RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Theory Course

Ondeck provide a comprehensive professional training curriculum, covering all aspects of the Offshore and Yachtmaster Ocean Courses. ondeck operate these courses all year round; one of the many experienced ondeck Instructors includes Pete ‘Stokey’ Woodall. Stokey has made 30 Trans-Atlantic crossings and sailed to and from the Azores 91 times, teaching navigation and the lifestyles and psychology of ocean sailing. He has amassed over 250,000 nautical miles and is a highly respected sailor. Some of his recent students include Ellen MacArthur, Emma Richards and Barbara Harmer (the only female Concorde pilot), to name just a few.

His patience, knowledge and enthusiasm for sailing will soon become obvious, as well as infectious. These attributes set him aside as an exceptional Instructor. For many years he has taught the theory of offshore and ocean sailing and having experienced the realities of applying his own teaching, knows that things are somewhat different in practice! This has given him the insight necessary to set up a new concept in the teaching of the RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Course, that now uniquely combines both the theoretical and practical elements. This in turn should give the aspiring Ocean Yachtmaster a better understanding

The course is 5 days in duration and consists of 2 days and 1 night shorebased in Cowes, and 3 days and 3 nights aboard the P&O super-ferry ‘Pride of Bilbao’. Students embark on one of their mini cruises from Portsmouth to Bilbao in Northern Spain and back. While making this voyage students will leave and return via the Solent, passing the North West tip of France and making a double crossing of the Bay of Biscay; the classroom of reality. This gives a unique opportunity to experience different sea, weather and navigational conditions and the chance to understand both the theory and the practical elements of this course.

Variations on the delivery of this course include the Yachtmaster Ocean Theory Course being delivered in 5 days shorebased in Cowes. The astro navigation tuition can also be delivered separately on the Pride of Bilbao, where students will learn the sextant elements of the Yachtmaster Ocean Theory Course.