You can choose to complete the course either as part of an open group or you can rent a boat for the day and complete the course with family and friends.

Open groups
With an open group booking, you book a place on a course and we’ll admit up to a maximum of four students onto that same course. This is the most economical option; however, it’s also the least flexible option if your availability is limited. The price of a seat on an open course includes fuel and mooring fees away from our base.

Price per person in open group (5-day practical): €850.00
Price per person in open group (5-day practical & 2-day theory refresher): €1050.00

We schedule courses in accordance with the availability of students interested in the course. Please contact us for details of the next course.

Rental & course pack
With this option, you charter a sailing yacht and we provide the instructor and teaching materials. This option gives you maximum flexibility in terms of dates and the option to choose the boat on which you’ll be learning (subject to availability). As with any charter, you’re responsible for paying the fuel for the boat as well as mooring fees away from our home port.

Rental with tuition: please ask us for a personalised quotation

Own boat tuition
If you already own a yacht, or if you have a friend who owns a sailboat, we’re more than happy to run this course on your own boat. This option is significantly cheaper than open groups and charters; however, you do need to make sure that your boat is up to the standard required by the RYA for training.

Rental with tuition: please ask us for a personalised quotation

What’s included?
Your RYA Yachtmaster Prep course with The Boat School includes:

• Use of a coded sailboat during the course and exam
• Use of light-weight inflatable life jackets
• Cold water on the boat
• Fuel and mooring fees (open groups only)

This course includes accommodation aboard for the complete duration of the course; however, we cannot guarantee that you will have your own cabin (this depends on the type of yacht used for your course). We do guarantee:

• Couples (or friends) will have their own cabin
• Female participants will only share a cabin with other female students
• Please contact us if you have any questions about accommodation

What’s not included?
RYA examiners fee and travel expenses.

The content of the Prep course will depend on the needs of the candidates but you should expect to spend a lot of time cruising at night and carrying out various challenging boat handling exercises. The course will based around the exam syllabus in the RYA Yachtmaster Scheme Syllabus and Logbook (G158) and is intended for fine tuning existing skills rather than teaching new ones.

The exam can require you to demonstrate knowledge and competence across a very wide ranging syllabus (see Logbook G158 pages 74-76.)  so the Yachtmaster preparation programme will be demanding and hard work. You can expect to be working long days and into the evening. During the Yachtmaster Prep course your instructor will frequently update you on your progress and ability and recommend which exam you should aim for – Coastal or Offshore.

Below is a list of the prerequisites you need before you can take the exam together with the documentary evidence you will need to present. This documentary evidence will be reviewed by the examiner at the start of exam. If it is not complete, the exam cannot continue. To be absolutely clear, you will not be permitted to take the exam if any of the following does not meet the required standard. However, you will still be charged for the use of the vessel, and may also be liable to cover the costs of the examiner’s time and travel.

All the information below is also available in the RYA Yachtmaster Scheme Syllabus and Logbook, (G158) available from the RYA (www.rya.org.uk).

Coastal Yachtmaster Exam

• Minimum 17 years old
• A valid radio operator’s licence (SRC -or equivalent- or higher)
• A valid current First Aid Certificate (see RYA website for acceptable certificates)
• Minimum of 800 sea miles logged within the last 10 years (half the miles logged MUST HAVE BEEN in tidal waters)
• 50% of sea time must be in vessels of 7-24m LOA
• 30 days at sea (20 days if you have completed the RYA Coastal Skipper certificate)
• 2 days as skipper
• 12 night hours

Offshore Yachtmaster Exam

• Minimum 18 years old
• A valid radio operator’s licence (SRC -or equivalent- or higher)
• A valid current First Aid Certificate (see RYA website for acceptable certificates)
• Minimum of 2500 sea miles logged within the last 10 years, of which at least 1,250 MUST HAVE BEEN in tidal waters.
• 50% of sea time must be in vessels of 7-24m LOA
• 50 days living on board
• 5 days as skipper
• 5 passages of over 60 miles . Of these you must have been skipper for a minimum of 2 passages.
• A minimum of 2 qualifying passages must have been overnight.
• Qualifying passages must have been in vessels of 7-24m LOA

Please contact us for a more detailed description of the requirements.