Master of Yachts (200gt)

Hi,

What are the relavant qualifications you have to undertake the oral examination?

Your Yachtmaster will cover you on any sized vessel up to 200gt. The Master of Yachts (200gt) will cover you up to 24 metres and up to 200gt.

The Master of Yachts (200gt) certificate does not "out-rank" the Yachtmasters certificate.

The only advantage of having the Master of Yachts (200gt) is that it's STCW certified. You only will need this if the flag country of the yacht doesn't acknowledge the yachtmaster certificate as valid.

More info can be found at:

http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-g...ns-dqs-stc-master,_yachts_less_than_200gt.htm

I hope some of this helps...

Denzil, I can relate to your predicament, I am sitting in exactly the same position, with the same qualifications as you. I am currently sitting without a job, and obviously would like to go for a Skipper's position, but if that is not forthcoming, Mate or Second Officer would also do. Now comes the problem...every agency or boat owner wants his Mate or Second Officer to hold an OOW Certificate. This is absolute rubbish, a holder of a Yachtmaster Offsore COC may Skipper any lenght of vessel, as long as it falls within the 200gt restriction, as well as the 150nm range limitation imposed on this certificate. If also allows you to be an OOW and a Mate on any lenght of vessel, irrespective of tonnage or distance from the coast.This fact is highlighted in a posting "STCW?" by K1W1. Your qualifications should be enough if the vessels you command falls within the tonnage, and remains within the range limitation(150nm). And trust me, a 200gt yacht in not small. Should the vessel be bigger, I would suggest you get some experience on it, and at the same time start working towards your 3000gt certificates. Another irritating issue is Owners looking for deckhands that hold Yachtmaster's Certificates...either they dont know how the licencing system works, or they are very clever in getting crew with exellent qualifications and experience, but paying them Deckhand salaries...they are sharks. A Yachtmaster Certificate is exactly what it says..and is a licence to take command of a vessel within the limitations of the certificate. Needless to say experience will play a huge role here.

Hi,

DENZIL- From what I understand if the yachts is privately registered and privately used and as long as the Insurance Company accept you then the exact ticket needed is not set in stone.

For what it's worth, if I were captain of a larger yacht I would want my deckhands to hold a yachtmaster certificate. These would be my personnel that would be operating tenders, and it would give me greater peace of mind knowing they were qualified to do so. This may be a wrong perception on my part as I do not work on larger yachts, but this is how I see it from where I sit.

Hi,

That's fine if you are prerpared to pay the people a salary that reflects the experience they have had to gain that certificate.

There is also a separate Power Boat Drivers License available in the UK System that will cover any tender.

That's good to know... like I said I do not work on larger yachts, so it is interesting to learn more about them and how things work there.

Hi Starrider.
The owners of these large yachts don’t get involved in the recruitment of crew. It is the Captain who decides what he wants on the vessel. Crew agencies play a big role in this as well as they try and filter the serious from the not so serious crew. Generally the captain tells the agencies the requirements. I now several big yachts that employ green deckhands all they have to have is STCW. There are still jobs out there for your qualifications. The best thing to do is to walk the docks and even if you get on n boat as a deckhand it is the first step to where you want to go. Today to get a yachtmaster offshore is easy. When i did all my courses in Cape Town i met several guys who did a delivery to the Caribbean and had enough seatime to do the offshore course. The problem is they still dont know how to drive a boat. Good Luck i hope you get what you want.

"When i did all my courses in Cape Town i met several guys who did a delivery to the Caribbean and had enough seatime to do the offshore course. The problem is they still dont know how to drive a boat."

That's what an experienced captain will pick up on in about 20 seconds. A ticket only gets you in the door, but experience gets you up the ladder. I'm running boats for 50 years, 20 professionally and am astounded by how little I know. Then I get together with some other "captains", listen to them spout off and realize they should be selling shoes.
When hiring employers follow 2 schools. The first hires no experience (and thus no bad habits) so he can train them the way he likes things to be done. The second hires the most experience he can afford so there is not that much training to be done. Best not to spout off until you know which you're dealing with.

