Yachting Degrees
Your passport to a fulfilling career
A report by Rupert Holmes, yachting journalist.
UKSA’s Foundation Degree is the ultimate training for those aged 18 – 25 looking for top-level careers in the superyacht industry.
Work in superyachting
It’s hard to believe that the super-rich find it hard to recruit suitably qualified staff for their yachts. The superyacht industry is a rapidly-growing sector with employment opportunities expanding at around 10 per cent every year. There’s a real shortage of crew at all levels in the superyacht sector (yachts over 24m / 80ft) in length). The national press recently recognised this, with both the Sunday Telegraph and the Sunday Express reporting the problems faced by owners of such yachts.
The BBC’s Katie Hunt recently reported on the crew crisis in the super-yacht industry, commenting "Despite the obvious perks, there is a global shortage of the deckhands, engineers, silver-service stewards and gourmet chefs needed to run the world's4,000-strong fleet of super-yachts. The industry has grown at 500% a year over the past decade - but the vessels' captains and owners are struggling to find the crew they need."
Well-qualified personnel are particularly sought after – these multi-million pound vessels are complex entities that require a wide range of skills, including knowledge of electronics and engineering, in addition to navigation, meteorology, seamanship and boat handling expertise.
From her vantage point within the industry, Norma Trease, a director of the International Superyacht Society and editor of industry magazine The Crew Report is all too familiar with these issues: “The critical shortage of qualified crew members continues to present serious challenges for yacht owners, captains and industry leaders alike.”
Trease sees UKSA’s initiative in creating the degree programme, which leads to the qualification of FdSc in Operational Yacht Science, as an important step in addressing this problem, and recognises the outstanding opportunities that are be available to its graduates. “By adding the Foundation Degree to the already successful Yachting Cadetship, UKSA has taken a welcome and much needed leadership position to address the global crew shortage issue.”
What are Foundation Degrees?
Foundation Degrees are innovative university-accredited degrees that were introduced to the Higher Education sector in 2001. They are designed and delivered in partnership with employers to equip people with the knowledge and skills needed to work in specific industries. Designed for learning within the workplace, foundation degrees use the full benefits of blended learning, incorporating learning in the work place, classroom teaching, research, and distance learning.
The UKSA’s Patron HRH the Princess Royal launched their Foundation Degree last year. Issued by the University of Plymouth, the programmes academic content is delivered and assessed by Falmouth Marine School. In addition to the degree, students will undertake all the training modules required for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) Officer Of the Watch (OOW) qualification.
Vocational training degree
“We developed the Foundation Degree to meet the increasing industry need for professional staff and to provide young people with a clear vocational career path in an exciting, vibrant and rewarding growth industry,” says Jon Ely, UKSA’s Chief Executive. “UKSA has identified the benefits both to employers, and to individuals from all backgrounds, in providing degree-level studies alongside professional qualifications and work experience.”
UKSA Yachting Cadetship
The core of the degree training benefits from UKSA’s experience of delivering its well-regarded Yachting Cadetship. The degree course is delivered in paralell with the Yachting Cadetship. The first phase of the course is 18 weeks study at UKSA, with a combination of classroom-based tuition and training at sea. This is followed by a period of 12-18 months of employment, typically working as a deckhand on a large yacht, which will often be voyaging in exotic locations around the world.
This kind of work is paid around £1000-1600 per month, all found, with no expenses and is often tax free. Having well-paid employment during their studies means it’s possible for students to repay their loans within around 12 months of completing their degrees.
After the first industry period students return to Cowes for 8 weeks of Yachtmaster Ocean training, preparation for the MCA Master 200gt, and yacht operations training. Then follows a second employment period for a further 12-18 months before returning to UKSA for the final phase of training to complete the MCA Officer of the Watch (3000gt) syllabus.
RYA Yachtmaster and Oceanmaster
Within the training at UKSA, students will initially gain the coveted RYA Yachtmaster (Offshore) qualification, with commercial endorsement. At a later stage in the course, after completion of further shorebased training and an ocean passage, they will gain the RYA Yachtmaster (Ocean) endorsement, enabling them to skipper vessels of up to 24m (approx 80ft) on ocean passages anywhere in the world. As the ultimate aim of the programme is the OOW qualification, students are drilled in its requirements from the outset.
Most of the degree’s academic content is delivered through blended learning modules while participants are on their work experience placements. “This will take up to about four hours a week, depending on the individual,” says UKSA degree programme coordinator Simon Rowell. “That means students need only to find the equivalent of two evenings of socialising time a week for studying.”
Jobs in yachting
Josslynne Masters started the Foundation Degree programme in May 2008. The first two weeks were spent shore-based in Cowes with navigation and radio operator training, followed by two weeks at sea on board a modern training yacht.
“It’s not a lot more work, compared to the Yachting Cadetship,” says Josslynne “and if we’re learning the material anyway, it makes sense to make the extra effort to take the exams as well.”
Why did she choose this particular programme? “Having the degree will help with employment in the future – if two people with the same yachting experience and qualifications apply for a job, the one with a degree is more likely to be guaranteed an interview.” Although at this stage she doesn’t envisage working outside the yachting industry, she also recognises that having a degree will help to open up opportunities in other fields at a later date.
In what ways is the UKSA degree programme different to learning at school? “At school we were mostly told facts and asked to write them down. Here when you’re taught something, you can then do it and practice it. If at first it doesn’t work you can work out why and practice some more – it really builds and tests your understanding.”
Josslynne, when asked about her ultimate career ambition, comments - “My main goal is to gain the MCA Master 3000gt qualification, so that I can take charge of a really big yacht.” This is the qualification needed to be captain of a superyacht of up to 3000 gt – that’s roughly the size of a naval frigate! “My aim is to achieve that ambition 10 years after qualifying,” she adds. “The UKSA Foundation Degree is great in that it enables you to work up through the ranks, while getting good qualifications, giving a really solid all-round grounding in the industry.”
Yachting careers advice
UKSA has its own in-house careers service that works solely on behalf of its 4,000 graduates, linking them with appropriate employers. The service assists UKSA graduates, educating them on the yachting industry and their expectations, and prepares them to market themselves at a high level within the yachting industry job market. “We work with many of the biggest recruiters in the industry, as well as with superyacht captains, to match them with suitably qualified and experienced crew,” says UKSA Careers Manager Cally Logsdon. “The reality is, if you have the right service attitude, and have applied yourself well in your studies, there is no shortage of exciting well paid career opportunities in the yachting industry.”
Request UKSA’s training prospectus
Contact UKSA about programme
Find out more about the UKSA Careers Service at www.yachtcareers.com
Find out more about the Academy’s Foundation degree programme Click here
