Yacht delivery, term by term
Plain-English definitions of the licences, events, roles, documents, and concepts that come up in yacht delivery. Owners, captains, and crew all land here at some point. Pick a term, get the short answer, follow the links to the longer guides.
Licences
Commercial Endorsement
RYA Commercial Endorsement
A Commercial Endorsement is the add-on that turns an RYA Yachtmaster Offshore or Ocean certificate from a recreational qualification into one valid for paid delivery work.
MCA Master Yachts <200 GT
MCA Master 200 / MCA Master Yacht 200
MCA Master Yachts <200 GT is the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency commercial captain licence for vessels up to 200 gross tonnes, the standard qualification for delivery captains on larger sailing yachts and most motor yachts.
STCW Basic Safety Training
STCW Basic / STCW 95 / STCW 2010
STCW Basic Safety Training is the international seafarer-safety certificate that every paid delivery crew member needs before they can step on a commercial-endorsed vessel.
Yachtmaster Ocean
RYA Yachtmaster Ocean
RYA Yachtmaster Ocean is the highest RYA sailing qualification, certifying a skipper to plan and execute ocean passages of unlimited length, including transatlantic deliveries.
Yachtmaster Offshore
RYA Yachtmaster Offshore
RYA Yachtmaster Offshore is the British sailing qualification that allows a skipper to command a vessel of up to 24 metres on passages up to 150 nautical miles from a safe haven.
Documents
Concepts
Roles
Events
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