Have you ever thought about a career in sailing?

Whilst a lot of people choose to get their sailing qualifications for personal and pleasure reasons, RYA qualifications can also open doors to some great careers.

If you are passionate about spending time on the water, here are a few career paths you might want to consider.

Crew Member

If you aren’t keen on being responsible for skippering, but still like the idea of a job that involves travelling the world on the water, there are a number of crew positions onboard ships and yachts, such as deckhands, chefs and engineers.

Whilst a sailing qualification may not be essential for these roles, they can give you the edge over other candidates when applying for jobs.

Sailing Instructor

If you have a passion for sailing, but don’t want a job that involves being away from home for long periods of time, a career as a sailing instructor could be the job for you.  Obviously, you will need to be highly proficient in the areas that you wish to teach, and it may take you years to attain the requisite skill levels.

Watersports Manager

Another career option if you love sailing but don’t want to work away from home is a watersports manager. This involves organising water-based activities such as powerboats and jet skis at an activity centre or beach resort.

Officer on Watch (OOW)

An officer on watch is a deck officer assigned with the duties of watch keeping and navigation on a ship’s bridge. The OOW is the representative of the ship’s master and while keeping a watch on the bridge they have total responsibility for the safe and smooth navigation of the ship.

To complete the qualifications required to be an OOW, the RYA Yachtmaster coastal qualification is now the entry route for OOW yachts less than 3000GT, so our Yachtmaster Academy is an ideal way to start progressing towards a career as an OOW.

Superyacht Captain

The role of a Superyacht Captain is probably the ultimate sailing job. If you like the idea of being behind the wheel of a powerful multi-million-pound, luxury super yacht, transporting the rich and famous around the world to glamorous locations, then this is the job for you!

The job is well paid and has some great perks, but equally, it also comes with a lot of responsibility, is demanding and requires an elite level of sailing proficiency.

On successful completion of the Ocean Sports Tuition Yachtmaster Coastal Academy you will have all you need to start your career in the Superyacht industry.

What is the Yachtmaster Academy?

A Yachtmaster qualification is a certificate of competence for sailing and powerboats. There are three different qualifications included in the Yachtmaster Academy:

• RYA Yachtmaster Coastal Certificate of Competence – This qualification is a certificate of competence that is awarded on the recommendation of an appointed RYA MCA Yachtmaster Examiner. It will give you the knowledge needed to skipper a yacht on coastal cruises no more than 60 nautical miles offshore.
• RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate of Competence – This qualification is awarded by way of an exam at the end of your prep week.  It will give you the competency to skipper a yacht on any passage during which the yacht is no more than 150 nautical miles from a safe haven.
• RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Ocean Certificate of Competence – This qualification is also awarded by way of an exam. Achieving this qualification means you are experienced and competent to skipper a yacht on passages of any length in all parts of the world.

Here at Ocean Sports Tuition we have been successfully delivering high quality RYA tuition on the south coast and in the Solent since 2004. We offer a range of RYA powerboat and sailing courses of varying levels to suit different abilities, including the RYA Yachtmaster Coastal Certificate of Competence (Coastal Skipper), the RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate of Competence and the RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Ocean Certificate of Competence.

If you would like to find out more about the courses we offer or discuss which one is most suitable for you, visit our contact us page or give us a call on 02381 242159.