Yachtmaster Offshore Requirements: 50 Days, 2,500 Miles (2026)
Yachtmaster Offshore requirements: the short answers
What are the Yachtmaster Offshore requirements? In the last 10 years you need 50 days at sea, 5 days as skipper, 2,500 miles and five passages over 60 miles (two overnight, two as skipper). You also need to be 18 or older and hold an SRC radio certificate and a first aid certificate.
Does superyacht sea time count? Partly. Time on yachts over 24m counts for at most half the days and miles, and only if a testimonial or discharge book backs it up. Skipper days and qualifying passages on big yachts don't count toward Offshore.
Do I need Day Skipper or Coastal first? No. The RYA has no formal course you must take before the exam, but anything in the syllabus up to Offshore level can be examined. The RYA says pass rates are much higher for candidates who train first.
How long is the exam? It's a practical exam on the water: 8–12 hours for one candidate, 10–18 hours for two.
Can I work on it? Only once it's commercially endorsed. A commercially endorsed Offshore lets you skipper commercial vessels up to 200gt, up to 150 miles from a safe haven.
All rules below come from the RYA's own pages, checked 26 October 2026. The RYA Yachtmaster Scheme Syllabus and Logbook (G158) is the definitive version.
The full RYA Yachtmaster Offshore prerequisites
The RYA defines a Yachtmaster Offshore as someone "competent to skipper a cruising vessel on any passage during which the yacht is no more than 150 miles from harbour, by day or night and in wide range of weather conditions." To sit the exam, you need documented sea time on a seagoing sailing or motor yacht within the last 10 years:
| Requirement | Standard | If you hold Offshore in the other discipline |
|---|---|---|
| Days at sea (yachts up to 500gt) | 50 | 25 |
| Days as skipper (vessels under 24m LOA) | 5 | 3 |
| Miles (yachts up to 500gt) | 2,500 | 1,250 |
| Passages over 60 miles | 5, incl. 2 overnight and 2 as skipper | 3, incl. 1 overnight and 1 as skipper |
| Minimum age | 18 at the exam | 18 |
Read the footnotes. They're where most crew get caught out:
- At least half your qualifying sea time must be in tidal waters and on vessels under 24m LOA.
- Sea time on a yacht over 24m and over 500gt needs RYA sign-off. The RYA asks you to email [email protected] before you count it.
- Sail and power don't mix. Everything (days, miles, passages) must be in the same discipline as your exam. A season on a motor yacht builds toward Yachtmaster Offshore Power, not Sail.
You also need three documents on exam day:
- A GMDSS radio certificate, such as the RYA Short Range Certificate (SRC) or higher
- An RYA First Aid Certificate or another first aid certificate on the RYA's accepted list
- Photo ID (passport or driving licence)
Source: RYA Yachtmaster Offshore, checked 26 October 2026.
What actually counts as a day, a passage and a skipper
The RYA's qualifying passages page (checked 26 October 2026) defines these terms tightly, and your examiner will question you on every entry in your logbook.
- A day on board means 8 consecutive hours living aboard, most of it at sea. You can't add up shorter periods, and only one 8-hour block counts per 24 hours. A week alongside in a marina doesn't count.
- A passage is a continuous, non-stop voyage from a departure port or safe haven to a destination. The 60 miles are measured along the shortest navigable route. Both the planned distance and the distance actually run have to exceed 60 miles, and the RYA won't accept passages artificially lengthened to make the number.
- The skipper is the person nominated and responsible for planning and running the passage. It doesn't have to be the most experienced person aboard. If the skipper role changes hands mid-passage, neither person can claim it, and there should be no change of skipper or mates during a qualifying passage.
- Tidal waters means anywhere with published stream, current or tidal range data significant enough that you have to account for it in your navigation.
The 2013 Fastnet fleet off Swanage, a few hours after the start at Cowes. A race can count as a qualifying passage, but the RYA wants it submitted for consideration before you sail. Photo: Ian Kirk, CC BY 2.0.
The RYA strongly advises trainee skippers to complete the RYA Coastal Skipper practical course before skippering a 60-mile passage. That's sensible advice. Your first overnight in charge shouldn't also be your first time planning one.
Does superyacht sea time count?
Yes, but it covers at most half of what you need. Here's the RYA's vessel-size rule, which most crew have never seen written down:
| Vessel | Sea time (days and miles) | Days as skipper | Qualifying passages |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7m LWL to 24m LOA | Counts for Coastal, Offshore, Ocean | Counts for Coastal and Offshore | Counts for Offshore and Ocean |
| Over 24m, up to 3000gt | Counts for Coastal and Offshore, up to 50% of the minimum, with a testimonial or seaman's discharge book | Not valid | Ocean only, and only with a commercially endorsed Offshore or higher (up to 200gt) or OOW Yacht 3000gt (over 200gt) |
So a deckhand on a 50m motor yacht can put up to 25 days and 1,250 miles toward a power Offshore. The other half of the time, all 5 skipper days and all five 60-mile passages have to be done on boats under 24m. If the yacht is over 500gt, get the RYA to confirm before you rely on that time.