You are right NYCAP123. I did it the old way got on a boat and did my sea time and then did my courses in between. I worked on a boat where the Captain said there is only one way in doing things on this boat, and it is my way. I learnt that it doesn't matter what you know when you get on a boat you forget everything you know and you learn from the Captain you are working for as he has his way of doing things. I kept quiet and followed the Captains instructions sometimes it is very difficult to do that but you have to even if you know it is not right, At the end of the day that captain will be responsible for his actions. And so you build up experience in doing things the right way and the wrong way and then when you are Captain of your own boat you can use your experience to make the right decisions.

When i did my courses and i met these guys who did deliveries to the Caribbean they thought they were able to skipper yachts without a problem. When i told them what the Yachting industry is all about or should i say how i have experienced it they said to me i am wrong as they heard great stories of traveling the world and having a fun time. So i kept quite and thought to myself " you will have to learn the hard way" If i was in their shoes i would take advise and use it to my advantage.

I have just taken over a boat from a delivery Captain that has only done deliveries and he has over 100 000 miles. He was asked by the owner to say on for a few months to take them around France. The Captains partner who has never worked as a stew got a rude awaking on what the difference is between deliveries and working for an owner.

Anyway my thoughts are that the RYA should be come more strict in giving away yachtmaster certificates. The people who do these quick courses for a lot of money must realize you cant buy experience and responsibility to become a Captain of a boat it all comes with time.

GrahamF, I fully agree with you and NYCAP123, but sadly certificates are issued to inexperienced people all over the world by all different organizations. There def is no substitute for experience..no amount of book knowledge can replace that. I had a 20yrs sea going stint in the SA Navy before I decided to venture into the yachting world. It irritated the living daylights out of me converting all my naval qualifications to the current stcw format, but it had to be done. I commented earlier to NYCAP123 that even with my experience, I am humble enough to admit that I still have plenty to learn, but also have plenty to offer lin the line of knowledge. I think the RYA is very thorough in their examinatios, and are very sticky about their minimum requirements and so the USCG I presume. But I also understand that these institutions have to cater for prospective buyers that would like to drive their own boats. At the end of the day, a commercially endorsed Skipper will have to prove that he has got the experience and is competent enough to be put in charge of a million$ yacht.

Hi,

Don't worry you will even find a number of guys with Class 1 Masters Certificates from the Merchant Navy who have never actually driven anything other than a Lifeboat.

Depending on Flag state: On small yachts you do not need your STCW A-VI/1-1 to 1-4 to become a deckhand:

Under the MCA All sea going commercially operated yachts and sail training vessels of more than 24metres Load Line Length should carry an appropriate number of qualified Deck and Engineer Officers together with a sufficient number of qualified Yacht Ratings to ensure a degree of safety at least equivalent to that established by the IMO guidelines.

This is why we want deckhands with yacht rating but not many crew do this they go for the higher yachtmaster offshore hence we look for deckcrew with this or higher it is the same for the engineers.

Aigua Charter & Sea School

Hello together,

i wonder if somebody have experience with the Aigua Charter & Sea School in Palma de Mallocra? I can´t find any references online.
Because of different circumstances i have to find a School to do my Yachtmaster in Palma in November! And it seems, that this one is the only one who offers this course at that time.

Thank you.

Markus

PS: Graham......i just meet our friend "The dirty Greek" !? I’ll be in Palma the whole winter. So catch up!

Hi Markus

I have heard of them but i dont know anybody that has done courses with them. For a safer bet use Mallorca Sea School. http://www.mallorcaseaschool.com
Will see you this winter. I take it the boat will be in STP

top tip when you pass your yachtmaster exam send off photo copys of your STCW A-V1/1-1 -1-4 (your basic training) and it will come back STCW endorsed with the words
"the certificate holder complies with STCW 95 regulations v1/1 sections v1/1-4. this certificate is valid for use as master of yachts up to 200gt on commercially and privately registered yachts until (date of expiry) a lot of schools do not tell you about this.
and Meets Prerequisite for MCA STCW CoC A-II/2