The RYA started examining Yachtmaster candidates in 1973 but in fact the very first Yachtmaster certificates were awarded much earlier. In 1938 at the request of the Admiralty, the Board of Trade began to hold examinations for Yachtmasters primarily for Royal Navy reservists but also for amateur yacht skippers. It was prescient of the Admiralty to consider a military need for a fleet of competent yachtsmen as that is exactly what was required two years later at Dunkirk.
In the early 1970s the RYA took over the administration of the exam after a protracted negotiation led by
