the above knowledge into practice (essential)
- A working knowledge of the IRPCS (essential)
- RYA Short Range Certificate (desirable)
WHAT IS COVERED ON THE YACHTMASTER SHOREBASED COURSE?
On arrival at our centre you will receive the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore shorebased pack and handbook. Those who opt for the online course will have these resources posted to them. The course covers;
- Position Fixing
- The Magnetic Compass
- Tides & Tidal streams
- Bouyage
- Lights
- Pilotage
- GNSS
- Echo Sounders, log, deck Log
- Meteorology
- IRPCS
- Safety at Sea
- Navigating in Restricted Visibility
- Passage Planning
- The Marine Environment.
There are four assessment papers, 1 for collision regulations, 1, for chart-work and 2 for passage planning. At the end of the course your Instructor will give you a full debrief.
INCLUDED
RYA Yachtmaster training at Nautical Training is comprehensive. We aim to make life as easy as possible for our students and provide the following within the course fee:
- Instruction
- 2 RYA Training Charts
- RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Shorebased Handbook
- RYA Yachtmaster Exercises
- RYA Yachtmaster Shorebased Certificate
- Use of plotter, dividers and training almanac whilst at the training centre
- Tea & Coffee
- Parking

NOT INCLUDED
6 day and Split Weekend Yachtmaster Offshore Shorebased
- Meals and accommodation
Night School Yachtmaster Offshore Shorebased
- Meals and accommodation
- Plotter and dividers to take away for homework (available to buy from us)
Online Yachtmaster Offshore Shorebased
- Plotter and dividers (available to buy from us)
- Overseas postage- (click for charges)
RYA YACHTMASTER SHOREBASED THEORY COURSE RATIO:
The RYA allow centres to run with up-to 12 students on this course. While this works for night school we find it is far too many for our 6-day and weekend courses so we limit the class size to 8. In reality the class size is often smaller and we run with as few as 2 students.
INVIGILATION FOR ONLINE COURSES
If you are taking the online version of the course you will complete the same three assessment papers as our classroom students. For the majority of our students these papers do not require invigilation. However if you intend to use the certificate as entry into the OOW 3000 or Master 200 certification route then you will require invigilation. This does not have to be carried out here at our centre, we can arrange for invigilation with an RYA Instructor near you (for which there may be a small fee).
BOOKING THE YACHTMASTER SHOREBASED COURSE:
Booking options for the 6-day, weekends and night school courses are all shown below. If you would like to book the online course, please click the “online course” option for yachtmaster in the menu bar above.