A small yacht off the Kent coast, sharing tidal water with ship traffic. At least half your Offshore sea time has to be on boats like this: under 24 metres, in tidal waters. Photo: Acabashi, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The tidal rule can also catch Med-based crew. Much of the Mediterranean has small tides, so check with your school or the RYA whether your passages meet the tidal definition before you assume they do.
How long it realistically takes crew
There's no standard timeline because it depends on how you fill the small-boat half. The RYA's own guidance (checked 26 October 2026) puts the self-taught route at "probably several years of experience combined with self-study." The arithmetic is the same for everyone, though.
Worked example (illustrative arithmetic, not a typical season): say a deckhand on a 50m motor yacht logs 40 qualifying days and 3,000 miles over a season of Med passages. Only 25 days and 1,250 miles can count toward Offshore Power, and only with a signed testimonial. Days spent tied up in port don't count at all. To be ready for the exam she still needs:
- 25 more days and 1,250 more miles on power boats under 24m
- 5 days as skipper on boats under 24m
- five 60-mile passages on boats under 24m (two overnight, two as skipper)
- half her total time in tidal waters
The big yacht gets her halfway on time and miles. It gets her nowhere on skipper days or passages. Ways crew close that gap:
- Your own boat, or friends' boats, in the right discipline
- Deliveries on boats under 24m, especially ones that need extra crew for overnight legs
- A school's mile-building or fast-track programme. Schools sell "zero to Yachtmaster" packages (our Yachtmaster course guide covers UKSA's 16-week one)
- Sail-training passages, if you're going for sail
- Races, submitted to the RYA beforehand
Keep the G158 logbook up to date as you go and get each skipper to sign it at the end of the trip. Getting a signature from a captain you worked with three years ago is much harder than getting one on the dock. Remember the 10-year window too: time older than that drops off.
You don't need any of this for your first job. Plenty of crew start as deckhands with STCW and an ENG1 and pick up the Offshore later. Our junior deckhand guide covers that first step.
The Yachtmaster Offshore exam
The exam is practical: you skipper a boat with an examiner aboard. You can sit it under sail or power, and the certificate is endorsed for that discipline. The examiner can test skippering, boat handling, general seamanship, navigation, safety awareness, the collision regulations (IRPCS), meteorology and signals. Anything in G158 up to and including Offshore is in scope.
- Duration: 8–12 hours for one candidate, 10–18 hours for two. An examiner can't examine more than two candidates in 24 hours, or more than four in a two-day session.
- The boat: your own, chartered or borrowed is fine. It must be 7m–18m LOA, seaworthy, equipped to the RYA Boat Safety Handbook (G103), and carry up-to-date charts, working instruments and a plotter or GPS. You need two crew besides yourself, because the examiner won't help run the boat. Usually the training centre provides the boat and books the examiner.
- If the boat doesn't have them, bring: waterproof charts, a dedicated GPS (handheld is fine), tide tables, pilotage information, plotting instruments and photo ID.
There's no compulsory course, but most candidates do a prep week on the exam boat first. For what the theory course, prep week and exam fee cost at four UK schools, see our Yachtmaster course UK guide.
Coastal vs Offshore vs Ocean
| Coastal | Offshore | Ocean | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Days at sea | 30 (on vessels under 24m) | 50 | Must hold Offshore first |
| Days as skipper | 2 | 5 | None |
| Miles | 800 | 2,500 | One passage of 600+ miles |
| Night/passage rule | 12 night hours | Five 60-mile passages | 96+ hours, 200 miles more than 50 miles from land |
| Exam | Practical, 6–10 hrs (1 candidate) | Practical, 8–12 hrs (1 candidate) | Oral + written, about 1.5–2 hrs |
| Minimum age | 17 | 18 | — (Offshore needed first, so 18+ in practice) |
Coastal reductions apply if you hold the RYA Coastal Skipper practical course certificate or Coastal in the other discipline. See the RYA Yachtmaster Coastal page (checked 26 October 2026).
Yachtmaster Ocean certifies you to skipper a vessel of up to 200gt "on passages of any length in all parts of the world." You need an Offshore (or MCA OOW Yachts under 3000gt) plus one qualifying passage in the last 10 years. You must have taken full part in planning it, acted as skipper or sole watch leader, and navigated by astro: a sun-run-meridian altitude or sun-run-sun sight, plus a compass check using the sun, moon, a star or a planet. The written paper is waived if you hold the Ocean shorebased course certificate (with the final exam invigilated at an RYA training centre) or an MCA full STCW Deck Officer (Unlimited) CoC.
Dawn at 21°N, 37°W on a Canaries-to-Barbados crossing. Yachtmaster Ocean needs one passage of at least 600 miles and 96 hours, with 200 miles more than 50 miles from land. Photo: David Broad, CC BY 3.0.
