# Yachtmaster Course Australia > The complete, independent guide to the Yachtmaster course in Australia: the education pathway from beginner to Yachtmaster Ocean, prerequisites, the exam process, working commercially under AMSA, and every sailing region around the Australian coast. This is a specialist YouSail educational guide. It does not sell courses; the training page connects readers to school profiles on YouSail. Confirm qualification requirements with the issuing body; the About page identifies primary sources and the scope of recent review. Costs are indicative ranges. All content is written in Australian English for Australian waters. Last reviewed: 2026-09-20. Sitemap: https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/sitemap-index.xml ## Key facts - Yachtmaster Coastal, Offshore and Ocean are RYA Certificates of Competence, examined not attended, delivered in Australia through RYA-recognised centres in partnership with Australian Sailing. - Yachtmaster Coastal prerequisites: age 17; 30 days at sea, 800 miles, 12 night hours, 2 days as skipper (12 days and 400 miles with the Coastal Skipper course certificate); half in tidal waters; within 10 years; radio and first-aid certificates. - Yachtmaster Offshore prerequisites: age 18; 50 days, 2,500 miles, 5 days as skipper, 5 passages over 60 miles including 2 overnight and 2 as skipper; half tidal and on vessels under 24 m; within 10 years; radio and first-aid certificates. - Yachtmaster Ocean: must hold Offshore; a non-stop passage of at least 600 miles and 96 hours with at least 200 miles more than 50 miles from land or charted navigational objects, navigated by sextant; oral exam plus written paper unless exempt; the Ocean shorebased route requires an invigilated final exam at an RYA-recognised training centre. - AMSA has recognised RYA Yachtmaster certificates since 2014. A commercially endorsed Yachtmaster Offshore (or a Yachtmaster Ocean) is a prerequisite for the AMSA Sailing Master Offshore (near coastal) certificate under Marine Order 505, which also requires an engine qualification, LROCP radio, HLTAID011 or equivalent first aid and an accepted AMSA 1850 or 303 medical. ## Plan - [Useful sailing resources](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/resources/): Official requirements, weather information, school searches and sailing tools in one place. - [My preparation plan](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/plan/): A personal checklist for your Yachtmaster experience, paperwork, training and budget. - [Find a school](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/training/): Compare training programmes, prepare useful questions and find schools through YouSail. - [Costs and timeline](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/costs-and-timeline/): Indicative Australian prices for every stage and three realistic timelines. ## Start - [Home](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/): The complete guide to becoming a Yachtmaster in Australia. - [What is a Yachtmaster?](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/what-is-a-yachtmaster/): The definition, the three levels compared, who issues it in Australia and what it lets you do. - [The education pathway](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/pathway/): Every stage from first sail to Yachtmaster Ocean, with the numbers and realistic timelines. ## Courses - [Courses and exams](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/courses/): The full cruising scheme in order, from Start Yachting to Yachtmaster Ocean. - [Start Yachting](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/courses/start-yachting/): A short taster weekend on a cruising yacht for people who have never sailed. It exists so you can find out whether you enjoy living and working on a yacht before committing to a full course. - [Competent Crew](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/courses/competent-crew/): The proper starting point for most people. Five days living aboard a cruising yacht learning to be a useful, safe member of the crew. - [Day Skipper Theory](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/courses/day-skipper-theory/): The navigation and seamanship knowledge you need before you are allowed to skipper. Chartwork, tides, buoyage, collision regulations and weather. - [Day Skipper Practical](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/courses/day-skipper-practical/): Your first course as skipper. Five days learning to take charge of a yacht on short passages by day in familiar waters, with the instructor stepping back. - [Coastal Skipper & Yachtmaster Offshore Theory](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/courses/coastal-skipper-theory/): The advanced theory block. Secondary-port tides, course-to-steer over several hours, offshore passage planning, weather systems and the collision regulations in depth. This is the knowledge tested in the Yachtmaster exam. - [Coastal Skipper Practical](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/courses/coastal-skipper-practical/): Skippering coastal passages by day and night. The course that gets you exam-ready and reduces the sea time required for the Yachtmaster Coastal exam. - [Yachtmaster Coastal](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/courses/yachtmaster-coastal/): The first Yachtmaster certificate of competence. An on-board exam that proves you can skipper a yacht on coastal passages by day and night. - [Yachtmaster Offshore](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/courses/yachtmaster-offshore/): An independent assessment of experienced skippering: passage planning, navigation, boat handling and crew management. A foundation for further ocean training and, with additional requirements, commercial pathways. - [Yachtmaster Ocean