Orals Revision: Meteorology (Master 200/OOW 500 Yacht Route)

Orals revision card — Master (code vessels less than 200 GT)/Officer of the Watch (yachts less than 500 GT) Oral Examination Syllabus, Section 1.2 'Meteorology' (MCA, gov.uk, updated 17 June 2026). Small-vessel/yacht route — a different syllabus from the Unlimited CoC track covered elsewhere in this series.

What the Syllabus Actually Asks

• Know where to get meteorological information from, and which sources are realistic to use on a small vessel or yacht rather than a deep-sea ship
• Interpret weather forecasts, including recognising the characteristics of different weather systems described in them
• Use and interpret whatever meteorological instruments the vessel actually carries — this is a narrower, more practical brief than a full synoptic-meteorology exam

Examiner Focus

• Expect to be asked to read a forecast out loud and explain what it means for your passage, not recite textbook cloud types
• Be ready to connect instrument readings (barometer trend, wind speed/direction) to what you'd expect from the forecast, and explain any mismatch

Quick Self-Check

• Name three sources of weather information realistically available to you on a small vessel or yacht.
• What's the difference between reading a forecast and interpreting your own instrument data — and why does the syllabus test both?
• Talk through one weather system's characteristics an examiner might reasonably ask about.

Test yourself: Navigation Knowledge Checks.

Related Reading

• BML Revision: Meteorology — the Boatmaster's Licence version of this same competence, good for the underpinning basics