Professional Yachtmaster Offshore Commercial Training Programme

Kristian Aderman a Pro Yacht Racer from Sweden being examined by RYA Examiner John Roberts earlier this year

Train to Work in the Sailing Industry

14 Weeks of Practical Training

Next Course : Spring 2024

Starts Mon 19th February 2024

For Course Prices Scroll Down or  Click Here

Below is a brief outline of the course content. Please contact us for a full description of the course program.

We would be delighted to have a sit down meeting with you over coffee to discuss your suitability for this program and how it can be tailored to suit your prior sailing experience. If you are booking from abroad we would be delighted to arrange a skype conversation to discuss the program with you.

Introduction

This course is designed to take the complete sailing novice to become a professional sailor in the sailing industry in an intensive accelerated course over fifteen weeks. The course culminates in the Yachtmaster Offshore Exam by an independent RYA Yachtmaster Examiner. This is a 10 hour practical and oral examination on all aspects of sailing a yacht in difficult circumstances. Provided you are hard working we will have you fully prepared and confident of passing the exam over the 3 months. We have run 11 successful Professional Yachtmaster Programs since the schools opening in 2011 and have almost 100% success rate in that every student has passed the exam first time after our training program. This is largely to do with having a small number of students and being able to focus on each students own weaknesses leading up to the exam. We have successfully trained students in the past who have gone on to work all over the world in different sectors of the sailing industry, from charter base managers, to delivery skippers, to Yachtmaster Instructors to yacht brokers to Riggers. We have developed contacts within the sailing industry over the past 10 years which you can call upon to help you achieve your first job in your new career within the yachting industry. The course is geared towards a career in the yachting industry, but we have a variety of students from guys in their 30s and 40s looking for a career change, to school leavers looking for an alternate second career before attending university to newly retired people looking to change their approach to their own sailing, a to finally sail in a professional confident way.

The Course

The course is divided into 3 modules of four to five weeks in duration. Students can enter the course program at different stages depending on their previous sailing experience and the cost of the course will be pro-rated accordingly. Please consult us on this. Many fast track courses are run by different sailing schools in the Med. Some advertise courses that are only 10 weeks long and at very low prices. These are soft courses in the sunshine with little or no wind. Exams are almost always conducted under the same conditions. Our experience of these schools has been shabby yachts and poor quality tuition. At Irish Offshore Sailing we will train you to cope with challenging weather confidently using a modern offshore yacht with the most up to date navigational equipment. These yachts enter the Fastnet Race and Round Ireland Yacht Race every year, so they are extremely well equipped.

Our Commitment to You

At Irish Offshore Sailing we draw upon a team of expert instructors with over 10 years training students on the Professional Yachtmaster Scheme. We have put a course program together not just to get you to pass your Yachtmaster exam, but to make you into a competent confident professional skipper. We see time and time again within the industry, sailors barely meeting the grade and delivering yachts by the seats of their pants. Our aim is to train you to a standard where we would trust you to deliver our yachts in the dead of winter, and rest assured that the yacht will arrive in pristine condition. Students who train and sail in Ireland and the UK during the Winter and early Spring, experience strong winds, heavy swells and other difficult conditions. These difficult training grounds challenge and drive students to excel and ultimately produce a higher calibre of skipper. At Irish Offshore Sailing, we run a professional, well structured course designed to meet your needs. We operate from our course from our base at Dun Laoghaire Marina using our two Jeanneau Sunfast 37 foot yachts “Desert Star” and “Sherkin” and our classroom facilities at the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Dublin Bay provides and incredible training ground for our students with a large tidal range, shallow harbours, commercial shipping, and offshore winds which allow us to continue sailing even under heavy wind conditions. The protection of the outer harbour in Dun Laoghaire allows us to sail even in the most challenging of winds, when any other school would have to have a day in the classroom.