Don't bank on a superyacht transatlantic as your Ocean passage. The Ocean page says you must hold OOW (Yacht 3000gt) to claim a passage on a vessel over 24m, and the qualifying-passages table only allows a commercially endorsed Offshore on yachts up to 200gt. Confirm with the RYA before you sail. Source: RYA Yachtmaster Ocean, checked 26 October 2026.
The commercial endorsement
Your certificate on its own covers private use. To work on British-flagged vessels under the MCA small commercial vessel codes, you need it commercially endorsed. To apply, you need:
- your original certificate
- the Professional Practices and Responsibilities (PPR) online course certificate (required since April 2012)
- an ML5 medical (form MSF 4112 Rev 01/26) or an ENG1. The MCA won't accept an ML5 more than a year old, and the older Rev 02/23 ML5 form is accepted only until 31 December 2026
- RYA Basic Sea Survival or STCW Personal Survival Techniques
- an SRC or other GMDSS certificate
- a passport photo
If you'll skipper in category 0 or 1 waters, you need an ENG1, not an ML5. Restrictions on an ENG1 block STCW qualifications for vessels over 24m. The RYA and MCA advise getting a medical, including a colour vision test, before you pay for training. Our ENG1 guide and list of UK ENG1 doctors cover that.
The endorsement is valid for a maximum of 5 years. To revalidate, you need 150 days of actual sea service in the previous 5 years and a valid medical. Schools quote the fee as £49 (2026). Source: RYA Gaining commercial endorsements, checked 26 October 2026.
What a commercially endorsed Offshore lets you do: be master of commercial vessels up to 200gt in category 1–6 waters, up to 150 miles from a safe haven. It's also a prerequisite for MCA Officer of the Watch (Yachts under 3000gt), which lets you work worldwide on bigger yachts. The Ocean is a prerequisite for Chief Mate, Master 500 and Master 3000 (RYA Working as a Yachtmaster, checked 26 October 2026).
Adding the STCW endorsement
Once your Offshore (or Ocean) is commercially endorsed, you can add an STCW endorsement. You need four certificates, which together are the STCW Basic Safety Training modules most crew already hold:
- STCW Personal Safety and Social Responsibilities
- STCW Elementary First Aid (or Proficiency in Medical First Aid / Medical Care)
- STCW Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting, completed or updated within the last 5 years
- STCW Personal Survival Techniques, completed or updated within the last 5 years
If your firefighting or survival modules are older than five years, you'll need a refresher first. Adding the STCW endorsement later costs £15 if you didn't apply for it with the commercial endorsement. Your certificate then reads valid "for use as Master of yachts of up to 200gt on commercially and privately registered yachts." Source: RYA STCW endorsements, checked 26 October 2026.
Where it fits in a deck career
For superyacht crew, the Offshore is the step between deckhand and officer. Job ads just say "Yachtmaster" or "yacht master ticket," and on deck it usually means a commercially endorsed Offshore. It's one of the entry requirements for OOW (Yachts under 3000gt), alongside 36 months of yacht service, navigation and radar courses and an MCA oral exam. Our junior deckhand guide breaks that route down, and our yacht captain salary guide shows where the ladder ends.
On pay: YPI Crew's 2026 guide puts bosuns at €3,500–€6,000 a month and lists Yachtmaster Offshore among the tickets that show you're ready to step up. YPI doesn't attach a euro figure to the ticket itself. Our deckhand salary guide covers how pay moves as you progress.
FAQ
Can I do Yachtmaster Offshore with no experience?
Not straight away, because you have to log the sea time first. Fast-track schools package training and mile-building into one programme; the RYA itself asks whether you can "really become an RYA Yachtmaster in as little as 14 weeks?"
Sail or power?
Pick the one you'll log time in. Motor yacht crew build toward Yachtmaster Offshore Power, and nothing crosses over between disciplines.
Can I use my own boat for the exam?
Yes, if it's 7m–18m LOA, seaworthy, equipped to RYA G103 and you bring two crew.
Is Yachtmaster Offshore an STCW qualification?
Not on its own. It becomes STCW-endorsed once it's commercially endorsed and you add the four basic safety modules.
Does Yachtmaster Offshore expire?
The RYA pages we checked don't give the certificate of competence itself an expiry date. The commercial endorsement lasts a maximum of 5 years and needs 150 days of sea service to revalidate.
Is an ENG1 from outside the UK accepted?
See our guide to ENG1 equivalent medical certificates.
Get seen while you build your sea time
You'll be working deck jobs while you log the miles toward your Yachtmaster Offshore. Sign up free on Radius and check in at your port. Captains and recruiters can then see your verified ENG1, STCW and CV on a live map, instead of you chasing every post in a crew group. For the wider picture of roles and routes in, start with our yacht jobs guide.