Prerequisites
This lesson opens the extra course that sits beyond the RYA Yachtmaster Ocean ladder. It is not a rung on that ladder: nobody needs it to sail further or to sit an exam. It is for the sailor who has reached Yachtmaster level and wants to turn that competence into a professional role, either teaching for the RYA or working as a deck officer under the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). Before starting you should:
- Hold, or be close to holding, the RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate of Competence. Everything in the instructor ladder is built on top of it.
- Know the structure of the RYA Cruising Scheme from the inside: Start Yachting, Competent Crew, Day Skipper, Coastal Skipper and the Yachtmaster exams, with their shorebased courses alongside.
- Understand the commercial endorsement, the medical certificates (ML5 and ENG1) and the Professional Practices and Responsibilities (PPR) course at least in outline. They are covered in depth in the lesson on going commercial, which you can read in either order.
- Be a current RYA member, or be prepared to become one. Instructor qualifications are held by members only.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
- Describe the RYA teaching ladder for the sail cruising scheme: Cruising Instructor, Yachtmaster Instructor, Shorebased Navigation Instructor, Yachtmaster Examiner and Instructor Trainer, and what each may teach or examine.
- State the entry requirements for the Cruising Instructor course: age, certificate, commercial endorsement, first aid, membership and the online pre-course knowledge module.
- Explain the shape of the five-day Cruising Instructor course and the role of the moderating Trainer on the final day.
- State the extra requirements for the Yachtmaster Instructor course: time served as a Cruising Instructor and more than 7,000 logged miles.
- Explain how RYA Examiners are selected, trained and kept current.
- Apply the validity and revalidation rules, including the age-related rules that shorten the cycle after 67 and 70.
- Plan a realistic personal timeline from a newly earned Yachtmaster Offshore to an examiner appointment.
Why the Scheme Needs Instructors
The RYA Cruising Scheme is delivered by Recognised Training Centres (RTCs), not by the RYA itself. Each centre has a Principal and a Chief Instructor who are responsible for standards, and every practical course afloat is taught by an instructor holding the correct RYA qualification for that course. The RYA inspects centres, moderates instructor courses and appoints the examiners who conduct the Yachtmaster exams. The result is a scheme in which a Competent Crew certificate earned in Falmouth, Gibraltar or Auckland means the same thing.
That consistency depends on three things that the instructor ladder is designed to deliver:
- Depth of personal competence. Instructors must be far better sailors than the level they teach, because they must sail the boat, watch five students and keep everyone safe at the same time.
- Teaching skill. Knowing how to do something and knowing how to teach it are different skills. The instructor courses teach the second.
- Standardisation. Moderation on instructor courses, the examiner selection process and five-yearly revalidation keep the standard the same across hundreds of centres.
The ladder for the sail cruising scheme is shown below. Each step depends on the one before it, and the whole structure rests on a commercially endorsed Yachtmaster Offshore certificate.
The Rungs of the Ladder
| Qualification | What it lets you do | Core entry requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Cruising Instructor (CI) | Teach RYA practical sail courses up to and including Day Skipper at an RTC | Commercially endorsed Yachtmaster Offshore, first aid, pre-course module, membership, age 18 |
| Yachtmaster Instructor (YMI) | Teach practical courses up to and beyond Day Skipper, including Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster preparation; exempt from Teaching in the Classroom | CI for two years part-time or one full-time season, more than 7,000 miles logged |
| Shorebased Navigation Instructor | Teach the RYA shorebased navigation courses (Essential Navigation, Day Skipper theory, Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore theory) | Yachtmaster Offshore CoC (or Advanced Powerboat Instructor), Teaching in the Classroom, a pass in the Coastal/Yachtmaster shorebased course within five years |
| Yachtmaster Examiner | Conduct Yachtmaster Coastal, Offshore and Ocean exams | Appointed by the RYA from experienced YMIs identified at revalidation |
| Instructor Trainer | Run and moderate instructor courses | Appointed by the RYA from experienced examiners and YMIs |
The powerboat and motor cruising schemes have parallel ladders with their own course lengths; this lesson follows the sail route, which is the one that leads on from the courses you have studied here.
Cruising Instructor
Who it is for
The RYA describes the Cruising Instructor candidate as an experienced skipper with theoretical and practical knowledge well in excess of the Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate of Competence. Training centres are blunter: a sailor who has just scraped a Yachtmaster pass with minimum mileage is unlikely to complete the course, and so is one whose experience is mostly inshore racing. The course does not teach you to sail; it assumes you can sail very well and teaches you to pass that on.
