Fast track to Yachtmaster

When Covid scuppers Josh Lindley’s gap year, he takes on a demanding 5-month sailing course instead to qualify as a skipper

-  Josh Lindley

When I was 14 I attended an open day at a small sailing club in Cookham village on the river Thames. I was hooked the minute I got on a boat, and soon became a member of Cookham Reach Sailing Club (CRSC).

I progressed to racing 12ft dinghies and brought home many trophies, which encouraged me to get my dinghy instructor qualification when I turned 16 and teach cadets at CRSC.

After my A-levels, I planned to travel around Asia. However, because of the Covid pandemic, I couldn’t go. Instead, with financial help from my grandparents, I embarked on a five-month fast-track RYA Yachtmaster course with the British Offshore Sailing School (BOSS).

I passed my RYA Yachtmaster Offshore exam in December 2020 and had the qualification commercially endorsed. So I’m now qualified to skipper a commercial sailing vessel of up to 200 gross tonnes up to 150 miles offshore – that’s not to say that the owner of a £3m luxury superyacht would trust a 20-year-old lad to drive it... but technically I can!

The course begins