113 Days

From £13640

West Cowes, Isle of Wight

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Advance your maritime career

UKSA’s Professional Yachtmaster Offshore qualification is a bespoke, all-inclusive and intensive training programme designed to take you from novice to qualified Yachtmaster in just 16 weeks.

This is a transformational experience that combines expert-led theory with extensive hands-on sea time, designed to build the capability, confidence and command required to step directly into a professional maritime career at sea.

Watch the video below to hear first-hand from our students about their experience training at UKSA and life on the course.

This course qualifies for 0% finance with Cherry Godfrey

We are now able to offer 0% finance through Cherry Godfrey. Please speak to our Careers Team through WhatsApp for more information about this funding route. Subject to status.

Turn training into real sea time

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Weeks intense training

A comprehensive yachtmaster course

This unique qualification has been developed by Richard Baggett, one of the world’s leading yachting instructors, alongside his highly experienced UKSA team. It is continuously refined to reflect real industry expectations, ensuring graduates leave fully prepared for the demands of professional maritime work.

Our programme offers a fast, focused route into the maritime sector, combining rigorous professional training with exceptional personal development opportunities. A key part of this is time aboard our high-performance Farr 65, delivering a powerful offshore experience that builds real confidence at sea.

Alongside this, you’ll receive one-to-one career mentoring, a structured assessment process, and dedicated support towards employment at the end of the course. Thanks to strong industry connections, many students secure roles before they even graduate.

UKSA’s Yachtmaster course opens the door to a wide range of career opportunities across the maritime industry, including superyachts, flotillas, tug operations and the Merchant Navy.

Course Overview

  • 16-week intensive Yachtmaster programme
  • 70 days of real sea time
  • Training across yachts, classroom and simulator environments
  • Offshore experience on our Farr 65 ocean racing yacht
  • Fleet training on Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 449 yachts
  • Minimum 2,500 tidal miles including self-skippered passages
  • Navigation, radar and simulation-based training
  • Essential engineering, maintenance and safety instruction
  • Based at UKSAs Cowes waterfront training campus

Train on a world-class 65ft ocean racing yacht

At the heart of the programme is our exceptional Farr 65, a 65-foot high-performance ocean racing yacht offering a rare and powerful training environment.

Built for strength, speed and offshore endurance, she is capable of maintaining exhilarating double-figure speeds in trade wind conditions, giving students a genuine insight into high-performance offshore sailing.

Recently renovated, she offers an exceptional balance of capability and comfort, accommodating up to 15 crew and creating an immersive environment for teamwork, leadership and life at sea.

Regular passages across the Channel and to France during mile-building phases provide real offshore experience, building confidence, seamanship and decision-making on a scale few training environments can match.

Sailing - Farr (108) (2)

Why Train with UKSA?

Train in a professional maritime environment shaped by nearly 40 years of industry experience and graduate success.

Everything is designed to allow you to focus fully on your training and progression:

  • Accommodation
    Accommodation included on site in shared bunk style accommodation when not at sea
  • Superyacht gym
    Access to gym, swimming pool and on-site facilities
  • On-site catering
    Freshly prepared breakfast, lunch and dinner provided daily, with dietary needs catered for
  • Career guidance
    Structured career support including CV development and guidance
  • Waterfront campus
    A dedicated 3.5-acre waterfront campus with specialist classrooms and simulators
  • Networking
    Regular networking opportunities with industry professionals
  • Exclusive discount
    40% discount with Henri Lloyd
  • UKSA community
    On-site community environment supporting learning and development
Find Out More

What to Expect

UKSA induction followed by essential maritime safety and engineering qualifications including STCW Basic Safety Training.

Hands-on sea time combined with Day Skipper theory and practical application.

Yachtmaster Offshore theory, radar training and continued sea phase experience.

Focused offshore training aboard the Farr 65, building real command experience.

Security training, powerboat qualification and continued sea time development, and career guidance sessions.

Increased responsibility through self-skippered passages and independent decision-making.

Intensive exam preparation leading to the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore examination.

Career Opportunities

As a flotilla skipper, you’ll lead groups of yachts in stunning destinations, building confidence while delivering safe, sociable, and memorable experiences.  

As a host or mate, you’ll support daily operations and guest care, developing practical skills and a strong foundation for progression. 

As a charter skipper, you’ll take full command of privately hired yachts, delivering safe, seamless, and memorable experiences while building leadership and professional decision-making. 

As a first mate, you’ll support sailing operations and guest care, developing hands-on experience across navigation and boat handling, ultimately building the skills to step up to skipper. 

As part of a base team, you’ll work ashore preparing and maintaining yachts to the highest standard, gaining technical knowledge and valuable industry experience. 

As a delivery skipper, you’ll move yachts across coastal and offshore routes, building serious sea miles while developing advanced navigation skills and confidence in varied conditions. 

Starting as a deckhand, you’ll work on luxury yachts worldwide, gaining experience in a high-performance environment with clear progression to senior roles. 

As part of an expedition crew, you’ll take on offshore passages in paid, volunteer, or conservation-focused expeditions, building resilience, independence, and valuable sea time towards ocean skippering in more challenging conditions.

Working in roles such as brokerage or marina management, you’ll apply your marine knowledge ashore in dynamic, customer-focused environments. 

