Chartering: the certifications and how flotillas work.

Certifications show a charter company that you are qualified, and many European countries require skippers of pleasure craft to hold an ICC. This page covers the main certifications; always confirm what your charter company and the country you are sailing in require before you book.

ASA (American Sailing Association)

ASA was founded in 1983. Its core keelboat courses build toward bareboat chartering:

ASA 103 adds docking, anchoring and basic coastal navigation. ASA says ASA 104 prepares sailors to take out their own bareboat charter. ASA 114 is the step for sailors who want to charter a catamaran.

US Sailing keelboat certifications

US Sailing's keelboat pathway moves from daysailing to cruising to passage making:

1. Basic Keelboat
2. Basic Cruising
3. Bareboat Cruising
4. Coastal Navigation
5. Coastal Passage Making
6. Offshore Passage Making

Experienced sailors can challenge a level by passing practical and written exams instead of taking the course, though US Sailing notes that not every school offers this.

RYA Day Skipper

The RYA Day Skipper Practical (sail) course runs five days, or the equivalent over weekends, and the minimum age is 16. Before starting you need five days, 100 miles and four night hours aboard a sailing yacht, plus knowledge at Day Skipper shorebased level.

According to the RYA, Day Skipper qualifies you to take charge of a 30 to 45 ft sailing yacht and crew on day trips in familiar waters. It shows charter companies you are qualified, and it makes you eligible to apply for the ICC. One training provider, UKSA, states that the practical meets the minimum experience requirement for bareboat charter; that is the provider's claim, and charter companies set their own standards.

The ICC, and the IPC for US sailors

The International Certificate of Competence (formally the International Certificate for Operators of Pleasure Craft) is created under UN Resolution 40. Australian Sailing notes that many European countries require pleasure-craft skippers to hold one, and that it matters especially when chartering abroad or using European inland waterways. Requirements differ from country to country.

The ICC can be issued only by agents in countries that have signed the resolution. The United States has not, so there is no US ICC agent. The two US bodies each offer an alternative:

• ASA's International Proficiency Certificate (IPC) comes from an agreement with Mediterranean charter companies and stands in for the ICC for US-based sailors, according to ASA.
• US Sailing's IPC lets members certified in Bareboat Cruising charter without a captain in EU waters, according to US Sailing. It is valid for five years and must be carried aboard.

Sailors in Australia can get the UK-issued ICC through Australian Sailing's partnership with the RYA. The RYA itself reports more than 2,400 recognized training centers in more than 58 countries.

Whether a given country accepts a given certificate is set by that country and by the charter company. Check current requirements with the charter company and the relevant national authority before you go.

Flotilla holidays

The RYA describes a flotilla holiday as a group of yachts, usually up to 15, sailing together under a lead boat crewed by a skipper, an engineer and a host. Flotillas run mostly in the Mediterranean, in season.

Lead skipper

Plans each day's passage and manages safety. The RYA says flotilla and bareboat lead skippers usually hold a commercially endorsed RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate of Competence.

Engineer

Handles mechanical problems across the fleet.

Host

Handles administration and social events.

A sponsored post by the charter company Sunsail describes its flotillas as typically 8 to 10 boats plus a lead boat, with a chart briefing each morning and each boat sailed independently between stops. It names ASA 104 or US Sailing Bareboat Cruising as the qualification for each boat's skipper. That is one company's description in paid content, not an industry standard.

Before you charter

• Work out which certificate your charter company accepts for the boat size and area you want.
• If you are sailing in Europe, find out whether the country requires an ICC or will accept an IPC.
• Review the skills ASA 103 lists, which include docking, anchoring and basic coastal navigation (see docking and mooring, anchoring and navigation).