Anybody that wishes to be assessed for the International Certificate of Competence or IYT Flotilla Skipper Certificate has to be assessed to established that they are at the required practical skippering level, and also to show that they have sufficient understanding of navigation, theory and seamanship to the standard required by the syllabus.
We can cover the practical training required as part of a Learn to Sail holiday, but people are expected to have already studied the relevant theory before completing the practical training. You can then discuss aspects of the theory with the instructor and refresh your memory during the practical training, but we do not attempt to teach people who have not already studied any theory in advance what is required during the practical week. To do so properly would mean having to spend time in a classroom and not out sailing, and that is not what the Learn to Sail holidays are all about. Anybody that has not done any prior study can still participate fully in the practical holiday but will only be assessed as being at the International Crew level.
To ensure that people have studied the theory in advance, there is a straightforward eLearning course which is offered by International Yacht Training, the body that issues the Certificates, and on whose behalf we can conduct the assessments. All candidates for a skippers assessment must complete this.
The theory and eLearning course for the ICC is the same level of theory as that for the Flotilla Skipper Certificate. Anyone that completes the ICC can therefore also apply for the Flotilla Skipper certificate, if they wish.
The cost of completing the eLearning is $99 US Dollars, and this payment covers both the theory course, and the issuing of the International Certificate of Competence after completion of the assessment. The ICC is then valid for five years before it needs to be renewed. Renewal is just a paperwork exercise and a re assessment is not required. For anybody that also wants to get a Flotilla Skipper Certificate then there are some small additional costs for the extra administration involved with issuing that.
The format of the course is a full set of training notes, together with a series of online modules that you can complete with test questions at the end of each one. You can repeat each module as often as you wish, so you cannot fail the eLearning and once you have completed all the modules, you will be issued with a course completion certificate.
Once registered, you will have access to the system for up to 12 months and you can take as long as you wish to do the training. Some people that already have a prior base of knowledge, and just want to complete the course as part of their application process will complete the course in an afternoon, while others will study it all more slowly and may take months to finish it. You can get more detail on the content of the eLearning here.
The procedure to do the eLearning is as follows.
You must first register as a student with IYT. Once registered you will be issued with a unique Student Registration number and all IYT training or certificates that you do will then be linked to this number. We cannot apply for any certificates for you without this number.
Student Registration is done on line and is free of charge. Before starting please make sure that you first have a copy of a suitable passport style photo and a copy of your passport already loaded on your computer. These should be in a jpeg or png format. These can be photos that you just take yourself. We suggest that read the registration instructions before registering, so that you know what you need. You can see them here
To register please go to https://www.iytnet.com and select " Login" where you can either log in if you are all ready registered or to sign up for the first time as relevant.
Once you have your Student Registration Number,
go to www.iytworld.com and log in to access the various courses available.
select the "IYT Training Tab" and from the drop down select "Online Training Courses"
For the ICC E-Learning you need to sign up for "ICC for Sailing Vessels up to 24m Coastal eLearning"
Finally when you have the E learning completed, please log on to your Activity Yachting booking check list. Go to stage six of the booking system, and select the details tab by the name of the person doing the assessment and enter your IYT Student Registration number and the certificate number that you get when you complete the E Learning. This is written on the certificate.
