STUDENT FAQ and SUPPORT (no login required - your answer will be emailed to you)

Where:

Click on our sailing schools tab then on your country and then on your state (or a country or area you would like to go).

Any school that is able to issue the SLC assessment will have an SLC logo next to the school listing.

NauticEd is constantly opening new schools and so if there is not one in your area feel free to contact us

What:

The SLC Assessment is a practical on-the-water assessment of your skills. It will take about 6 hours on the water. The assessment documents are PDF downloads and are available to students in their curriculum under OTW Assessments. For the SLC Assessment, download the SLC/ICC/Bareboat Charter Assessment document. Make sure you read the instructions on that document. Then take a look through the document prior to the assessment and inform your assessor of any areas you are weak on. This will allow the assessor to "put on their instructor hat" before the assessment to first clear out any areas that you would potentially fail. For example you might be weak on Mediterranean mooring or springing on and off the dock. If you tell the assessor first then they will spend extra time with you to help you on these areas so that you don't fail the overall assessment.

The Assessor uses a standardized set of Rubrics which are an extension of the United States Coast Guard developed American National Standards for sailing assessment. They are extended to cover all the aspects of Bareboat Chartering including leadership, chart navigation, tides, weather, maneuvering large boats in tight marinas, anchoring and mooring, as well as general sailing skills. See the PDF download.

Note that this is not a certificate of attendance. You must be competent to NauticEd's high standards in order to pass the assessment. SLC assessors take the standards seriously. It is fully possible you can fail if you do not take the assessment seriously.

Part of the whole Assessment is a theory test of your theory knowledge as well. You'll be tested on tides, navigation, navigation buoys, chart items, lights, and other such important things you should naturally know. The Assessor will administer the theory test which you should take no longer than 1/2 hour. Make sure you feel confident about your theory knowledge before the assessment.

(Assessors: the theory test is available to you for download from your Resources tab when you are signed in as an Instructor/Assessor. Print out as many copies as you need for your students.)

If you fail the whole assessment - the assessor will indicate to you on the rubrics document where you need improvement. Often times these are just areas where you need a small improvement to come up to the standard. In that case the assessor will just require that you practice the item on your own or with an instructor and then demonstrate your competence at a later date on just those items.

Who:

The NauticEd SLC assessment can only be performed by a trained NauticEd SLC Assessor. Neither the American Sailing Association (ASA) nor USSailing are  recognized the USCG as adhering to the American National Standards. Therefore,  ASA or USSailing instructors are NOT qualified to perform the assessment - although they can easily apply to become an assessor. There is a short training program for them to qualify.