WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE RYA YACHTMASTER OCEAN SHOREBASED COURSE?
To learn the art of “Astro Navigation” and the key concepts of planning Ocean Voyages. This is an advanced navigation course aimed at Blue Water sailors, anyone crossing the Atlantic (or other) Ocean, Super Yacht Deck Officers and Commercial Yacht Skippers planning on operating more than 150NM from a safe haven. The RYA/MCA Ocean Yachtmaster Shorebased Course is also a stepping stone to the RYA/MCA Ocean Yachtmaster Certificate of Competence and a mandatory certificate for the MCA Master 200/OOW 500 (unrestricted) and Chief Mate (less than 3000 tonnes) qualifications.
For leisure sailors this is the most advanced course in the RYA scheme and will give you more knowledge to sail safely to some of the worlds most stunning blue water destinations. For commercial sailors who already hold the Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate of Competence and/or Master 200 (restricted) CoC, becoming a Yachtmaster Ocean CoC, “removes the 150 mile from a safe haven” restriction you currently have. The RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Ocean shorebased course is a step towards the full RYA/MCA Ocean Yachtmaster.
HOW LONG IS THE RYA YACHTMASTER OCEAN SHOREBASED COURSE?
- Classroom – Five days
- Classroom Night school – One weekend plus 8 evenings
- Online, – 40-50 hrs in your own time
All options and dates can be found at the bottom of this page.
WHAT ARE THE PRE REQUISITES FOR THE RYA YACHTMASTER OCEAN SHOREBASED COURSE?
Candidates should have navigation, passage planning and meteorology knowledge up to RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Shorebased level and some practical experience of putting this knowledge into practice.
WHTA IS COVERED ON THE RYA YACHTMASTER OCEAN SHOREBASED COURSE?
The course covers celestial navigation, worldwide meteorology and passage planning. The majority of the course is spent developing an understanding of how to use the sextant, how to apply corrections and how to then calculate your position using the sun, moon, stars and planets. A more detailed syllabus follows
The earth and the celestial sphere
- Definition of observer’s zenith and position of a heavenly body in terms of latitude, longitude, GHA and declination
- Right angle relationships, latitude and co-lat, declination and polar distance
- Relationship between GHA, longitude and LHA
- Tabulation of declination in nautical almanac
- Rate of increase of hour angle with time
The PZX triangle
- The tabulated components of the triangle, LHA, co-lat and polar distance
- The calculable components, zenith distance and azimuth
- Relationship between zenith distance and altitude
- Introduction to the tabular method of solution in the Air Navigation Tables and the basic sight form
- The use of calculators for the solution of the PZX triangle
The sextant
- Practical guide to the use and care of a sextant at sea
- Conversion of sextant altitude to true altitude
- Application of dip, index error and refraction
- Correction of side error, perpendicularity, index error and collimation error
Measurement of time
- Definition of, and relationship between, UT, LMT, standard time and zone time
- Rating of chronometers and watches
Meridian altitudes
- Forecasting time of meridian altitude
- Reduction of meridian altitude sights
Sun, star and other sights
- Reduction and plotting of sun sights using
- Air Navigation Tables
- Awareness of use of calculator for sight reduction
- The plotting of sun-run-sun meridian altitude
- Awareness of the reduction and plotting of sights obtained from stars, moon and planets
Compass checking
- Use of amplitude and azimuth tables systems and/or calculator
Satellite Navigation Systems
- Principles and limitations of use of all systems
Great circle sailing
- Comparison of rhumb lines and great circles
- Vertices and composite tracks
- The computation of a series of rhumb lines approximating to a great circle by use of gnomonic and Mercator projections
Meteorology
- General pressure distribution and prevailing winds over the oceans of the world
- Tropical revolving storms, seasonal occurrence and forecasting by observation
Passage planning
- Publications available to assist with planning of long passages (routeing charts, ocean passages of the world and other publications)
- Preparation for ocean passage including survival equipment, victualling, water and fuel management, chafe protection, spares and maintenance
Passage making
- Navigational routine
- Watchkeeping
- Crew management
Communications
- Satellite and terrestrial systems
- Weather information
For the classroom course, we provide all the tables, sextants and other tools for this course. During the week we will also cover the written exam required as a pre requisite for the RYA Ocean Yachtmaster oral exam.
WHAT’S INCLUDED IN THE RYA YACHTMASTER OCEAN SHOREBASED COURSE?
OCEAN YACHTMASTER CLASSROOM BASED OPTION
- Use of our sextants, routing charts and publications
- RYA Ocean Shorebased Excercise book
- RYA Ocean Shorebased Nautical Almanac
- RYA Ocean Shorebased Sight Reduction Tables
- RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Shorebased certificate
- RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Shorebased written exam
- Free (on street) parking
OCEAN YACHTMASTER ONLINE COURSE OPTION
- RYA Ocean Shorebased Student Tables
- RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Shorebased Certificate
- UK Postage
- Email support
- RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Shorebased written exam, (some candidates will need to be invigilated, read here if this applies to you)
WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED IN THE RYA OCEAN YACHTMASTER COURSE:
- Overseas postage- click for charges, (only required for the online course)
- Meals
RYA OCEAN YACHTMASTER COURSE RATIOS
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 5-day and weekend courses so we limit the class size to 8, which means you each get a double desk to spread out at and can access more of the instructor’s time. In reality the class size is often smaller and we run with as few as two students. The classroom is equipped with 4 sextants and a huge selection of ocean passage planning books and publications.
WHY CHOOSE CHIEFTAIN TRAINING FOR THE RYA OCEAN YACHTMASTER COURSE?
We have four RYA Ocean Yachtmaster Instructors on our team.
Our classroom is equipped with four sextants and all of the ocean charts and publications that will be discussed on your course. As with all of our training, we ensure you learn using the real thing rather than pictures on a screen.
Our Principal has been teaching this course for 18 years. His first time pass rate for Yachtmaster Ocean candidates who have gone on to take the MCA/RYA Ocean exam is 100% (so far). While we can not guarantee you a pass, we have so far achieved this every time.
IS THE OCEAN YACHTMASTER SHOREBASED COURSE INVIGILATED?
If you take the classroom course then the written paper is automatically invigilated. If you join the online course you will complete the same assessment paper as our classroom students. For the majority of our students this paper does not require invigilation. However if you intend to use the certificate as entry into the Chief Mate or Master 200 certification route then you will require invigilation. This does not have to be carried out here in Southampton, we can arrange for invigilation with an RYA Instructor near you (for which there may be a fee).
BOOKING THE RYA YACHTMASTER OCEAN SHOREBASED COURSE:
FACE TO FACE YACHTMASTER OCEAN SHOREBASED COURSE
Select a date below. If the dates below do not suit you we can set up a bespoke 1:1, 2:1 or group course at a time that suits you, please contact us.
ONLINE YACHTMASTER OCEAN SHOREBASED COURSE
Select the “online courses” tab below. All online courses are scheduled for January, regardless of the date you book so you can effectively ignore the date listed.