Below is a brief outline of the course structure for our 2024 Spring Course,  our Autumn course will be very similar:

Module 1: February 2024

Week 1: Competent Crew (5 days) (Mon 19th – Fri 23rd February 2024)

Week 2: Dayskipper Theory (5 days) (Sat 24th – Sun 25th Feb & Fri 1st – Sun 3rd March 2024)

Week 3: Skills and Drills (3 days) (Mon 26th Feb –  Wed 28th Feb 2024)

Week 4: Dayskipper 1 (Navigation and Pilotage) (5 days) (Mon 4th  – Fri 8th March 2024)

Week5: Dayskipper 2 Mon 11th   – Thurs 15th March 2024 ( 4 days)

VHF SRC (1 day) (Sun 10th March 2024)

First Aid (1 day)  (Sat 9th March 2024)

24 days training incl. First Aid and VHF SRC

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4 days break:   1600 Thurs 14th March  – 0930 Tues 19th March 2024

1 days break: 1600 Wed 28th Feb  – Fri 1st March 0930  2024

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Module 2: March 2024

Week 1:  Yachtmaster Theory (6 days) (Tues 19th  – Sun 24th March 2024)

Week 2: Milebuilder Passage 1 (6 days) Northern Ireland (Mon 25th March  – Sat 30th March 2024)

Week 3: Coastal Skipper 1 (4 days) (Mon 1st – Thurs 4th April 2024)

ISAF Offshore Safety Course (2 day) (Sat 13th – Sun 14th April 2024)

Week 4: Milebuilder Passage 2 (6 days) Irish Sea (Sat 6th – Fri 12th April 2024)

Week 5:  Coastal Skipper 2 (5 days) (Tues 15th – Fri 19 April 2024)

1 day Break: 1600 Sat 30th March- 0900 Mon 1st April 2024 (1 day)

1 day break: 1600 Thurs 4th April  – 0900 Sat 6th April 2024 (2 days)

7 days break:  1600 Sun 19th April  – 0900 Mon 27th April 2024  (7 days)

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Module 3: May 2024

Week 1: Milebuilder Passage 3 (7 Days) ( Sat 27th April – Fri 3rd May 2024)    Ireland South Coast

Week 2: Yachtmaster Preparation 1 (4 days) (Mon 6th May –  Thurs 9th May 2024)

Week 3:   Yachtmaster Preparation 2 (4 days) (Mock exams, all elements revised)  (Sat 11th – Tues 14th May 2024 )

Yachtmaster Offshore Examination  (2 days) (1400 Tues 14th May  – 1300 Thurs 16th May 2024 Approx.)

17 days incl. Yachtmaster Offshore Exams

2 days break: 1600 Fri 3rd May  – 0900 Mon 6th May 2024

1 day break: 1600 Thurs 9th May – 0900 Sat 11th May 2024

The RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Exam is organised on the last two days of the course. 

Professional Yachtmaster Training Program Prices

The 14 Week Course           €10,950

One Module                         €5,350

Two Modules                        €8,500

Whats included:

• All food on board during practical courses on the yacht
• Waterproofs
• All accommodation during practical yacht courses
• All our ordinary practical courses run from Monday 09:00 to Friday 16:00. Our milebuilders begin at 0900 on the first day and finish approx 1600 on the last day,  all shorebased courses begin at 0930 each day and finish approx 1630.

Whats not included: Food and accommodation is not provided during the shorebased courses. Air BnB’s, and hostels are available with good weekly rates and all the home comforts. Shorebased courses comprises of 15 days of the overall course length.  Neither accommodation nor food is provided during the weekends between courses.

€85 SRC exam and license fee for the the SRC course

Yachtmaster offshore examination fee of £240

Examiners travel expenses ( Approx €120 per student depending on candidates)

are not included in the course fee.

Offshore Yacht Sailing Personal Insurance  (€80 – €120)

This insurance is compulsory to participate in our mile building trips.

State Grants   

Some students have in the past qualified for small state grants to attend our courses as the ISA Coastal Skipper Practical Course falls under the national qualification fetac scheme. Please contact us for further details about obtaining a grant while attending this course.

Additional Gear and Advice

We strongly advise students to purchase their own sailing boots and gear before the commences. Contact us for advice on this. We don’t believe in flashy prospectuses to hook you in. We want to meet you for a coffee, or have a lengthy phone conversation, answer your questions, explain the course in great detail, learn about your background and your motivation for doing the course and assess your suitability for the course before your place is accepted. We monitor your progress very carefully during the course, and a high degree of self motivation, self learning and a good patient nature is required.