Please excuse my ignorance in posing this question. As a UK sailor of many
years experience in racing and cruising yachts, I am curious to know, since
the subject rarely turns up, whether our US cousins have a similar series of
qualifications to those administered in the UK by the Royal Yachting
Association (Yachmaster, at various levels).

I am not extolling the virtues of such "official"qualifications, indeed many
UK sailors think they are less than useful, just curious to know if such
training and examination facilities exist in the US, as the subject never
seems to be discussed in this NG.

Dennis.

NO,, we are still a FREE country. Not like your socialist ********.

ps... what the F.n is the deal with the F'n King and Queen bull****?

Are you people living in the Middle Ages..

Tell those F'n layabouts to go get an F'n job.

==
"Dennis Pogson" wrote in message
...
Please excuse my ignorance in posing this question. As a UK sailor of many
years experience in racing and cruising yachts, I am curious to know,
since
the subject rarely turns up, whether our US cousins have a similar series
of
qualifications to those administered in the UK by the Royal Yachting
Association (Yachmaster, at various levels).

I am not extolling the virtues of such "official"qualifications, indeed
many
UK sailors think they are less than useful, just curious to know if such
training and examination facilities exist in the US, as the subject never
seems to be discussed in this NG.

Dennis.

Sir Thomas of Cannondale wrote:
NO,, we are still a FREE country. Not like your socialist ********.

ps... what the F.n is the deal with the F'n King and Queen bull****?

Are you people living in the Middle Ages..

Tell those F'n layabouts to go get an F'n job.


Thought there was only one Wilbur. Jeez, there might be more lurking in the
undergrowth!

DP

"Dennis Pogson" wrote in message
...
Please excuse my ignorance in posing this question. As a UK sailor of many
years experience in racing and cruising yachts, I am curious to know,
since
the subject rarely turns up, whether our US cousins have a similar series
of
qualifications to those administered in the UK by the Royal Yachting
Association (Yachmaster, at various levels).

I am not extolling the virtues of such "official"qualifications, indeed
many
UK sailors think they are less than useful, just curious to know if such
training and examination facilities exist in the US, as the subject never
seems to be discussed in this NG.

Dennis.



As I understand it, the UKRYA and the ASA (American Sailing Assoc.) are
similar in that they both publish guidelines and "standardized" test for
various level of expertise. The training and testing is then conducted by
private contractors or in some cases the US Coast Guard Aux.
It is also my understanding, at least this side, that the only thing really
required to sail a pleasure craft (not for profit) is cash!

"Dennis Pogson" wrote in message
...
Please excuse my ignorance in posing this question. As a UK sailor of many
years experience in racing and cruising yachts, I am curious to know,
since
the subject rarely turns up, whether our US cousins have a similar series
of
qualifications to those administered in the UK by the Royal Yachting
Association (Yachmaster, at various levels).

I am not extolling the virtues of such "official"qualifications, indeed
many
UK sailors think they are less than useful, just curious to know if such
training and examination facilities exist in the US, as the subject never
seems to be discussed in this NG.

Dennis.



You Brits have America beat hands down. Just look at some of the training
available in your country:

http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2008/02/...-the-martinis/

Our Coast Guard/Navy is too busy dealing with Islamophobic paranoia and
incompetent boaters. There should be strict licensing of anyone who takes to
US waters and with that licensing should be rigorous training and
qualification. Currently, licenses are passed out too freely and the
taxpayer bears the brunt of the expenses.

BF wrote:
"Dennis Pogson" wrote in message
...
Please excuse my ignorance in posing this question. As a UK sailor
of many years experience in racing and cruising yachts, I am curious
to know, since
the subject rarely turns up, whether our US cousins have a similar
series of
qualifications to those administered in the UK by the Royal Yachting
Association (Yachmaster, at various levels).

I am not extolling the virtues of such "official"qualifications,
indeed many
UK sailors think they are less than useful, just curious to know if
such training and examination facilities exist in the US, as the
subject never seems to be discussed in this NG.

Dennis.



As I understand it, the UKRYA and the ASA (American Sailing Assoc.)
are similar in that they both publish guidelines and "standardized"
test for various level of expertise. The training and testing is then
conducted by private contractors or in some cases the US Coast Guard
Aux.
It is also my understanding, at least this side, that the only thing
really required to sail a pleasure craft (not for profit) is cash!

I used to think that too, but most of the crews who sail with the big boat
owners seem to have very little of that commodity, but they still enjoy the
sailing!

DP

If the sense of the question is "are qualifications required for
pleasure-boat operators?" then the short answer is "no". The USCG
administers tests for licenses that are required for carrying
passengers for hire, and many professional yacht skipers hold such
licenses.

