In .uk at least, and probably in most of the civilised world, you
need a qualified master on anything over 23 metres long.
The manning and qualifications required increase with length and weight.

Thanks Chris, this is why I qualified my answer to only within the US.

Personally, I think the "Yachtmaster" certification program in the UK is a
great idea and a number of states are (or were) considering legislation
requiring some sort of training and testing of all yacht operators. There
was some momentum for this a number of years ago, but I haven't heard much
about it since.

But for now, we remain "uncivilized" ;-)

All the best to our friends on the other side of the "ditch".

--
Paul

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"renewontime dot com" wrote in message
...
In .uk at least, and probably in most of the civilised world, you
need a qualified master on anything over 23 metres long.
The manning and qualifications required increase with length and weight.

Thanks Chris, this is why I qualified my answer to only within the US.

Personally, I think the "Yachtmaster" certification program in the UK is a
great idea and a number of states are (or were) considering legislation
requiring some sort of training and testing of all yacht operators. There
was some momentum for this a number of years ago, but I haven't heard much
about it since.

But for now, we remain "uncivilized" ;-)

All the best to our friends on the other side of the "ditch".

--
Paul

Chris wrote:

In .uk at least, and probably in most of the civilised world, you
need a qualified master on anything over 23 metres long.

Don't think we have any such requirements in Canada. I understand France
has some fairly stringent requirements for sailors but I've not read
anything suggesting other European countries do. I suppose the EU will come
out with a requirement for everyone in the future.............

I see in the latest issue of Cruising World that Douglas Bernon has aquired
his Yachtmaster certificate by taking the program now offered in the USA.
He describes the process. In another post someone pointed out that you may
be held to a higher standard of performance in a court of law if you hold
such a certification even though you are just operating your vessel in a
private recreational mode. Seems the knowledge gained may be useful but the
certificate not so helpful (for the recreational boater).

renewontime dot com wrote:

Personally, I think the "Yachtmaster" certification program in the UK
is a great idea and a number of states are (or were) considering
legislation requiring some sort of training and testing of all yacht
operators. There was some momentum for this a number of years ago,
but I haven't heard much about it since.

I agree with this. A USCG Master license is a bit much for someone who wants to
run a typical 40' sailboat or power cruiser, but there's nothing "smaller"
available from USCG. However, there are programs like the ones from US Sailing
or the charter companies, which may be a good substitute. Normally I'm a bit
more of a socialist, but this may be one area where the private sector is
handling things at least as well as government can. Perhaps what we need is
legal recognition of these programs.

Matt O.