02/11/2026
**WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE YACHTIE TRAINING SCHOOLS TEACHING?**
I have to get this off my chest.
How on earth can a training school issue a certificate to someone who is supposedly a qualified deckhand, yet that person doesn't know what a chamois is, how to use a microfibre cloth, or even understand some of the most basic requirements of working on a yacht?
Over the last \*\*3 months, we have had 5 "qualified" deckhands come through our doors who couldn't swim. FIVE!
Let that sink in.
These are people who have completed training, paid their fees, received certificates, and are now being sent out into the industry, supposedly ready to work on yachts.
What exactly are these schools teaching them?
A deckhand doesn't need to arrive knowing everything. We all start somewhere, and nobody expects a young person to have years of experience when they walk onto their first yacht.
But there is a massive difference between being inexperienced and not having the most basic practical skills required to work safely and professionally.
**Swimming should be an absolute non-negotiable.**
Knowing basic deck cleaning, understanding the products and equipment you are using, knowing how to handle a microfibre cloth, understanding yacht terminology, and having a basic appreciation of life onboard should be part of the foundation of any deckhand training programme.
These are not advanced skills. These are the basics!
And then we wonder why South African crew are struggling to get hired overseas.
The good deckhands who do get overseas are often immediately confronted with the perception that South African crew are less educated or less prepared than crew from other countries.
That is incredibly frustrating, especially when we have some absolutely brilliant South African yachties who are hardworking, capable, professional and highly respected.
But we are doing our young people no favours by sending them out into the industry with certificates that apparently don't reflect their actual abilities.
**A certificate should mean something.**
It should mean that the person has been properly assessed, has demonstrated the required practical skills, understands basic safety, and is genuinely ready to enter the workplace.
It should not simply mean that they attended a course and paid for their qualification.
I honestly believe it is time for the industry to take a serious look at these training schools and the standards they are working to.
We need proper regulations, independent practical assessments, minimum competency requirements and accountability for the schools issuing these qualifications.
And swimming needs to be a compulsory, properly tested requirement before anyone is allowed to qualify as a professional deckhand.
Because this isn't just about cleaning a yacht properly, knowing your terminology or making a good first impression.
**This is about safety.**
These young crew members are going to be working around deep water, moving vessels, tenders, machinery and potentially dangerous situations.
What happens when someone falls overboard and the person who is supposed to be part of the crew cannot swim?
What happens when an emergency occurs and the crew member holding a certificate has never actually demonstrated the basic skills required to work safely onboard?
Are we seriously going to wait until somebody gets seriously injured or, God forbid, loses their life before we do something about it?
The training schools need to take responsibility.
The industry needs to demand better.
And the regulations need to catch up.
**We are not asking these schools to produce experienced yachties straight out of the classroom. We are asking them to produce properly trained, competent and safe entry-level crew.**
There is a huge difference.
Our young South Africans deserve better training, better preparation and a fair chance of succeeding in an incredibly competitive international industry.
And the yacht owners, captains and companies employing them deserve to know that when someone arrives with a qualification, that qualification actually means something.
Enough is enough.
**Let's stop handing out certificates and start producing competent crew.**
Yachtmaster Sailing School - Cape Town Super Yachting South Africa - Deckhand
