Yacht deck career path: from deckhand to captain

Tonnage decides, not length

Yacht certificates are cut by gross tonnage, and the lines that matter are 200 GT, 500 GT and 3000 GT. Length matters separately: a load line length of 24 metres and over is what puts a yacht under MSN 1858 (M) Amendment 2. A wide beam or explorer hull can sit a tonnage band above what its length suggests, so the figure on the tonnage certificate is the one that counts.

What every deckhand needs first

• ENG1 medical certificate. Valid for 2 years, 1 year under the age of 18.
• STCW Basic Safety Training. Personal Survival Techniques, Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting, Elementary First Aid, and Personal Safety and Social Responsibilities. The first two have to be updated every 5 years; the other two do not expire.
• Proficiency in Security Awareness (PSA). Required to serve on a ship the ISPS Code applies to.

The rating certificates

The MCA Yacht Rating certificate needs 6 months of onboard yacht service with 2 months at sea on vessels of 15 metres or more, the four basic safety courses, a training record book and an ENG1, from the age of 16. With a Watch Leader or Day Skipper plus Competent Crew, or a Yacht Rating course completion certificate, the record book falls away and 2 months at sea are enough (MSN 1862 §3).

The Efficient Deck Hand (EDH) is a course and exam. To enter it you need one of: a Yachtmaster Offshore; the Yacht Rating certificate with 6 months of onboard yacht service and a steering certificate; an NWR certificate; a Boat Master Licence Tier 1 level 2; or a Tug Rating certificate with 6 months of seagoing service and a steering certificate. The certificate itself needs 6 months of seagoing service on vessels of 15 metres or over, and you must be 17 (MSN 1862 §4). Plan it early: the EDH must be issued at least 18 months before your OOW certificate.

The first officer certificate: OOW (Yachts <3000 GT)

Besides the seagoing service MSN 1858 §3.3 sets, the Officer of the Watch certificate asks for:

• RYA Yachtmaster Offshore, both the shorebased theory and the Certificate of Competence. The MCA also accepts an IYT Master of Yachts Limited, an RYA Yachtmaster Coastal CoC with the Coastal Skipper practical course certificate, or an IYT Master of Yachts Coastal/Mate under 200 GT.
• The EDH, and the MCA Yacht Training Record Book.
• Proficiency in Survival Craft and Rescue Boats (PSCRB).
• A GMDSS General Operator's Certificate with its STCW endorsement.
• The MCA approved generic ECDIS course. A manufacturer's type specific course is familiarisation, not the approved course.
• HELM Operational (Leadership and Management).
• The Navigation and Radar and the General Ship Knowledge modules with their MCA exams; each pass is valid for 3 years.
• The Notice of Eligibility (valid for 5 years) and the oral exam (the pass is valid for 3 years).

There is also a smaller first certificate: Master (code vessels <200 GT) with OOW (yachts <500 GT), one document carrying both capacities. It is a voluntary upgrade for holders of an RYA Yachtmaster or IYT Master of Yachts. The II/3 version limits the Master capacity to 150 miles from a safe haven, the II/2 version has no area limit; the OOW capacity is unlimited in area on both.

Chief Mate (Yachts <3000 GT)

No extra sea service and no oral exam, and it can be applied for together with the OOW. It adds the RYA Yachtmaster Ocean (shorebased course and certificate, or an IYT Master of Yachts Unlimited), Advanced Fire Fighting, Proficiency in Medical First Aid and HELM at management level. HELM Management does not replace HELM Operational: applying for both certificates at once needs both courses.

Master (Yachts <500 GT) and Master (Yachts <3000 GT)

Both build on the OOW. They need Advanced Fire Fighting, Medical First Aid, Proficiency in Medical Care, HELM Management, and four modules with MCA exams: Seamanship and Meteorology, Stability, Business and Law, and Navigation, Radar and ARPA Simulator. Each of those passes is valid for 3 years. Celestial Navigation is the exception: its pass is valid for 1 year only, so take it last. A Master (Yachts <500 GT) exempts you from the four modules on the way to <3000 GT, but not from Celestial. Each certificate ends with its own oral exam.

Above 3000 GT: Yachts Unlimited

Since Amendment 2 of MSN 1858 there is a Chief Mate (Yachts Unlimited) and a Master (Yachts Unlimited). The Chief Mate path runs through the Master (Yachts <3000 GT) and needs NAEST (Management), nine academic modules at an MCA approved nautical college (or a recognised management level qualification), the MCA assessments in navigation and stability, and an oral exam. Master (Yachts Unlimited) then follows either with 6 months as Master on yachts of 500 GT or more, or with 12 months as Chief Mate on yachts of 500 GT or more.

Keeping it valid

Every certificate of competency runs for 5 years and has to be revalidated, with sea service, refresher training and a valid ENG1. See how revalidation works and which safety courses expire.