Career Pathway Planner

What's left, in what order, by when.

Enter where you are. The planner computes the gap to your next ticket, projects an eligibility date from your real rotation, sequences the courses so nothing expires before the oral, and flags the testimonial traps that stall applications for months. The maths is deterministic and sourced — it never guesses a sea-time number.

The Yachtmaster route

The rung below the ladder — and built into it.

Before the MCA CoC ladder above, most deck careers climb through the RYA Yachtmaster scheme. It matters twice: with a commercial endorsement, Yachtmaster Offshore is a standalone professional ticket to skipper vessels up to 24 m (under 200 GT) — dayboats, charter, delivery — and it is also a required course inside the OOW <3000 GT package, so the miles you log toward it are never wasted whichever way you go. Requirements below are the RYA's own; the Sea Service Logbook tracks your live progress against every line of them.

Yachtmaster Coastal

Skipper on coastal passages by day and night.

·30 days at sea (all within the last 10 years)
·2 days as skipper
·800 miles logged — 400 if you hold the Coastal Skipper completion certificate
·12 night hours
·At least half of all sea time in tidal waters

Practical exam, around 6–10 hours for one candidate. Often skipped by yacht crew who go straight for Offshore once the miles exist.

Yachtmaster Offshore

THE working ticket of the yacht industry's first rung — and a required course inside the MCA OOW <3000 GT package.

·50 days at sea (all within the last 10 years)
·5 days as skipper
·2,500 miles logged
·5 passages over 60 miles — including 2 overnight and 2 as skipper
·At least half of all sea time in tidal waters

Practical exam, 8–12 hours for one candidate: passage planning, pilotage by day and night, boat handling, MOB, blind navigation. Taken in power or sail — the certificate follows the boat you sit it in.

Yachtmaster Ocean

Skipper on unrestricted ocean passages — the celestial ticket.

·Hold Yachtmaster Offshore
·A qualifying ocean passage: non-stop ≥600 nm, ≥96 hours, with ≥200 nm more than 50 nm from charted objects
·Acted as skipper or mate of the watch throughout
·Celestial sights taken on passage (incl. sun-run-meridian) and a compass check by celestial bearing

Oral exam plus assessment of your sights and passage records — no practical. The crossing itself is the qualification.

Before any Yachtmaster exam

·GMDSS Short Range Certificate (SRC) or higher radio qualification
·A valid first aid certificate (RYA First Aid, STCW EFA or equivalent)

Book these early — the SRC and first aid courses fill up in season, and neither is something to cram the week of the exam.

Working commercially: the endorsement

·ENG1 medical (or ML5 where applicable — ENG1 is the yacht-industry standard)
·Basic Sea Survival (RYA) or STCW Personal Survival Techniques
·PPR — Professional Practices & Responsibilities (RYA online course)

The certificate alone is recreational. Add these three and the RYA issues the commercial endorsement — the version employers and flag states recognise. Renewed five-yearly against a valid medical.

Track your progress in the logbook →Print the examiner's evidence sheet

Source: RYA Yachtmaster scheme requirements (rya.org.uk — certificates of competence). Figures shown are the RYA's published minima; sail and power candidates sit the same structure with the certificate reflecting the exam vessel. The RYA is the sole authority — confirm current requirements when booking an exam.

What's left, in what order, by when.

Where you are

Your rotation

Sea service so far

Courses & exams held

Targeting OOW (Yachts < 3000GT)

Your sequence

Courses outstanding