Offshore sailing licence: Is it worth training to become a Yachtmaster Offshore?

Strictly speaking, anyone sailing privately on a yacht with more than 15 hp propulsion power only needs a recreational boating licence (SBF). Those who charter yachts often also need to present a Sport Coastal Skipper's Licence (SKS). However, more is rarely required to go on a cruise. This is why the number of higher-level sailing licences issued by the German Sailing Association has been falling for years, even though the recreational sailing licence (SSS) for commercial sailing outside the 12 nautical mile zone is actually required by law.

In contrast, developments in the UK are quite different. The Yachtmaster Offshore training programme developed and certified by the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) has been booming for years, not just in its home country but worldwide. The licence is also becoming increasingly popular in German-speaking countries. Around a dozen schools in Germany, Austria and Switzerland offer special courses and cruises.

The Yachtmaster requires higher basic requirements and a much more extensive practical examination than its German counterpart, the SSS. Even experienced skippers rarely manage to obtain the required mileage certificates in less than a year, half of which must be acquired in tidal waters. It often takes longer, one and a half to two years, from registration to licence.

So what does the training offer that makes sailors spare no expense or effort to complete it? Why should they put themselves through the stress of practising tidal and blind navigation and taking the exam, and usually even the entire course, in English?

This year, we put it to the test and took a look at Leon Schulz's RYA Training Centre "Regina Sailing" together with other German skippers, including the successful Delius Klasing author Bastian Hauck, who has already sailed around Cape Horn three times, but has not yet had a licence apart from his junior licence.

Find out what the Yachtmaster training course is all about, how difficult it is, why it is a useful addition to the recreational sailing licence and to what extent the almost legendary reputation of the RYA certificate is justified in the big report in YACHT 18, now on newsstands or to order digitally directly here.