1.    Knowledge of sea terms and parts of a boat, rigging and sails

• Sufficient knowledge to understand orders given concerning the sailing and day to day running of the boat.

2.    Sail handling

• Bending on, setting, reefing and handling of sails
• Use of sheets and halyards and their associated winches

3.    Ropework

• Handling ropes, including coiling, stowing, securing to cleats and single and double bollards
• Handling warps
• Ability to tie the following knots and to know their correct use: figure-of-eight, clove hitch, rolling hitch, bowline, round turn and two half hitches, single and double sheet bend, reef knot

4.    Fire precautions and fighting

• Awareness of the hazards of fire and the precautions necessary to prevent fire
• Knowledge of the action to be taken in the event of fire

5.    Personal safety equipment

• Understands and complies with rules for the wearing of safety harnesses, lifejackets and personal buoyancy aids

6.    Crew Overboard

• Understands the action to be taken to recover a crew overboard

7.    Emergency equipment

• Can operate distress flares and knows when they should be used
• Understands how to launch and board a life raft

8.    Manners and customs

• Understands accepted practice with regard to: use of burgees and ensigns, prevention of unnecessary noise or disturbance in harbour including courtesies to other craft berthed
• Aware of the responsibility of yacht skippers to protect the environment

9.    Rules of the road

• Is able to keep and efficient lookout at sea

10.    Dinghies

• Understands and complies with the loading rules
• Is able to handle a dinghy under oars

11.   Meteorology

• Awareness of forecasting services and knowledge of the Beaufort scale

12.   Seasickness

• Working efficiency is unaffected/partially affected/severely affected by seasickness Helmsmanship and sailing

13.   Helmsmanship and sailing

• Understands the basic principles of sailing and can steer and trim sails on all points of sailing
• Can steer a compass course, under sail and power

14.   General duties

• Has carried out general duties satisfactorily on deck and below decks in connection with the daily routine of the vessel

1.    Passage planning

• Can plan a coastal passage including a consideration of the capability of the yacht, navigation, victualling, weather, ports of refuge, tidal heights, and tidal streams, publications required and strategy
• Know Customs procedures

2.    Preparation for sea

• Is aware of safety equipment required for offshore passages
• Can prepare a yacht for sea including stowage, safety briefing, watch keeping, delegating responsibilities and equipment and engine checks

3.    Pilotage

• Can prepare a pilotage plan, with consideration of surroundings, transits, clearing bearings, buoyage, port or harbour regulations and tidal considerations. Can pilot a yacht by day and night

4.    Passage making and ability as skipper

• Can take charge of a yacht and direct the crew
• Can organise the navigation, deck work, and domestic duties of a yacht on passage
• Is aware of the significance of meteorological trends
• Is aware of crew welfare on passage
• Can use electronic navigational equipment for planning and undertaking a passage, including the use of waypoints and routes

5.    Yacht handling under power

• Can control the yacht effectively in a confined space under power
• All berthing and unberthing situations in various conditions of wind and tide

6.    Yacht handling under sail

• Characteristics
• Can use the sails to control the yacht in a confined space
• Anchoring and mooring in various conditions of wind and tide
• Can sail efficiently on all points of sailing

7.    Adverse weather conditions

• Preparation for heavy weather and yacht handling in strong winds
• Navigation and general conduct in restricted visibility

8.    Emergency situations

• Recovery of crew overboard under power and sail
• Understands action to be taken when abandoning to the liferaft and during helicopter and lifeboat rescues

1.    International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea

Questions will be confined to the International Regulations and although candidates must be aware of the existence of Local Regulations, they will not be expected to memorise specific local regulations.

• General rules (1-3)
• Steering and sailing rules (4-19)
• Lights and shapes (20-31)
• Sound and light signals (32-37)
• Signals for vessels fishing in close proximity (Annex II)
• Distress signals (Annex IV)

2.    Safety

Candidates will be expected to know what safety equipment should be carried on board a yacht, based either on the recommendations in the RYA Boat Safety Handbook (C8), the ISAF Special Regulations or the Codes of Practice for the safety of Small Commercial Vessels. In particular, candidates must know the responsibilities of a skipper in relation:

• Safety harnesses
• Lifejackets
• Distress flares
• Fire prevention and fighting
• Life rafts
• Knowledge of rescue procedures
• Helicopter rescue

3.    Boat Handling

Candidates for Coastal Skipper examinations will be expected to answer questions or demonstrate ability in simple situations only. Candidates for Yachtmaster Offshore will be expected to answer questions or demonstrate ability in more complex situations and will also be expected to show a higher level of expertise:

• 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 crew 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

4.    General Seamanship, including maintenance

• Properties, use and care of synthetic fibre ropes
• Knots
• General deck-work at sea and in harbour
• Engine operations and routine checks
• Improvisation of jury rigs following gear failure

5.    Responsibilities of skipper

• Can skipper a yacht and manage the crew
• Communication with crew
• Delegation of responsibility and watch-keeping organisation
• Preparing yacht for sea and for adverse weather
• Tactics for heavy weather and restricted visibility
• Emergency and distress situations
• Victualling for a cruise and feeding at sea
• Customs procedures
• Standards of behaviour and courtesy

6.    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
• Buoyage 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 if safety
• Lee shore dangers
• Use of electronic navigation aids for passage planning and passage navigation
• Use of waypoints and electronic routeing

7.    Meteorology

• Definition of terms
• Sources of weather forecasts
• Weather systems and local weather effects
• Interpretation of weather forecasts, barometric trends and visible phenomena
• Ability to make passage planning decisions based on forecast information

8.    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 radio telephony