Competence Archives

Tag Archive for: Competence

Pre-Sail Risk Assessment for Sailing Skippers and Instructors

August 10, 2025/by Guest Author

Understand the importance of sailing risk assessment to ensure safety and preparedness on the water – by NauticEd instructor and professional pilot Gordy Cox.

How to qualify to skipper a boat on a sailing vacation

July 3, 2024/by Grant Headifen

If you want to qualify to skipper a boat on a sailing vacation, you’re going to need to be competent. Don’t focus on the certification first – that will come once you are competent. Here is a plan towards competence that will make sure you are not only qualified but knowledgeable, safe, and experienced.

Catamaran Qualification and Training

February 3, 2021/by Grant Headifen

How do I Switch to Skippering a Catamaran? We get this call almost every day – “I’ve been sailing a monohull for years and am confident. I want to take a catamaran on a sailing vacation. What does it take to switch to a catamaran? Do I need a Catamaran Certification?” Looking at switching over […]

Sailing Certificate Standards

January 26, 2021/by Grant Headifen

NauticEd has been operating as a premier sailing training body since 2008 and is recognized by NASBLA and the United States Coast Guard as adhering to the American National Standards for sailing training. This carries a lot of responsibility and expectation on our instructors to properly follow the standards when training and assessing – and […]

On The Water Training Standards

November 25, 2020/by Grant Headifen

At NauticEd, we treat the word COMPETENCE very seriously. We strive to help everyone of our students become competent and we show progress along the way with varying Ranks and Levels of achievement. To us, competence means that a person can do the thing they are asked successfully. That they are fully capable and they […]

What is The Biggest Lie in Sailing?

December 4, 2018/by Grant Headifen

The biggest lie in sailing stems from sailing certifications alone as proof enough of competence to charter yachts.

Charter Companies: How the NauticEd Sailing Certification Ranks Work

August 7, 2018/by Grant Headifen

This is a brief for Yacht Charter Companies on How the NauticEd Sailing License and Certification Ranks Work. THE BOTTOM LINE As adequate certification for charterers, charter companies should look for: Bareboat Charter Master Rank Level III, IV, or V; or Captain Rank Level III, IV, or V These Ranks and Levels mean that the […]

Practical Training Course Matrix

September 19, 2016/by Grant Headifen

With responsible sailing knowledge there is, of course, theory and practical skills to learn and demonstrate. When you get with your practical instructor, it is highly recommended to complete the appropriate theory courses prior to the practical training. Otherwise, you’ll spend too much time on the basics preventing the instructor from doing their real work which […]

Practical Competency vs ICC Assessment

June 28, 2015/by Grant Headifen

Here is a question from one of our students and our answer: Grant, I am trying to find a school that will administer your verified competency test or checkout. I thought I read that it could be done in one day by one of your affiliated schools. I am making a trip to Annapolis, MD in […]

Bareboat Charter Rank Requires Experience

November 11, 2014/by Grant Headifen

Here is a great question from one of our students to one of our Vancouver based instructors at Vancouver Sailing School regarding experience and Rank advancement If you like the topic please LIKE it on facebook and g+1 it. Thanks it really helps us! How Can I Rise In Rank To Charter With Out Master of […]