Training providers normally start with the basic safety training week – STCW95. A one week intensive course covers the 4 basic modules of safety on board a yacht. Elementary First Aid, Personal Survival Techniques, Personal Safety and social responsibilities, and Basic Firefighting and Fire Prevention.

The crew member will be assessed regularly to make sure all safety elements are completed. At the end of the week, they will receive a certificate.

The next step, once the crew member has the required sea time qualifications would be a Yachtmaster ticket. This is a captain's ticket up to 24 metres or 200 gross tons.

With Blue Water the candidate will complete 6 days of theory including at least 3 written examinations. This will cover rules of the road, chartwork, plotting etc.

The second part of the course is 5 days on board the training vessel. This is preparing the candidate for the rigid 1 and half day examination at the end of the week. Candidates are able to stay on board, helpful when the boat will be doing night cruising.

The yachtmaster is probably one of the best schemes in the world for training navigators in the yacht industry. Those who follow through the training programme from ‘Competent Crew' through ‘Day Skipper' to ‘Coastal Skipper' then ‘Yachtmaster Offshore' and ‘Yachtmaster Ocean' receive a thoroughly good grounding in navigation and seamanship. Also the yachtmaster has already been built into the system in that it is the base qualification for the under 24m codes (the ‘blue' and ‘yellow' codes) so it would be difficult to remove the yachtmaster from the equation completely, even if one wanted to.

Advantages for yachts.

• It will vastly improve training in navigation, seamanship and related subjects.

• It will reinforce such theoretical training in a practical and relevant way and thus improve the retention of what has been learned.

• It will enable the current Navigation and Radar module to be pitched at the management level and to incorporate an ‘ARPA' qualification.

• It will better prepare candidates for MCA examinations.

• It will bring the yachting industry into line with STCW 1995.

• It will provide a framework within which qualifications in other areas relevant to yachting can be managed at a future date.

• It will provide a structure and a career path for deck crew from the moment of their induction into the industry.

• By separating the Chief Officer and Master certificates it will help to ensure that Masters of large yachts have gained relevant experience before attaining the qualification. It will therefore enhance the value of the qualification(2).

The next career step is Officer of the Watch.

Now the candidate is well on the way to completing his 3 years yacht service and one year's sea time required before sitting an MCA oral exam for OOW.

There will be certain modules to complete over the course of about 6 weeks. All certification will be issued by Blue Water for course completions, and the college who marks the relevant papers if there is a written exam involved. Pass certificates are normally issued once the candidate has passed the written exam. All certificates are valid for 3 years from the exam date.

Certain modules or tickets, ie GMDSS and Yachtmaster will need to be revalidated after 5 years. This is simply a question of paperwork. Some tickets will require an application form from the MCA – which will be found on their website. Others like the Medical certificates, will require a refresher course to put them back in date.