OCEAN QUALIFYING PASSAGE

In order to obtain the RAY/DoT Yachtmaster Ocean Certificate of Competence, a candidate must have completed a qualifying passage which meets the following criteria:

(a) It must be undertaken on board a cruising or offshore racing yacht.

(b) The candidate must have taken a full part in the planning and preparation of the passage, including navigational plan, checking the material condition of the yacht and her equipment, and storing, with spare gear, fuel, water and victuals.

(c) Throughout the passage, the candidate must have acted in a responsible capacity, either in sole charge of a watch or as skipper.

(d) During the passage a distance of 600M by the log must have been run, the yacht must have been at sea continuously for a period of at least 96 hours and the yacht must have been over 50M from land continuously for a period of at least 48 hours or for a distance sailed of 200M.

A further requirement for the Certificate of Competence is: "Candidates must have completed work at sea which shows that they have successfully navigated a yacht at sea by astro navigation." See our Astronomical Navigation publication for one approach to this.

What we offer

We undertake these passages on our Oyster 55, Sula. This is a very capable yacht, & extremely well suited to ocean passage-making.

The Yachtmaster Ocean qualification may or may not be important to you. You may want to do a long passage purely for the experience, or you may be planning to go off on your own boat some day. Either way, what we offer on ocean qualifying passages is a lot more than just being crew on the trip.

• Some time before the trip, you will be sent a recommended list of charts and planning information, plus a "reading list" of suggested sources for general information on passage planning and yacht preparation.

• When you join the yacht, the first two days will be spent in familiarisation sailing interspersed with training sessions. This will include stem-to-stern familiarisation with the yacht's systems and safety equipment, plus storage of spares, fuel, water and victuals. It will also include sessions on practical astro navigation.

• You will be involved and included in passage planning + departure decisions (using latest weather synopses and forecasts).

• The passage will meet the parameters outlined above.

• As far as possible, all potential candidates will be given watch-leader roles and will be included in skippering decisions on passage.

• You will have the opportunity to carry out the necessary astro navigation sight reductions while at sea (you may be interested in our Astronomical Navigation publication).

This will make the trip a really rewarding experience. In any case, time spent in familiarisation, planning and training is plain good sense for the voyage and does, we believe, make the whole experience safer, more rewarding and more enjoyable.

Have a look at our schedule for the dates and prices of planned Ocean Qualifying Passages.