I'm colour-blind, is this going to be an issue?

[pwillems]

Hi All,

I'm about to get started learning to sail with the overall goal to get my Yachtmaster Ocean cert over the next 15 years or so. This is of course with the final goal of throwing away the 9 to 5 paradigm and changing to a cruising lifestyle.

Something that I only just thought of is that I am colour-blind (red/green) and I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere along the path, there is a requirement to pass a medical including a colour perception test.

Does anyone know if this is one of the requirements? I realise there the yachtmaster certs can be commercially endorsed and have no doubt there would be a colour perception test for these, but I am only interested in getting these certificates for my own embetterment and would not seek commercial endorsement.

Cheers

[Zanshin]

All of the commercial endorsements require a sight test which includes colour-blindness testing. You can certainly participate in the courses, though.
Most buouyage and signage redundantly uses shape, contents, and color to distinguish meaning so with the red-green color aspect gone you could still correctly identify important features. It would be at night where the problems could be debilitating.

[RaptorAT]

Originally Posted by Zanshin

All of the commercial endorsements require a sight test which includes colour-blindness testing. You can certainly participate in the courses, though.
Most buouyage and signage redundantly uses shape, contents, and color to distinguish meaning so with the red-green color aspect gone you could still correctly identify important features. It would be at night where the problems could be debilitating.

Additionally in the US waterways there is a number /color code as all greens are odd and reds are even.

You will not be able to get a captains liscense without passing a physical that includes sight. However you can absolutely sail and cruise.

[Joesaila]

Likely, most colorblind people have the same two color problems. Of all the colors to misidentify, the red / green ones are certainly crucial to navigating. Of course I'm sure it would not be a problem with practice and forethought on the recreational level. Though, I'd talk w an examiner ahead of time, you may be surprised.

[2Gringos]

So, what idiot decided that the two most common problem colors for many of us should also be the most used colors for signals?

By changing red to yellow, a lot of these issues would go away.

[sailingdog]

You expect officialdom to make sense and do something that would reduce problems???

Originally Posted by 2Gringos

So, what idiot decided that the two most common problem colors for many of us should also be the most used colors for signals?

By changing red to yellow, a lot of these issues would go away.

[RaptorAT]

Red and green are opposites on the color wheel thus easiest to tell apart for non color blind folks. If you were to change they would need to be something like blue and yellow. Yellow and green particularly a faded green are harder to tell apart then yellow red for the majoritity of the population.

[sailingdog]

What color wheel are you using??? Red and Green are both additive primaries, as in RGB... and not opposite each other on any color wheel I've ever seen. Red and CYAN are opposites on the color wheel, as are Green and Magenta... or BLUE and YELLOW.

Originally Posted by RaptorAT

Red and green are opposites on the color wheel thus easiest to tell apart for non color blind folks. If you were to change they would need to be something like blue and yellow. Yellow and green particularly a faded green are harder to tell apart then yellow red for the majoritity of the population.

[tweitz]

I am colorblind and have been sailing for most of my life. However, I never sail at night without a person with normal color vision, as that is the only time I have a problem. I can always see the shapes long before the colors would be visible during the day. Way back when -- 1968 to be exact -- I would probably have gone to Navy OCS had it not been for my color vision. After I failed the first test, they gave me a special test, involving a pitch dark room with red, green and white lights. I sure could not tell them apart, and was therefore ineligible. It was a major turning point in my life. I know that a color vision test is a prerequisite for a captain's license, but for everything else in sailing, you will do fine, except perhaps color coded electrical wiring and lines.
I have to say I was a little concerned when my soon to be three year old grandson insisted that a fire engine we passed was red, when my wife said it was plainly (and obviously unusually) a bright green. Since he is my daughter's son, my understanding is there is a 50-50 chance he will be colorblind as well. Of course I can hope he just doesn;t know his colors yet.

[pdqaltair]

Originally Posted by RaptorAT

Additionally in the US waterways there is a number /color code as all greens are odd and reds are even.

You will not be able to get a captains liscense without passing a physical that includes sight. However you can absolutely sail and cruise.

... since there are a lot of red and green lights, some of them on-shore!

Extra causion and common sense should do.