2. SEA Tales & Scuttlebutt by Capt. Marty Rijkuris

One of the last individual freedoms remaining in the world today is the privilege of taking a pleasure yacht to sea without meeting cumbersome legal requirements to prove your yachting ability or the vessels seaworthiness. As the yacht departs I normally discard the trappings of city life and the laws of the land with an almighty sigh of relief and allow my fate to be solely determined by my ability to harness the vagaries of nature, the yachts seaworthiness, boat-speed and direction, be it only for a short while. This privilege grants us true freedom to sail the seas which is being endangered by a small minority who do not understand that this freedom imposes upon them the requirement to act responsibly and safely whilst on the water.

It is the moral responsibility of the owner and skipper of every yacht that puts to sea to ensure that the crew and passengers are not exposed to avoidable danger or risk and that no unnecessary demands are made on the local rescue services – That’s if there are any! This means that skippers of seagoing yachts must become competent to deal with any weather conditions and situations, which they might encounter on passage. The crew should possess the ability to be equally competent to assist the skipper run the yacht efficiently.

In developed yachting nations like Australia, UK & the US where the respective Yachting Authorities have successfully phased in National Training Schemes based on they’re own set of yachting standards with specially designed training courses at commercial sailing centers and yacht clubs. They have been established to help persons interested in acquiring these seagoing skills with the awarding of Course Completion Certificates and Certificates of Competency to skippers and crews as they display their proficiency in yacht handling and boating knowledge. These formal training schemes have been instrumental in providing the tremendous growth of foreign qualified seagoing personnel these days and responsible for the booming marine industries and increased yachting activities presently being experienced in these countries.

Recreational activities and pleasure yachting pursuits have only recently become a part of the Asian lifestyle and the training of local sailors in safe yacht handling skills has been limited to the off the beach classes, small sailing yachts, speedboat licensing and local motor vessel piloting courses. The steady growth of boating activities, many new marine facilities and International yachting events have emerged in Asia today and a group of Malaysian yachtsmen and International Yachting Associates have taken the lead set by the developed yachting nations and produced a International Yacht Handling Quality Standard and Behavior Guidelines.

Inspired on by their Prime Minister's drive to prepare the nations pleasure yachting industry for the next millennium of marine tourism and sporting achievement they are addressing the sensitive issue of pleasure yacht handling by introducing the Asian Yachtmaster Scheme. It is a self administering and voluntary training scheme aimed at setting high individual standards in yacht handling which can be adopted by local authorities, commercial yachting organizations and clubs in neighboring regions that have yet to adopt a formal training scheme to qualify their sailors.

Using the Internet to globally publish and for communications, International Yachting Associates intends to assist those who wish to cruise or race pleasure yachts anywhere in the world: