We always love when our students share their personal experiences on our blog—especially when they do so with such detail and great humor! If you’re considering taking the Yachtmaster exam, be sure to read Alex Hartley’s reflections on the Prep Week and the exam.

“Bear away and run with it” our Instructor commands. The fourth squall of the night sweeps in, the windex peaking at 40 knots and rain totally obscuring our vision. Our damp clothes soaked once more, we ride out the weather and continue valiantly in search for a waypoint in the dark. 

In February 2025 I joined Second Star Sailing for a Yachtmaster Prep Week with the intention of taking the Coastal exam. Nerves jangling, I was pleased to see another woman onboard and even happier to find she is my namesake. Amusingly, we had matching sandals, Garmin watches and dyneema bracelets, too. We were joined by a third, Rob, who I had sailed down to Guadeloupe and back with a few weeks prior. Our Instructor also happened to be my boyfriend’s best mate, so I was confident we’d all have a laugh between our what’s-a-secondary-port-calculation-again meltdowns.

Between sharing our sailing stories and general shenanigans, our prep week turned into a strict regime of technical sailing, technical navigation, technical theory. The idea was to push ourselves out of our comfort zones so that when exam day arrived, we knew we could handle the pressure. 

“Train hard, fight easy” we chanted to ourselves in the more stressful moments. Antigua delivered some cracking wind and squalls for the duration of the week, and we sailed almost exclusively on second and third reef. 

One particularly challenging night was that of our night navigation, with the idea to sail onto a specific waypoint on the chart and set by our instructor; identifiable by various lights around us. We set off, no more than ten minutes in the first downpour hit. Three squalls, lumpy seas and force 7 winds later, I finally got my foul weather gear out. A bizarre sighting of a rainbow in the dark provided the backdrop as we limped from St John’s to Jolly Harbour after finding our  treasure. 

During our week we also became adept at sailing the channel in and our of Jolly Harbour itself. We felt like a nascent race crew on a particularly smooth series of back-to-back tacks, and students again on our sloppier manoeuvres. We tackled the Goat’s Head Channel, an area surrounded by menacing reef on the SW edge of Antigua. A satisfying use of clearing bearings, executed seamlessly by Alex, saw us sail our way up the channel in 19 short tacks.

Somewhere during the week, we’d also prepared our theoretical passage plans across the English Channel and dutifully drawn our pilotage plans and noted tide times, high water heights and refuge ports. 

Despite our best efforts to circumvent it, Friday morning rolled around and exam day had arrived. Alex, Rob and I all convened in the saloon and confessed feeling really quite sick. A rousing set of positive affirmations set us right, and we assured each other; 

“We’ve all had worse days sailing” and “this won’t be our hardest day on the water”.

Our exam went largely as expected, we were challenged to display command of our vessel, general seamanship and theoretical knowledge of charts, weather and IRPCS. Once more we sailed the Goat’s Head Channel in 19 tacks and entered St John’s under moonlight and navigation lights. We tacked, gybed, furled and unfurled, took bearings and plotted fixes. I fumbled my MOB recovery but managed to retrieve the poor buoy after a few go’s around. 

Notwithstanding my glee at passing the exam and receiving my YM Coastal certificate of competence, my experience was so much more than that piece of paper. Throughout our prep week I learnt so much about myself as a sailor and skipper, particularly which aspects make me most nervous.

It was important that I came to my prep week well prepared. Rather than learning new manoeuvres, the week was an opportunity to hone already familiar skills, just with an unfamiliar boat, location and crew. The week gave us a chance to learn Hatha Maris’ quirks and needs, and which navigation features around us most suited a transit or three-point fix. We needed all the theoretical and practical knowledge beforehand to ensure we both enjoyed and succeeded throughout the week. 

If you are considering booking onto a Yachtmaster Prep Week and exam, I wholeheartedly recommend it. The learning experience, skills developed and challenge alone is just as valuable as receiving a ticket at the end.