The Yachtmaster Offshore theory, worked by hand on real charts: tides, lights, the collision regulations and a full passage plan across the Channel. Every answer explained.
Written by a captain. Practised, not watched — checked line by line against the current regulations.
For the exam.
For the watch after it.
Every topic follows the same four steps: see the idea, watch it done, try it with help, then do it on your own.
Open the dividers, lay the plotter, fix your position from two bearings, work the tidal stream for the hour and find the course to steer. On real charts, from Skelmar to the Channel.
See where the chart modules leadTake a bearing and watch it. Read a light, name a mark, turn the engine in your hands and change its impeller. Every answer comes with the reason.
Try Rule 7Three modules are free, no account needed: buoyage, lights and shapes, and the rules of the road. The marine diesel engine is free with a free account.
Read any mark from its shape, colour and topmark. Know which side to pass, by day and by night.
Make sense of the vessel ahead: her lights, her day shapes, and what you can tell from where you are.
All the steering and sailing rules, one at a time. Read the situation and make the call yourself.
A working 3-D engine you can turn, cut in half and run. Its systems, the everyday jobs and the signs of trouble.
Free means the whole module, not a sample: every screen, every exercise, every explanation.
Everything you learn comes together on one chart: the real Central English Channel. The course gives you a departure and a destination, and you plan the passage the way the exam asks for it.
The chart modules build on each other, one step at a time, and end in the passage plan. Around them sit the subjects you need on watch.
Free until 13 November PriceRead the chart: the symbols, the seabed and depths, and the publications that go with it.
True and magnetic, variation and deviation, and speed, distance and time on the chart.
Position lines, crossing bearings and the cocked hat, dead reckoning and the running fix.
Tidal definitions, standard port heights, clearance under the keel and tidal streams.
What the stream and the wind do to you, and the course to steer to get where you want to go.
The move to the real Channel: the almanac, secondary ports and the stream atlas.
A complete passage plan across the Channel, with help at every step, then on your own.
The three modules you can open today.
What you see and how to tune it, what each echo is, fixing your position and avoiding collision with radar.
The safety equipment on board, what it does and how to brief the crew: personal safety, calling for help, cold water and fire, abandoning ship.
The 3-D engine, its systems, the everyday jobs and fault finding.
Weather for the passage.
The same hands-on approach as the free modules, all the way to a full passage plan.
Every module, the passage planning practice and the final exam. From 14 November the full course is paid; the free modules stay free.
Every module, the passage planning practice and the final exam, with preparation for the theory exam and the practical exam.
Get the full course — £229 One payment, tax included. Buoyage, lights and shapes, the rules of the road and the diesel engine stay free.Work through the free modules and decide whether the approach works for you.
Charts, almanac pages and plotting tools come with the course.
Not affiliated with or accredited by the RYA.
You should know exactly what you’re getting before you start.
Until 13 November 2026 the whole course is free for everyone who creates an account. After that, three modules stay free with no account needed: buoyage, lights and shapes, and the rules of the road. The marine diesel engine stays free with a free account.
No. Offshore Theory is independent preparation for the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore theory exam. It is not affiliated with or accredited by the RYA.
No. The charts, the almanac pages, the plotter and the dividers are all inside the course. You work by hand, on screen, the same way you would on paper.
The chart modules from your first fix to a full passage plan, plus buoyage, lights and shapes, the rules of the road, radar, safety, the diesel engine and meteorology.
Anyone preparing the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore theory, and skippers who want to refresh their chartwork, tides and collision regulations.
Free for everyone with an account until 13 November 2026. Sign up before then and lock the founder price, £149 (€169), for good. From 14 November the full course is £229 (€259), one payment, tax included. Buoyage, lights and shapes, the rules of the road and the diesel engine stay free.
The full course is £229 (€259), one payment, tax included. Accounts created before 14 November keep the founder price, £149 (€169). Buoyage, lights and shapes, the rules of the road and the diesel engine stay free.
No. Offshore Theory is an independent course that prepares you for the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore theory exam. The certificate is issued by an RYA-recognised training centre.
Pick a free module. See how the theory comes together.
Try the free modules