Theory](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/courses/yachtmaster-ocean-theory/): Celestial navigation, ocean passage planning and world meteorology. The written-paper exemption requires a final exam invigilated at an RYA-recognised training centre. - [Yachtmaster Ocean](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/courses/yachtmaster-ocean/): The top of the scheme. A certificate of competence for skippering yachts on passages of any length, anywhere in the world, earned through a real ocean passage and an oral examination. ## Qualify - [The exam process](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/exam/): Booking, paperwork, what happens hour by hour, how examiners assess, results and re-sits. - [Sea miles and the logbook](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/sea-miles-and-logbook/): The prerequisites for every level, what counts, and how Australians build 2,500 miles. - [Supporting certificates](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/supporting-certificates/): Radio, first aid, sea survival, diesel, PPR, medicals and STCW explained. ## Learn - [Theory syllabus explained](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/theory/): Charts, tides, course to steer, buoyage, collision regulations, Southern Hemisphere weather, safety and astro. - [Guides](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/): Long-form guides on planning, skills, the exam, Australian waters and careers. - [Tips from the water](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/tips/): Short, practical advice on the logbook, the exam, theory, seamanship, Australian conditions and careers. ## Career - [Working commercially](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/working-commercially/): Commercial endorsement, AMSA Sailing Master, the engine qualification, the superyacht route and instructing. ## Locations - [Sailing regions](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/): Every state and territory: waters, tides, seasons, exam conditions and qualifying passages. - [New South Wales](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/new-south-wales/): Sydney Harbour, Pittwater and Broken Bay give you the busiest and most varied training waters in the country, with a coastline of harbours spaced almost perfectly for Yachtmaster qualifying passages. - [Queensland](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/queensland/): From the sandbanks of Moreton Bay to the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland offers reliable trade winds, serious tidal streams and a 1,000-mile coast that can be sailed in short hops or long passages. - [Victoria](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/victoria/): Melbourne's enormous bay is a sailing arena in its own right, and its entrance, The Rip, is the finest tidal-gate lesson a Yachtmaster candidate could ask for. Beyond lie Western Port, Wilsons Promontory and Bass Strait. - [Tasmania](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/tasmania/): The Derwent, the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, the east coast and the wild south-west offer some of the best cruising in the world, with weather that demands real seamanship. - [South Australia](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/south-australia/): Gulf St Vincent and Spencer Gulf give South Australian sailors big, open, tidal water with long fetches, while Kangaroo Island and Backstairs Passage add genuine tidal-race and swell experience. - [Western Australia](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/western-australia/): Perth and Fremantle have reliable summer sea breezes, Rottnest Island on the doorstep and open Indian Ocean swell, while the north of the state has some of the largest tides on the planet. - [Northern Territory](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/northern-territory/): Darwin is Australia's gateway to South-East Asia and a tidal masterclass, with a dry season of steady easterlies and a wet season nobody sails in. ## Reference - [FAQ](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/faq/): Straight answers to the questions people ask most. - [Glossary](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/glossary/): The vocabulary of the Yachtmaster scheme and Australian coastal sailing. - [About this guide](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/about/): What it is, how facts were checked, sources and disclaimer. ## Guides - [Yachtmaster Coastal or Offshore: which should you sit first?](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/coastal-or-offshore/): A practical decision guide for Australian sailors choosing between the Yachtmaster Coastal and Yachtmaster Offshore exams: prerequisites compared, who benefits from each, and the cases where skipping Coastal makes sense. - [Zero to Yachtmaster: how intensive programmes work and who they suit](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/intensive-zero-to-yachtmaster-programmes/): How full-time "zero to Yachtmaster" programmes compress the pathway into 12 to 20 weeks in Australia, what they include, what they cost, where the miles come from, and the honest trade-offs against the club route. - [Night sailing: building night hours and passing night pilotage](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/night-sailing-and-night-hours/): How night hours are counted for the Yachtmaster prerequisites, how Australian sailors build them, how to prepare a night pilotage plan, and what examiners look for after dark. - [Planning a 60-mile qualifying passage: Sydney to Port Stephens, worked through](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/planning-a-60-mile-qualifying-passage/): A worked example of planning a Yachtmaster qualifying passage over 60 miles on the New South Wales