Bareboat yacht charters Requirements to Sail

Link: http://www.voyagecharters.com

When you charter a bareboat - a yacht without hired crew (captain, cook or hostess) - you yourself will act as skipper and be responsible for both your crew members and yacht.
Officially, since 2004, the harbour authorities/port police require that 1 crew member (it used to be 2) has at least a RYA day skipper, International Certificate of Competence (ICC) or national equivalent.
If your sailing license is issued by a country outside the European Union, it must be accompanied by a translation English. The port police also recognizes any official paper from a sailing school, a yacht club or any relative organization, that has tested and can verify your ability to handle a sailing yacht.

Since these “official papers” can be anything, a lot of yacht charter companies follow their own rules. Yet, often the start is the only time when you have to overlay the documents. Together with the boat's documents the local port police needs a sailing license to give you permission to leave port. When entering a new port, the Port Police may check your sailing licenses but in most, if not all, cases they will only check the ship's papers.

If it is impossible to get an official paper from - for instance - your club, there is a waiver you can sign which accepts that you are responsible for the well-being of the crew, and it is at the owner's discretion whether he will allow you to sail his yacht alone.