Certifications & endorsements
Define the credentials your club recognizes, grant them to members, and clear skippers.
Zeil's skipper safety model has two parts that you, as admin, control: certifications (credentials a member holds) and endorsements (permission to skipper). Together they decide who can take each boat out.
If you haven't already, read the member-facing Certifications & skipper status to see how this looks from a member's side — then come back here to set it up.
Step 1 — Define your certifications
Under Admin → Certifications, create the credentials your club recognizes. Each certification has:
- a name (e.g. "ASA 101", "Club Skipper Level 2"),
- a level — an integer that lets boats require a minimum, and
- optionally an expiry rule, for credentials that lapse.
Design the levels as a ladder: higher numbers mean more capability, so a boat can simply require "level ≥ N".
Step 2 — Grant certifications to members
Once defined, grant certifications to the members who hold them (under the certifications area / grants). If a certification expires, it stops counting toward skipper eligibility until renewed.
Step 3 — Grant endorsements
An endorsement is permission to skipper, and it targets either a single boat or a whole boat class — not both at once. Granting a class endorsement clears the skipper for every boat in that class, which is usually what you want for a fleet of identical boats.
Manage these under Admin → Endorsements.
How eligibility is computed
When someone is proposed as skipper for a boat, Zeil checks that:
- they have an endorsement covering that boat (directly or via its class),
- they hold a certification at or above the boat's minimum level, and
- that certification hasn't expired.
All three must hold. This same rule runs everywhere a skipper is validated, so there's one consistent answer to "can this person skipper this boat?"
Revoking changes eligibility immediately
Revoking an endorsement or letting a certification expire can make a member ineligible for boats they could previously skipper — which can affect their upcoming sails. If a confirmed sail loses its only eligible skipper, it may be auto-cancelled after the grace period. Communicate changes ahead of time.
Renewals and expiry
For certifications with an expiry, plan to renew them before they lapse. An expired certification silently stops counting, so a member may quietly lose the ability to skipper. Reviewing expiries periodically keeps your skipper roster honest.