Think about what you will be doing on a Competent Crew course. Five adults who have never been on a yacht will be reefing, picking up moorings, coming alongside and recovering a dummy from the water, while you stand in the cockpit and let them make the mistakes they need to make, intervening a second before the mistake becomes dangerous. That requires spare mental capacity. If handling the boat uses all of yours, there is none left for teaching.
Entry requirements
Before you can attend the course you must:
- Be at least 18 years old.
- Hold the RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate of Competence (sail) with a current commercial endorsement. The endorsement itself requires a medical (ML5 or ENG1), the one-day RYA Basic Sea Survival course or STCW Personal Survival Techniques, the Short Range Certificate (SRC) and a pass in the online PPR course.
- Hold a valid first aid certificate accepted by the RYA (the one-day RYA First Aid course is the usual route).
- Be a current RYA personal member.
- Pass the online Cruising Instructor pre-course knowledge module on RYA Interactive. The centre enrols you when you book. It covers teaching background theory and Yachtmaster Offshore theory, and you must pass it before you are eligible to attend. Treat it seriously: candidates who turn up without a secure grip on tidal heights, secondary ports, course to steer and the collision regulations spend the week relearning theory instead of learning to teach.
The five-day course
The sail course runs over five days, usually living aboard, at a ratio of four candidates to one Trainer. The week is a mixture of instruction and assessment, and the diagram below shows a typical shape.
The content falls into four strands:
- Instructional technique. How people learn, how to structure a session, how to brief, demonstrate, supervise practice and give feedback. This is the heart of the course and the subject of the next lesson.
- Knowledge. Your own understanding of the syllabus at Competent Crew and Day Skipper level, and of the Yachtmaster theory that underpins it. You will be asked to teach topics at short notice, so gaps show.
- Safety and course management. Running a safe boat with novices aboard: risk assessment, briefings, lifejacket and harness policy, man overboard drills with real students, what to do when the weather is wrong for the planned exercise, and the paperwork of a training centre.
- Personal skills. Boat handling under sail and power to a standard that lets you demonstrate cleanly while talking.
Across the week every candidate teaches real sessions to the other candidates (who play the students) and is debriefed on each one. On the final day a second Trainer joins as moderator. The moderator has not seen you all week and assesses you fresh, which is the scheme's guarantee that a centre cannot simply pass its own friends. You are required to demonstrate competence in course preparation, delivery and management. A successful candidate receives the Cruising Instructor endorsement in their Yachtmaster certificate.
What a Cruising Instructor may teach
A CI may teach RYA practical sail courses up to Day Skipper at a Recognised Training Centre: Start Yachting, Competent Crew and Day Skipper practical, within the instructor-to-student ratios the RYA sets for those courses. A CI may not teach Coastal Skipper practical, run Yachtmaster preparation weeks or conduct exams, and may not teach shorebased courses without the separate Shorebased Navigation Instructor qualification.
Yachtmaster Instructor
Entry requirements
The Yachtmaster Instructor course is the second rung and the one that turns an instructor into someone who can prepare candidates for the Yachtmaster exam itself. You may apply when you have:
- Worked as an RYA Cruising Instructor for at least two years part-time or one season full-time, with significant sea experience.
- Logged more than 7,000 miles of sea time.
- A valid first aid certificate and current RYA membership, with your Yachtmaster Offshore and its commercial endorsement still in date.
The 7,000-mile figure is a floor, not a target. Candidates are expected to bring wide experience of different boats, waters and conditions, because the course will ask them to coach to a standard, not just to a syllabus.
The course
The sail course is five days, again with a different Trainer moderating on the final day. The emphasis shifts from the teaching of skills to the assessment and coaching of competent sailors. You will be expected to:
- Assess a Coastal Skipper student's passage plan, pilotage plan and boat handling against the standard, and give feedback that moves them towards it.
- Run exercises that stretch Yachtmaster candidates: blind navigation, man overboard under sail, berthing in cross-tides, night pilotage.
- Understand the structure and standards of the whole scheme so that you can run a centre's courses consistently.
- Hold your own standard of seamanship to a level that an examiner would recognise.
What a Yachtmaster Instructor may do
A YMI may teach RYA practical courses up to and beyond Day Skipper: Coastal Skipper practical and Yachtmaster Coastal and Offshore preparation courses. A YMI is also exempt from the Teaching in the Classroom course and is recognised to teach the RYA shorebased navigation courses. Many YMIs go on to be Chief Instructors or Principals of training centres, and all examiners come from this pool.
