What you need to perform it
Primary qualification
- Yacht Skipper (RD 875/2014): prior PER + official theory exam (extended navigation, weather, safety) + 48 hours of safety-and-navigation practice at an approved school.
- Sail endorsement: specific practice if not already held with the PER.
- Age 18 and a valid psycho-physical medical.
Basic STCW
- Not required for the recreational licence. The professional PPER route requires full STCW basic safety training A-VI/1.
Specific courses
- PY syllabus: chartwork and DR, tides, extended meteorology and offshore safety
- 48-hour practice with watches and passage-making
- Radio: operator certificate (recreational SRC/GMDSS) recommended for the area attributions
Indicative experience
No extra mileage beyond the PER: the filter is the exam and the 48 practice hours (verify the call's detail). Real offshore experience is built on one's own passages before stepping to Yacht Captain.
Observations
A recreational title with no professional validity; the working route is the PPER or the professional titles. Ladder: LN → PNB → PER → PY → Yacht Captain (the latter adds celestial navigation and removes the distance limit).
What this role does
Fourth rung of the Spanish recreational ladder: licenses recreational craft under power —and sail with the endorsement— up to 24 metres, on voyages up to 150 miles offshore. It is the offshore-cruising title and the doorway to Yacht Captain, with celestial navigation still outside the syllabus.
Typical watches
- Day and night navigation, without time limit
Key responsibilities
- Government of motor and sailing vessels up to 24 m in length.
- Navigation up to 150 nautical miles from the coast.
- High-altitude ocean navigation with beacons and applied meteorology.
Operational scope
- Boat ≤ 24 m
- Area ≤ 150 minutes from the coast
Profile reviewed by HydroAbyss (2026). Cited rules and timeframes are indicative: the final requirement is set by the flag State, the Administration and each company.