coast: distance, weather window, the East Australian Current, waypoints, hazards, tides, ports of refuge, watches and the logbook entry. - [Tides in Australia for Yachtmaster candidates: a worked example](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/tides-for-australian-yachtmaster-candidates/): How tidal heights and streams work around Australia, from semi-diurnal east-coast tides to diurnal western tides, the dodge tide and the nine-metre ranges of the north, with a worked secondary-port calculation and anchoring example. - [How to learn the collision regulations for the Yachtmaster exam](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/collision-regulations-study-plan/): A structured plan for learning the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea to Yachtmaster standard: the structure of the rules, which ones examiners test hardest, memory techniques for lights, shapes and sound signals, and a six-week schedule. - [Weather for Yachtmaster candidates in the Southern Hemisphere](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/southern-hemisphere-weather/): Australian marine meteorology for the Yachtmaster syllabus: how highs, lows and fronts behave south of the equator, the Bureau of Meteorology products to use, sea breezes, southerly busters, East Coast Lows, the trade winds and cyclones, and how examiners test weather. - [Yachtmaster Ocean qualifying passages from Australia](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/yachtmaster-ocean-passages-from-australia/): The rules for a Yachtmaster Ocean qualifying passage and the Australian departures that satisfy them: New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Zealand, Indonesia and the Indian Ocean, with seasons, distances, how to find a berth and what to record on board. - [Man overboard under sail and power: the Yachtmaster exam standard](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/man-overboard-to-exam-standard/): What examiners expect in the man-overboard exercise at Yachtmaster level: the sequence of actions, recovery under sail and under power, recovery on board, the Australian factors of cold water and warm water, and the mistakes that fail candidates. - [Bar crossings and tidal gates: Australia’s entrances explained](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/bar-crossings-and-tidal-gates/): How to plan and execute a river bar crossing or a tidal-gate transit in Australia: the physics, the timing rules, the preparation, and a tour of the entrances every Yachtmaster candidate should know, from the Wide Bay Bar to Port Phillip Heads. - [A 12-week Yachtmaster exam preparation plan](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/twelve-week-exam-preparation-plan/): A week-by-week plan for the three months before a Yachtmaster Coastal or Offshore exam in Australia: logbook audit, theory revision, boat-handling drills, night pilotage practice, supporting certificates, the preparation week and the exam itself. - [Keeping a logbook that examiners trust](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/keeping-a-logbook-examiners-trust/): How to keep a sailing logbook for the Yachtmaster prerequisites: what to record for each passage, how to get it signed, how to keep running totals, digital versus paper, and the entries that raise an examiner’s eyebrows. - [Yachtmaster, Coxswain or Master under 24 m: which AMSA certificate do you need?](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/which-amsa-certificate/): How the RYA Yachtmaster relates to the AMSA domestic commercial certificates: Coxswain Grade 1, Master under 24 m, Sailing Master Offshore and General Purpose Hand, and which one an Australian skipper needs for charter, sail training, deliveries, tenders and motor vessels. - [Starting a superyacht career from Australia](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/superyacht-career-from-australia/): The path from an Australian Yachtmaster to work on superyachts: STCW basic safety training, the seafarer medical, the commercial endorsement, where the jobs are, the yacht officer certificates that AMSA and the MCA issue, and realistic expectations for the first season. - [Bareboat chartering with a Yachtmaster: the Whitsundays and abroad](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/chartering-with-a-yachtmaster/): What charter companies in Australia and overseas actually require from a skipper, why the Yachtmaster and Day Skipper matter, how the ICC works for Australians, and how to use charters to build skipper days for the logbook. - [Offshore racing and the Yachtmaster: Sydney to Hobart and the category system](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/offshore-racing-and-the-yachtmaster/): How Australian offshore racing fits with the Yachtmaster pathway: the Australian Sailing Special Regulations categories, the safety and sea survival course, what race organisers require of the person in charge, and how racing builds the logbook. - [Anchoring to Yachtmaster standard in Australian anchorages](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/anchoring-for-the-exam/): How examiners assess anchoring: choosing the spot, calculating scope from the height of tide, laying and setting the anchor under power and under sail, anchor watches, and the Australian specifics of coral, big tides, bullets and crocodiles. - [Marine radio certificates in Australia: SROCP, LROCP and the RYA SRC](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/guides/marine-radio-in-australia/): Which marine radio certificate an Australian Yachtmaster candidate needs: the SROCP for VHF, the LROCP for VHF and HF and for AMSA commercial certificates, the RYA SRC, how the exams work, DSC and GMDSS, and the radio procedures examiners test. ## Sailing areas - [Sydney