In a world of ever-increasing options, Sam Jefferson explains the enduring merit of powerboat tuition, RYA style.

One of the beauties of going out in a boat is that you are pretty much free to do what you want. It’s not like cars, where you have to face hours of purgatory just to pass your test. In the marine world, you could, in theory, buy a boat, roll it down a slipway, fire it up and disappear into the briny blue without a care in the world.

In one respect this is great but in another it is mildly disturbing. Consider boat safety. The potential to hurt others while afloat might be less than that on the road but the chances of finding yourself lost, helpless and miles from anywhere is significantly higher - and this brings me to the matter of RYA training and the more piquant question of what it has to offer for the average powerboater. It isn’t free and it isn’t mandatory, so why on earth would you fork out for it?

What’s the point?
There are a number of good reasons to get training and the main one is peace of mind. The RYA practical courses teach you how to handle your boat in a safe and competent manner, while the navigation courses give you a great deal of confidence in finding your way, even if all your electronic gadgets give up the ghost. And this is what the courses are really all about. They may not be mandatory, but there is nothing worse than being out on a boat and feeling uncertain about what you are doing, particularly if you are the skipper. By doing a course, you can enjoy your boating far more because you will be confident enough to embrace it.

Picking the right tuition
The average sports boat and RIBster doesn’t need a Yachtmaster Ocean course, as he is only likely to head a few miles offshore - but there are plenty of courses to suit. The RYA’s Basic Navigation course is great if you are looking to get a handle on some of the basic techniques, such as course to steer and identification of relevant marks. On a more practical note, courses such as the RYA Powerboat Level 2 course gives you a really solid grounding in the nuts and bolts of boat handling. It will also qualify you for the International Certificate of Competence (ICC), which will be useful, and sometimes essential, if you intend to boat elsewhere in Europe.

This is not really about the hard sell on RYA courses. After all, the RYA is a strong advocate of keeping legislation out of boating. This is really just to explain the purpose of an RYA course. If it’s of interest, you can simply visit www.rya.org.uk to find out more. In the end, the beauty of boating is that, no matter how many courses you take, there will always be something at sea just waiting to catch you out. It’s one of the great joys of boating and one of the key reasons to garner as much expertise as you can . . .