It can take many years to build the kind of experience and sea miles under your belt required for Yachtmaster, unless structured milebuilding is built into the equation..

Many an aspiring Yachtmaster will know that pre-course requirements to attend a Yachtmaster Offshore examination preparation course at an RYA training centre include 50 days at sea, a minimum of 2,500 logged sea miles, at least 5 passages over 60 miles measured along the rhumb line from the port of departure to the destination and at least 5 days experience as a skipper (or acting as skipper) for at least 2 of these passages, including 2 as overnight passages. In addition to that, at least half the mileage and passages must be in tidal waters and all qualifying sea time must be within 10 years prior to the exam.

There’s a reason why having this prior experience is necessary, the Yachtmaster Offshore exam is tough and without skills in passage planning, man overboard recovery, close quarters handling, skippering techniques, navigation in restricted visibility, pilotage and knowledge of the International Collision Regulations (amongst others) – the chances of passing the exam are slim.

Milebuilding is the process of building experience, sea miles, sailing skills and confidence over a period of time. At Milebuilders, we help novice sailors to successfully tackle the Yachtmaster exam by building their all-round skills on a number of milebuilding days & delivery trips throughout the year, in association with two Mallorca based RYA Training Centres, Deep Blue Sea Training and Solaris Sailing.