The diagram below sets out what each qualification may teach.
Shorebased Navigation Instructor
The shorebased route is covered in its own lesson, but it belongs on the ladder. The requirements are a Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate of Competence (or Advanced Powerboat Instructor), completion of the one-day Teaching in the Classroom course (compulsory since 1 March 2019 unless you are exempt as a YMI or hold a professional teaching qualification), and a pass in the Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore shorebased course within the last five years. The qualification is valid for five years. Note the order: you are expected to have sat the course you will be teaching, recently, as a student.
Yachtmaster Examiner
How examiners are appointed
You cannot apply to become an examiner. RYA Examiners are selected from the pool of experienced Yachtmaster Instructors (and, in the powerboat scheme, Powerboat Trainers) who are identified as potential examiner candidates during their five-yearly revalidation courses by the Instructor Trainers running those courses. Each year the RYA reviews the recommendations and invites a shortlist to attend an Examiner course. The shortlist takes account of the individual recommended and the wider needs of the scheme, which means geography matters: the RYA needs examiners where the exams are. Candidates who complete the Examiner course successfully are appointed.
Keeping the appointment
Examiners attend an update every five years. An examiner who still holds a current YMI endorsement or Trainer appointment need only attend an examiners' oral update, because their practical standard is being checked through their instructor revalidation. All examiners have been assessed and trained afloat and must demonstrate their skills every five years.
What examiners do
Examiners conduct the Yachtmaster Coastal and Offshore practical exams (six to ten hours for one Coastal candidate, eight to twelve hours for one Offshore candidate, longer with two) and the Yachtmaster Ocean oral. They must be independent of the candidate: an examiner does not examine candidates they have trained. The exam itself, and how the examiner thinks about it, is the subject of a later lesson.
Validity, Revalidation and Age
Instructor qualifications are not for life. The rules are:
- A Cruising Instructor or Yachtmaster Instructor endorsement is valid for five years if you are under 70 at the time of issue, after which you must attend and pass an on-the-water revalidation before the five years expire. A sail revalidation is two days afloat.
- From the age of 70 the endorsement is issued for two years at a time.
- An endorsement obtained after the age of 67 must be revalidated at 72, even if that is less than five years later.
- Your first aid certificate, commercial endorsement (including the medical) and RYA membership must all remain current throughout. If any lapses, so does your ability to teach.
The cycle is shown below.
Revalidation is not a formality. Trainers use it to check that instructors are still teaching to the current syllabus (which changes), still sailing to the standard, and, as noted above, to spot future examiners.
Worked Example: A Realistic Timeline
Sarah passes her Yachtmaster Offshore in June of year 1 with 3,100 miles logged, mostly on the south coast of England and two Biscay crossings. She wants to examine one day. A realistic plan looks like this:
| When | Step | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1, June | Yachtmaster Offshore (sail) | SRC and first aid already held |
| Year 1, July | Commercial endorsement | ML5 medical, Basic Sea Survival, PPR online |
| Year 1, winter | Crew and mate work; 1,500 more miles | Builds the breadth the CI course expects |
| Year 2, March | Pre-course module, then five-day CI course | Moderated on day five |
| Years 2 to 3 | Teaches Competent Crew and Day Skipper two seasons part-time; 2,500 miles teaching plus deliveries | Keeps a mileage log signed by the Principal |
| Year 4, April | Yachtmaster Instructor course (5 days) | Now over 7,000 miles logged |
| Years 4 to 9 | Teaches Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster prep; becomes Chief Instructor | Revalidates CI/YMI at year 7 |
| Year 9 | Identified at revalidation; shortlisted the following winter | Not guaranteed |
| Year 10 | Examiner course; appointed | Updates every five years |
Ten years from Yachtmaster to examiner is normal. Some reach it faster by teaching full-time; many never do, because the scheme only appoints as many examiners as it needs.
Common Mistakes
- Booking the CI course straight after the Yachtmaster exam. Trainers see this often. The candidate can sail but cannot spare the attention to teach. Get a season of varied experience first.
- Arriving with weak theory. The pre-course module is a pass/fail gate, but a bare pass leaves you exposed when asked to teach secondary ports on day two. Revise the Yachtmaster theory properly.
- Letting the paperwork lapse. A first aid certificate (three years), a commercial endorsement (five years), an ML5 or ENG1 medical and RYA membership all have different expiry dates. Keep a single list with dates.