Harbour](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/new-south-wales/sydney-harbour/): Deep, tidal, ringed by marinas and crossed every minute by ferries and ships: Sydney Harbour is the classroom for boat handling, pilotage and the collision regulations. - [Pittwater and Broken Bay](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/new-south-wales/pittwater-and-broken-bay/): Twenty miles north of Sydney, Pittwater and the Hawkesbury offer sheltered cruising, hundreds of moorings and the night entries that Yachtmaster examiners love. - [Port Stephens and Newcastle](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/new-south-wales/port-stephens-and-newcastle/): A large natural harbour with a simple entrance and sheltered anchorages, reached past the busiest coal port in the world. - [Jervis Bay and the South Coast](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/new-south-wales/jervis-bay-and-the-south-coast/): Jervis Bay is 80 miles south of Sydney: a deep, sheltered bay with white beaches, a naval presence and a wide entrance, the start of the long coast to Eden. - [Brisbane and Moreton Bay](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/queensland/brisbane-and-moreton-bay/): A large, shallow, tidal bay of marked channels and drying sandbanks with the Port of Brisbane on its shore: the best classroom in Australia for height-of-tide navigation. - [Gold Coast and the Broadwater](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/queensland/gold-coast/): Marinas, canals and the sheltered Broadwater behind South Stradbroke Island, with the Gold Coast Seaway as the door to the sea and to passages north and south. - [Sunshine Coast, the Wide Bay Bar and Hervey Bay](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/queensland/sunshine-coast-and-hervey-bay/): The coast from Mooloolaba to Hervey Bay: a trained harbour, the Wide Bay Bar, the shallow tidal Great Sandy Strait behind Fraser Island (K’gari) and the whale sanctuary of Hervey Bay. - [Mackay, Keppel and the Capricorn Coast](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/queensland/mackay-and-the-capricorn-coast/): From Gladstone and the Keppel Islands north to Mackay: the Tropic of Capricorn, the largest tidal range on the east coast and the passage-making stretch of the Queensland coast. - [The Whitsundays and Airlie Beach](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/queensland/whitsundays-and-airlie-beach/): Seventy-four islands, steady south-easterlies, four-metre tides and strong streams through the passages: the Whitsundays are a sheltered cruising ground with real tidal complexity. - [Townsville, Cairns and the far north](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/queensland/townsville-and-cairns/): The tropical coast from Townsville and Magnetic Island through the Hinchinbrook Channel to Cairns, Port Douglas and the expedition waters beyond Lizard Island. - [Melbourne and Port Phillip](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/victoria/melbourne-and-port-phillip/): Port Phillip gives Melbourne sailors a sheltered arena 30 miles long with shipping channels, a fierce sea breeze and, at its foot, The Rip: the definitive tidal gate. - [Western Port and Phillip Island](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/victoria/western-port-and-phillip-island/): A large tidal bay east of the Mornington Peninsula with fast streams, drying flats and two islands, Western Port teaches height-of-tide and stream navigation better than anywhere else in the south. - [Hobart and the D’Entrecasteaux Channel](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/tasmania/hobart-and-the-channel/): The Derwent, Storm Bay and the channel behind Bruny Island offer sheltered tidal water, dozens of anchorages and fast-moving weather within an hour of Hobart’s waterfront. - [Launceston, the Tamar and the north coast](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/tasmania/launceston-and-the-tamar/): The Tamar River runs 40 miles from Launceston to the sea at Low Head, with strong streams, a bar and the Bass Strait islands beyond: Tasmania’s tidal training river. - [Adelaide and Gulf St Vincent](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/south-australia/adelaide-and-gulf-st-vincent/): Adelaide’s sailing runs across a 60-mile gulf to the Yorke Peninsula and south through Backstairs Passage to Kangaroo Island, with a tidal regime unique in the country. - [Port Lincoln and Spencer Gulf](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/south-australia/port-lincoln-and-spencer-gulf/): Port Lincoln’s Boston Bay, the Sir Joseph Banks Group and the long reach of Spencer Gulf to Whyalla and Port Augusta: remote, tidal, open-water sailing. - [Perth and Fremantle](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/western-australia/perth-and-fremantle/): Fremantle’s harbours, the Swan River, Cockburn Sound and Rottnest Island 12 miles offshore: reliable sea breezes, small tides and real ocean swell. - [Albany, Cape Leeuwin and the south coast](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/western-australia/albany-and-the-south-coast/): From Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin round to Albany’s King George Sound and on to Esperance: exposed, cold-water, big-swell sailing with superb natural harbours. - [Broome and the Kimberley](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/western-australia/broome-and-the-kimberley/): Broome and the Kimberley coast have the largest tides in Australia, spectacular remote cruising, crocodiles, cyclones and no room for error. - [Darwin](https://www.yachtmastercourse.com.au/locations/northern-territory/darwin/): Darwin Harbour’s tidal range up to 8 m makes every berth and anchorage a calculation; the dry season’s trade winds and the rallies to Indonesia make it Australia’s departure port for the north.