As a sailing instructor, you’ll turn your passion into a profession, developing others’ skills and confidence while building your own leadership and expertise. 

As part of the Merchant Navy, you’ll follow a structured career path with global opportunities, progressing through training into senior roles across commercial shipping. 

Heather always dreamed of a career at sea, but it wasn’t until she joined UKSA that her passion turned into a profession. Starting as a flotilla hostess, she sought more hands-on involvement in sailing, leading her to UKSA’s Professional Yachtmaster Offshore course.

With no prior qualifications, Heather completed the course and emerged fully certified, confident, and ready for the maritime world. Now, as a Cruising Instructor and Farr Mate, she helps others gain the skills to succeed.

“The course was intense, but I loved every minute of it. I learned so much and left UKSA feeling fully prepared.”

Heather Hitchcock

About the Course

A Yachtmaster is a highly skilled maritime professional capable of safely operating sailing and motor vessels in a wide range of conditions, from coastal cruising to demanding offshore passages. The Yachtmaster Offshore qualification is internationally recognised as a benchmark of professional competence.

Recognised by the RYA

This course is accredited by the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) – the UK’s national governing body for sailing, motor cruising, personal watercraft, and inland waterways. The RYA sets the standard for training and certification, and UKSA is proud to deliver its most respected qualifications.

  • RYA Yachtmaster Coastal (Sail) / RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Offshore (Sail)
  • RYA Coastal Skipper / RYA Yachtmaster Shorebased
  • RYA Day Skipper Shorebased
  • MCA STCW Basic Safety Training
  • Personal Survival Techniques

-Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting

-Elementary First Aid

-Personal Safety and Social Responsibility

  • MCA Proficiency in Designated Security Duties
  • RYA Marine Short-Range Radio
  • RYA Radar
  • RYA Diesel Engine Maintenance
  • RYA Power Boat Level 2
  • RYA Professional Practices and Responsibilities

The careers guidance team regularly visits shows and regattas, both in the UK and abroad, networking and gaining contacts to benefit UKSA graduates.

The team also arrange a variety of evening lectures where various employers, crew agents, ex-students and ancillary services provide advice and guidance on working within the marine industry, they’ll also help you with writing your CV, and helping with any questions you have about your chosen sector of the industry.

To work professionally within the maritime industry, you must be commercially endorsed.

To commercially endorse your RYA Yachtmaster Certification at the end of your training, you will need to complete the RYA application for Commercial Endorsement Form, but you will gain all qualifications needed to commercially endorse your ticket during training.

You must have an ENG1 seafarer medical fitness certificate to work at sea and to enable you to apply for your RYA Commercial Endorsement. We recommend all students secure this before attending a course.

There are no other pre-requisites necessary to start the course. All that we ask is that you have enough sailing experience to know that you want a life at sea. If you don’t have any previous experience, we recommend you talk to our course advisors on +44 (0)1983 203038 or [email protected]

All maritime employers will expect some type of experience to show that you can demonstrate a strong work ethic, practical application of skills and are a motivated individual. We would recommend any student booking onto our careers courses to have a minimum of one year prior experience in a work place, whether this is volunteering or paid work.

UKSA is not a recruitment agency and cannot guarantee work placements after completion of the course, but we work closely with a large number of recruitment agencies and companies that employ our graduates. During all courses we provide industry and career guidance to prepare for seeking employment post-graduation, and offer continual support once you have left UKSA.

Attend an open day

Choosing the right course is a big decision, and nothing compares to visiting in person.

At our Open Days, you’ll meet current students, talk to tutors, and tour the facilities where your training will take place.

We’ll answer all your questions and help you feel confident that UKSA is the right fit for your goals, whether you’re interested in watersports, superyacht careers, or maritime training.

Find Out More

Funding Available

We have funding opportunities available for those in genuine financial need. Contact our course advisers to get the details and assess your eligibility.

+44 (0)1983 203038 | [email protected]

Upcoming dates for Professional Yachtmaster Offshore

Start date → End date Course only price Residential price
10 Aug 2026 → 30 Nov 2026£13640£14500 Add to Basket Book now
02 Sep 2026 → 23 Dec 2026Final places£13640£14500 Add to Basket Book now
05 Oct 2026 → 03 Feb 2027Sold out£13640£14500 Add to Basket Book now
09 Nov 2026 → 14 Mar 2027Sold out£13640£14500 Add to Basket Book now
04 Jan 2027 → 26 Apr 2027Final places£13640£14500 Add to Basket Book now
15 Feb 2027 → 07 Jun 2027£13640£14500 Add to Basket Book now
29 Mar 2027 → 19 Jul 2027£13640£14500 Add to Basket Book now
10 May 2027 → 30 Aug 2027£13640£14500 Add to Basket Book now
02 Aug 2027 → 22 Nov 2027£13640£14500 Add to Basket Book now
01 Sep 2027 → 22 Dec 2027£13640£14500 Add to Basket Book now
20 Oct 2027 → 19 Feb 2028£13640£14500 Add to Basket Book now
25 Nov 2027 → 28 Mar 2028£13640£14500 Add to Basket Book now
04 Jan 2028 → 25 Apr 2028£13640£14500 Add to Basket Book now
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Get in Touch

If you’re interested in booking a place on this course, get in touch and one of our careers advisors will be happy to help

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