Skipper a yacht with a student group

First of all I would like to mention, as I have already mentioned, that here are written only my observations and are not always describing specific group. But in my opinion are most of the time true.

The youngest groups are teenagers but they do not go to sailing without their parents. However students do.  Student or people around 20-30 years go sailing probably because one of the participants is enthusiast and want to share his joy for yacht or sailboat with other friends. That person usually has all the knowledge to control the boat.

However there are times when students would like to go on sailing and do not have to sail. One of good example is party weeks that are organized for students. Company that is organizing that kind of trip is hiring skippers to take control over sailboat and look after participants.

You can get lucky and get a group of people that are not that wild. There were cases when people were parting on a sailboat during a day and have damaged so badly that helicopter was needed to transport them to hospital in time. Otherwise there are only some scratches and broken bones when people were drunk and were running on a unstable and not flat surface such is a sailboat.

Overall I think you should be careful and look over beside the sailboat or yacht also to your crew - students. In my opinion being a skipper to students is the most intense and exhausting part of being a skipper.

5 reasons to hire a Skipper beside your yacht

Why is Skipper job important and why you should hire a skipper if you already know the basics of controlling the yacht? Find out what are 5 reasons for Skipper:

1. You should definitely think to hire a skipper beside your charter yacht when you do not have any experience with controlling of the boat. Skipper will take care of the sailboat or any other boat and will take you to your desired destination.

2. If you do not have many experience and would like to learn more about practical ways of sailing you should think of hiring a skipper. First of all you should not risk your lives and nevertheless it is pretty expensive if you damage the boat. You can ask Skipper anything about controlling the yacht and different rules on the sea. Skipper has usual many experience and can easily teach you a lot more then they did in skipper courses.

3. When you are sailing to a place that you do not know, maybe some new area or different country, you do not know where are all good beaches and bay to visits. Skipper is usual a local person that has been and explore all various bays and beaches. You can use a Skipper knowledge and he can be your personal guide to various hidden spots that only locals know about them.

4. A lot of people go to a yacht or sailboat to party. And when the party start usually there is no one who can be sober enough to control a boat. There were many cases when powerboat hit the mainland or different sailboat. This is not responsible only to yourself but you can harm others and there were also cases of deaths. So rather think about a skipper to control your boat when you are having fun.

5. On of the reasons when people are hiring skipper is just because they need a company. People would like to go sailing or cruising with a yacht but they do not have no one to go with. So they hire a skipper to give them a company and control a boat.

Different/Various Skippers

There a various skipper jobs and at the beginning you need to go through the same basic training but later you need to specialize for one area that are the most competent.

So in the beginning as I have already mentioned you need to pass basic course for controlling boats. This license gives you permission to control boats till 25 meters. However most of the skippers do later also specialization for various jobs that they will work at. You can specialize to sailing skipper, yacht skipper or powerboat skipper.

Powerboat skipper

Person who will like to control powerboat needs to control boat at high speeds where there are just a few milliseconds to act and do what is wrong. There is not any time for errors and errors could be fatal. Powerboat skipper is person who usually drive also racing boats and have a lot experience. There knowledge is not just "push the throttle to the metal" but also in what kind of conditions you can go faster and in what conditions you need to slow down.

Yacht Skipper

Usually those skippers have some other sailors that help them out with controlling big yachts. That kind of skippers are specialized in maneuvering big yachts, doing leisure yacht trips or sometimes a bit faster with a giant yachts that are not usually as maneuverable as you would thought. Yacht Skipper does the most work during the anchoring or getting in or out the marina, otherwise the riding with yacht is much easy to do.

Sailing Skipper

If you are sailing skipper you need to have a deeper knowledge of winds and how does the wind affect sailboat. Sailing skipper jobs is the most difficult when you are by yourself with lifting sails and tighten them up for the best positions while you are controlling the sailboat and checking that the wind is and how will it change. It is job that you can not predict the situation of the wind and you have to be on a constant watch. There are a few signs to see if there are refills of wind, but more of that in later chapters.

All of Skippers need to have a good basic knowledge of lights on boat, engines, ties and especially navigation if all modern devices broke down.

Skipper

I am a skipper and would like to explain what does skipper does. Being skipper is job where you control sailboat or yacht with a help of someone else or by yourself. Being skipper is a responsible task where you are responsible not just for a boat but also for all the people that are currently on the vessel.

Training for skipper is not easy. Depending on the country where skipper is located, skippered needs to pass basic skipper courses. Some countries have only theoretical exams where you become skipper for vessels as long as 25 meters without passing the theoretical exam. There are also countries where you need to pass separated courses for radio communications.

However one of the most recognized skipper courses in the world is UK RYA (Royal Yachting Association). There goal is simple and in my opinion pretty well thought of making standards for skipper license all over the world. The offer various courses for sailboat, powerboats, yachts, dinghies and so on and have already made a good name.

Skipper

However skipper is not just a "driver" of the boat. Skipper needs to take much more responsibility, sometimes you need to be also a guide, communicative person that can handle a different strange situations or person that can fix a boat when this is needed in bad weather.

Being skipper is not always easy. You need to get along with various people. From people that do not speak at all during the sailing or people who prefer to talk all the time and are sometimes more then annoying. And sometimes you are in a company of people that you do not like away from your friends and family for more then a month or two during the high season. However being a skipper is not always good.

But there are also times that weighted all bad moments with endless sunsets in an interesting company on the sailboat. Being skipper is more then a hobby, it is a life.