YACHTMASTER

This course is a theory course and is designed as an add-on for students who have recently completed the Good Hope Sailing’s Coastal Skipper course. It does not include revision of the Coastal syllabus. The SAS Yachtmaster Offshore chartwork exam includes questions from the Day Skipper syllabus and the Coastal Skipper syllabus. The SAS Offshore course also dives into Celestial Navigation.

To do a SAS Yachtmaster Offshore exam you require:

1. A SAS or CASA Coastal Skipper’s ticket
2. A VHF Marine Radio Operator’s Licence (SRC)
3. An eye test (details available on the SAS web site)
4. A certificate of attendance at an approved first-aid course
5. 2,500 nautical miles as an active member of crew on a sailing vessel at sea
6. 48 night hours on watch
7. Three overnight passages of at least 100 nautical miles as skipper
8. A photocopy of your logbook which records your experience

There are a few items that are essential for the course, which are obtainable from Charts International or Chart World:

1. The practice chart SA/N 3002
2. A parallel ruler, a Portland plotter, dividers, soft pencils (2B) and a soft eraser
3. A calculator with a square-root button
4. The SAS Yachtmaster Offshore Exercise and Navigation Tables
5. International Rules for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea (HO-15)
6. List of Lights, Fog Signals and Radio Services (HO-1)
7. Chart symbols and abbreviations (HO-6)
8. You get the SAS Yachtmaster Offshore Exercise and Navigation Tables from SAS.

For your oral exam you will need to demonstrate your GPS literacy using a handheld GPS of your choice. The Yachtmaster Offshore exam has to be done through SAS.

The exam generally consists of three components:

1. A short exam covering Colregs and IALA Buoyage (±½ hour)
2. A chartwork exam (±3 hours)
3. An oral exam (±2 hours)

The application must go through SAS for the Yachtmaster Offshore exam. The application form is available on the SAS website, or we can email it to you.