- Confusing Cruising Instructor with Shorebased Instructor. A CI who wants to teach Day Skipper theory in the winter needs the separate shorebased qualification unless and until they become a YMI.
- Assuming instructing leads automatically to examining. Examiners are chosen, not qualified. Being a consistently excellent, current YMI is the only route.
- Miscounting the 7,000 miles. Only logged miles count, and the Trainer may ask how they were gained. Pad the log and you will be found out on the water.
Summary
- The RYA scheme is delivered by Recognised Training Centres with instructors trained, moderated and revalidated by the RYA.
- The sail ladder is Cruising Instructor (teaches to Day Skipper), Yachtmaster Instructor (teaches Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster preparation, may teach shorebased), Examiner (appointed), with the Shorebased Navigation Instructor route alongside.
- CI entry: age 18, commercially endorsed Yachtmaster Offshore, first aid, RYA membership, pass the online pre-course module; five-day course moderated by a second Trainer on the last day; 4:1 ratio.
- YMI entry: two years part-time or one season full-time as a CI and more than 7,000 logged miles; five-day course, also moderated.
- Examiners are selected from experienced YMIs identified at revalidation, trained on an Examiner course, and updated every five years.
- Endorsements last five years (two years from age 70; obtained after 67, revalidate at 72) and depend on first aid, commercial endorsement and membership staying current.
Check Your Understanding
- What are the five things a candidate must hold or have done before attending a Cruising Instructor course?
Answer: Be 18 or over; hold the RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate of Competence with a current commercial endorsement; hold a valid first aid certificate; be a current RYA member; and have passed the online Cruising Instructor pre-course knowledge module.
- Why does a second Trainer join the course on the final day?
Answer: To moderate. The moderator has not taught the candidates during the week and assesses their course preparation, delivery and management independently, which keeps the standard consistent between centres.
- A Cruising Instructor is asked to teach a Coastal Skipper practical week. May they?
Answer: No. A CI may teach practical courses up to Day Skipper. Coastal Skipper practical and Yachtmaster preparation require a Yachtmaster Instructor.
- State the two extra requirements for the Yachtmaster Instructor course beyond holding a CI endorsement.
Answer: At least two years part-time or one season full-time working as an RYA Cruising Instructor, and more than 7,000 miles of logged sea time.
- How does someone become a Yachtmaster Examiner?
Answer: They do not apply. Experienced Yachtmaster Instructors are identified as potential examiners by Instructor Trainers during their five-yearly revalidation; the RYA reviews recommendations annually, shortlists candidates according to the needs of the scheme, invites them to an Examiner course, and appoints those who complete it.
- An instructor gains their YMI endorsement at 68. When must they revalidate?
Answer: At 72. An endorsement obtained after the age of 67 must be revalidated at 72 even though that is less than five years later. From 70 onwards it is issued for two years at a time.
- A YMI's first aid certificate expired last month. Can they teach a Day Skipper course this week?
Answer: No. A valid first aid certificate is a condition of the instructor endorsement, as are a current commercial endorsement and RYA membership. They must renew it first.
- Which instructor qualification is exempt from the Teaching in the Classroom course, and why?
Answer: The Yachtmaster Instructor. The YMI course already covers teaching and the YMI is recognised to teach the RYA shorebased navigation courses, so the one-day classroom course is not required.
- What is the typical ratio on a Cruising Instructor course and why does it matter?
Answer: Four candidates to one Trainer. Each candidate must teach real sessions and be debriefed on them several times during the week, which is only possible with a small group.
- Why do training centres warn that candidates whose experience is mainly inshore racing may struggle?
Answer: The courses taught are cruising courses: pilotage, passage making, anchoring, berthing under power, living aboard and crew care. A racer may be a superb helm but lack the breadth of cruising seamanship the course assumes and the students need.
Sources and Further Reading
- RYA Cruising and Yachtmaster Instructor: entry requirements, course lengths, validity and age rules.
- RYA: teaching in the cruising scheme: overview of instructor qualifications.
- RYA Examiners: selection from YMIs, Examiner course, five-year updates.
- RYA Shorebased Navigation Instructor and Teaching in the Classroom.
- UKSA RYA Cruising Instructor course: 4:1 ratio, pre-course module, living aboard.
- First Class Sailing: Cruising Instructor course: course content and moderation day.
- RYA commercial endorsements: documents needed for the endorsement a CI must hold.