Professional Commercial Yachtmaster Offshore

We’re delighted to launch our Professional RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Offshore Programme for the 2021 season. Our programme has been designed to help you reach the grade of RYA Yachtmaster Offshore in time for the 2022 summer season, and to assist you through the process of gaining a commercial endorsement.

Our next programme begins in October and consists of intensive and hands on training. By the end of the programme, you’ll have more than covered the required mileage for the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore assessment. There’s an outline of the programme below, but please get in touch with us as we’d like to spend some time to talk to you about the programme in more detail.

The programme fees are €9,950.

What’s Included:

Accommodation onboard the yacht during practical courses
All meals during practical courses
Use of foul weather gear
All course materials and books
All examination and license fees, including VHF SRC License fee and RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Assessment Fees

What’s not included:

Food and accommodation are not provided on days where practical on yacht courses are not taking place, nor during shorebased programmes (Day Skipper Theory, First Aid, Sea Survival and VHF Courses).

We do provide foul weather gear (waterproof overalls) but not footwear, however, we’d strongly recommend purchasing your own set of gear and would be happy to provide advice on what to get.

Previous Experience…

Our programme is designed with novice sailors in mind. Those with previous experience should get in touch as there may be aspects of the programme that you would not need to complete. Get in touch and we’d be delighted to chat about individual circumstances.

How do the modules work…

Once you complete each certificate course, we’ll issue you the certificate straight away. This means if you decide to stop during the programme, you’ll have all the qualifications obtained at that point.

We’ll use a variety of instructors on the programme, ensuring you’ll benefit from a spread of teaching styles and previous experience.

Interested, get in touch…

Please get in touch with us on +353 (0)1 2844195 or by email to sailing@inss.ie. Our chief instructor Kenneth Rumball is happy to have an in-depth telephone discussion about this programme or ideally, meet you down in Dun Laoghaire, show you the yachts and run you through the programme in detail.

Our cancellation policy for this course can be viewed here.

2021/22 Programme Outline

Module 1: Learn to Skipper

After this module, candidates will be sufficiently qualified to receive an ICC in both sail and power.

RYA Competent Crew Course: 27th September – 1st October
RYA Day Skipper Theory Course: 4th – 8th October (9am-5pm each day)
RYA Day Skipper Practical: 11th – 15th October
Practise Drills: 18th – 20th October
- Med Mooring, Power Manoeuvres, Parking, MOB
National Powerboat Certificate: 19th and 20th October

1 week break (children’s Mid-Term Break)

Module 2: Shorebased & Advanced Powerboating

This module builds on the background skills required to operate a sailing vessel safely and builds powerboating experience.

First Aid Course: Sunday 24th October (9.30am-5pm)
VHF Course: Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd November (10.30am-5pm each day)
Intermediate Powerboat Course: Thursday 4th and Friday 5th November (9am-5pm each day)
Sea Survival Course: Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th November (9.30am-5pm each day)
PWC (Jet Ski) Proficiency Course and further Powerboat Practice: Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th November (9.30am-5pm each day)
Advanced Powerboat Course: Thursday 11th (9.30am-9pm) and Friday 12th (10am-4pm) November

Module 3: Better Skippering

Day Navigation and Pilotage Week, Mooring and Manoeuvres: Monday 15th – Thursday 18th November
3 day break, Friday 19th – Sunday 21st November to rest prior to Coastal Skipper Course
RYA Coastal Skipper Course: Monday 22nd – Friday 26th November
Advanced Night Navigation and Pilotage Week: Monday 29th November – Friday 3rd December
Distance Sail with instructor 1 – East Coast: Monday 6th – Friday 10th December

There is a 21 day break scheduled from Saturday 11th December 2021 to Saturday 1st January 2022. During this break, there is an optional sail repair, engine maintenance and boat maintenance workshop as the vessel used on the programme receives an inspection from our maintenance team. Programme participants are welcome to join from Tuesday 14th December – Thursday 18th December while this work is carried out, get involved and take some extra skills away.

Module 4: Further Advanced Powerboat Operations

RYA Powerboat Tender Operators Certificate: Sunday 2nd & Monday 3rd January 2022
- This is an excellent qualification designed for workers in the Superyacht Industry.

Module 5: Further Sailing – Building Experience and Miles

Distance Sail with instructor 2 – 6 days: Tuesday 4th – Saturday 9th January 2022
Passage Planning with Instructor: Monday 10th January 2022
Distance Self Sail 1 – 4 days: Tuesday 11th – Friday 14th January 2022
Distance Self Sail 2 – 6 days: Monday 17th – Saturday 22nd January 2022

Module 6: Yachtmaster Preparation and Assessment

YM Prep Week: Monday 24th – Friday 28th January 2022
YM Assessment: Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th January 2022

Commercial Endorsement

Successful completion of the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore satisfies the training and qualification requirements for the commercial endorsement. There are a few other requirements which you’d need to organise yourself, listed below.

Additional Commercial Endorsement Requirements:

Professional Practises and Responsibilities – Short Online Course we’ll organise for you.
Medical Examination – Organised by yourself
Eye Test – Organised by yourself

Commercial Endorsement Procedures

Irish commercial endorsements are processed by Irish Sailing, more here…

Reviews

					  I have just done the RYA Competent Crew course here, five-days aboard the 36-foot Beaufort Venture under the guidance of instructor Gary Curran. The whole week surpassed my expectations, and... read more I cannot praise Gary's teaching style highly enough. We covered the syllabus with clear, safety-focused instructions, followed by lots of hands-on practice. He was patient when things didn't always go right first time, and challenged us to step up our skills when he thought we were ready. We got lots and lots of sailing in conditions ranging from 10 to 30 knots of wind, and the Beaufort Venture is a comfortable and forgiving boat to sail. I won't name check my wonderful shipmates, but I can say that after this week of instruction and encouragement I've raised my sailing ambitions to a higher level. The INSS under Kenny Rumball are super-well organised, and supported us with all the advice, equipment, clothing and food we needed. A great week, and I strongly recommend the INSS to anyone wanting to start sailing or to build their skills.				
PatrickKinsella
July 1, 2017 

					  I would recommend anyone looking to improve their skills to attend this course. Excellent facilities, boats and really good instruction. Good craic with the group too. Will definitely do this... read more again even though I got the cert.				
kierann
December 5, 2022 

					  Having done a few courses with the INSS over the summer of 2023, and some sailing on the Mediterranean, doing the Competent Crew course with others who were doing the... read more Day Skipper course at the same time was the highlight of my time learning how to sail. The reason it was the highlight was largely due to the course instructor Shona O'Dowd (I made certain to get her full name before leaving to give her the credit she deserved). Huge knowledge and experience mixed with a great attitude, with friendliness, patience and approachability making Shona stand out and make each day of the course something to look forward to regardless of weather or experience level. Shona guided practical use of all facets of sailing knowledge excellently and never micromanaged or tried to exert too much control, thereby never limiting the learning that can take place for students. 



This teaching style is difficult to find, having seen a variety of instructors and their styles, in different countries and even within the INSS, and so you will be very lucky if you get Shona on your boat when it comes your turn to learn the ropes (literally). All in all, the Competent Crew course was very enjoyable, and I just wanted to give credit where it was due.				
Maps57686967283
August 20, 2023 