Yachtmaster Milebuilder and Qualifying Passages
Our Yachtmaster Milebuilders offer a great opportunity to log sea miles and qualifying passages in preparation for the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate assessment. You will take part in a series of extended offshore passages by day and night, operating a watch system on board.
Description
Our mile builder passages provide a fantastic opportunity to develop offshore sailing skills and experience and to log sea miles and Yachtmaster qualifying passages.
Sailing programme
The mile builder is broken into a series of coastal and offshore passages of 60 nautical miles or more, designed to meet the RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Offshore qualifying criteria.
The crew will operate in a watch system by day and night and take turns acting as Skipper, Watchleader, and Navigator for a passage.
We aim to sail more than 1,500 miles in the time frame. This success of this target depends mainly on the crew's ability to plan the passages to take advantage of the prevailing wind, weather, and currents.
Some nights, you will spend sailing continuously, some at anchor or on a mooring buoy, and others in the comfort of a marina where you will be able to clean up, re-victual, wash clothes, and have a hot shower.
Accommodation
You will be allocated a crew berth in shared cabin accommodation for the duration. You will be hot bunking while on passage and in a watch system.
On a longer layover (typically two nights), you may want to book a local hotel or guest house for a bit of R & R.
All vessels have an enclosed bathroom on board.
Course content
- Preparation for sea and safety equipment audit.
- Safety procedures and drills, shake down sailing exercises
- Pilotage and passage planning
- Offshore log-keeping and navigation
- Seamanship skills offshore, including helming, sail trimming, reefing, headsail changes, poling out, etc
- Preparing for heavy weather
- Man overboard procedures and other emergency procedures
- Watchkeeping/night passages
- Crew Management and the Role of the Skipper / Watchleader
- Skipper experience
Location and sailing conditions
We will cruise up and down the East coast of Australia, visiting ports like Coffs Harbour and Port Stephens to the North and Jervis Bay, Eden, or perhaps Tasmania to the South.
The scenery and anchorages are magnificent, and the weather is generally excellent for sailing.
You can expect to see dolphins and whales at certain times of the year and, of course, Flying Fish!
The yacht and the instructor
This course will be run on board one of our training yachts by an experienced and accredited RYA instructor.
You live on board with your fellow students and participate in all aspects of running the boat.
Before you start
- No formal qualifications are required but your sailing and navigation skills should be at Day Skipper level or equivalent.
- We also recommend you hold a Safety and Sea Survival certificate.
What's included
- Tuition, logbook, pre-course reading.
- Life jackets and safety harnesses are provided and we can loan you wet weather clothing if required.
- Shared cabin accommodation on board.
- All vessels have an enclosed bathroom on board.
- We provide all meals on board from lunch on the first day to lunch on the last day.
- You should expect to eat, at your own cost ashore, for 2 - 3 nights.
Qualifications and experience
- Approx 1500 sea miles / 16 days
- RYA/MCA Yachtmaster qualifying passages
- RYA Watchleader certificate
What next?
- At the end of the course, your instructor will give you feedback on your sailing skills and your ability as a skipper, making recommendations for your future training and experience.
- Plot your course to Yachtmaster certification.