IYT Bareboat Skipper Course in Australia

Start with the type and size of boat you hope to charter. Ask the school which vessel it uses and how the practical exercises relate to that goal. Someone preparing for a cruising catamaran should discuss the differences from monohull handling and the exact certificate endorsement, rather than assuming all bareboat courses are equivalent.

Ask how much time each student spends planning and leading activities. A useful course allows you to make decisions, brief others and reflect on the results under instruction. A week during which one confident student performs most of the difficult manoeuvres can leave the rest of the group with less practice than the timetable suggests.

Ask for separate lines for preparatory training, skipper instruction, accommodation, food, certificate administration, radio training and any additional assessment. Establish whether weather-related changes could require extra days. For a travelling student, transport and nights ashore can materially change the overall budget.

Finish with a practical handover plan: what you should practise after the course, how to keep a logbook and where supervised experience is available. The best next step may be more time on a similar yacht before chartering. The school directory can help you identify providers to contact, but a published listing is not a guarantee of current course availability.