Michael Porter


"Dennis Pogson" wrote:

Please excuse my ignorance in posing this question. As a UK sailor of many
years experience in racing and cruising yachts, I am curious to know, since
the subject rarely turns up, whether our US cousins have a similar series of
qualifications to those administered in the UK by the Royal Yachting
Association (Yachmaster, at various levels).

I am not extolling the virtues of such "official"qualifications, indeed many
UK sailors think they are less than useful, just curious to know if such
training and examination facilities exist in the US, as the subject never
seems to be discussed in this NG.

Dennis.

Michael Porter Marine Design
mporter at mp-marine dot com
www.mp-marine.com

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Phil Abuster wrote:
"Dennis Pogson" wrote in message
...
Please excuse my ignorance in posing this question. As a UK sailor
of many years experience in racing and cruising yachts, I am curious
to know, since
the subject rarely turns up, whether our US cousins have a similar
series of
qualifications to those administered in the UK by the Royal Yachting
Association (Yachmaster, at various levels).

I am not extolling the virtues of such "official"qualifications,
indeed many
UK sailors think they are less than useful, just curious to know if
such training and examination facilities exist in the US, as the
subject never seems to be discussed in this NG.

Dennis.



You Brits have America beat hands down. Just look at some of the
training available in your country:


http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2008/02/...-the-martinis/

Our Coast Guard/Navy is too busy dealing with Islamophobic paranoia
and incompetent boaters. There should be strict licensing of anyone
who takes to US waters and with that licensing should be rigorous
training and qualification. Currently, licenses are passed out too
freely and the taxpayer bears the brunt of the expenses.

That's an interesting comment. In mainland Europe they seem to require what
is laughingly called a "International Certificate of Competence" to enter
some countries. However such certificates seem all too easy to obtain, as
with your "licenses". Possession of one or other grade of the RYA
Yachtmaster qualifications would grant automatic entitlement to a
Certificate of Competence, but there seems to be an extraordinary amount of
red tape involved in applying.

Meanwhile, boats sail in and out of the continental marinas without too much
interference, so maybe the ICC is just another of those pieces of Brussels
legislation which is virtually impossible to police.

DP

"Phil Abuster" wrote in message
...

"Dennis Pogson" wrote in message
...
Please excuse my ignorance in posing this question. As a UK sailor of
many
years experience in racing and cruising yachts, I am curious to know,
since
the subject rarely turns up, whether our US cousins have a similar series
of
qualifications to those administered in the UK by the Royal Yachting
Association (Yachmaster, at various levels).

I am not extolling the virtues of such "official"qualifications, indeed
many
UK sailors think they are less than useful, just curious to know if such
training and examination facilities exist in the US, as the subject never
seems to be discussed in this NG.

Dennis.



You Brits have America beat hands down. Just look at some of the training
available in your country:

http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2008/02/...-the-martinis/

Our Coast Guard/Navy is too busy dealing with Islamophobic paranoia and
incompetent boaters. There should be strict licensing of anyone who takes
to US waters and with that licensing should be rigorous training and
qualification. Currently, licenses are passed out too freely and the
taxpayer bears the brunt of the expenses.

=========================

Here we go again :::: Licenses?
li·cense (lº"s.ns) n. 1.a. Official or legal permission to do or own a
specified thing. b. Proof of permission granted, usually in the form of a
document, card, plate, or tag.

Why are you so quick to give up your constitutional right of FREEDOM? Do
you think the license

requirement is for safety? YOu are dumber than a stump.. it is TAXATION,
pure and simple.

Where does all the boat registration money go? Boater education? Not up
here.. it goes in the

pocket of Mr Politician, the fat asshole who gets the big fat paycheck and
the big fat retirement.



Benjamin Franklin
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve
neither liberty or security"

Michael Porter wrote:
If the sense of the question is "are qualifications required for
pleasure-boat operators?" then the short answer is "no". The USCG
administers tests for licenses that are required for carrying
passengers for hire, and many professional yacht skipers hold such
licenses.

Michael Porter

UK pleasure boat operators are also not required to be qualified.

I was simply interested in whether we in the UK are alone in having training and competence facilities for boaters.

For the record, the grades on offer are -

RYA Start Sailing
RYA Competent Crew
RYA Day Skipper
RYA Coastal Skipper
RYA / MCA Coastal Skipper Exam
RYA / MCA Yachtmaster Exam

This latter is divided into "Ocean shore-based" and "Ocean Passage". I believe there used to be a higher grade still for RYA Instructors, but am not sure if this is still the case.

Obviously experience and actual long passage making are essential to the granting of certificates at the "Ocean" levels.

There was a time when an old salt like me would have regarded all this qualification nonsense as just that, but it certainly can open doors if your ambitions lie in making a living out of sailing!

Dennis.