RYA Powerboat Training Courses

Powerboat: Advanced

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To teach boat handling, seamanship, pilotage and navigation up to the standards required to drive a planning powerboat safely by day and night in tidal coastal waters with which the candidate is familiar.	Two days including one night.


The RYA teaching ratio is 1 Instructor to 6 students. We ALWAYS run a 1 Instructor to 3 students ratio as we believe that it improves the learning experience for you. We often run 2 boats per course.	The course assumes you can handle a powerboat very well as it is about developing your skills rather than starting them! It also assumes you understand navigation to the level of Dayskipper Theory (although you don't actually need the qualification). We would always suggest that we have a chat with you about your experience before you pay for the course to ensure that this is the best course for you.


We start at 9-10am on day 1 and will finish about 3-4 hours after it gets dark. On day two we start at either 9 or 10am.	17


Advanced Courses are run throughout the year but with a strong emphasis towards the winter months - less light & more weather!	Open our Calendar to find course dates - click the logo


The Advanced powerboat course is aimed at experienced amateur powerboaters and professional users. It is a challenging course and gives students the chance to develop their capabilities and knowledge in a variety of areas. A key aspect of the course is the planning and execution of two passages - one by day and one by night. Equally, given that attendees are likely to be undertaking longer passages in less good conditions a key feature of the course is developing the capability of the skipper to manage the crew and boat taking decisions in challenging situations. Your instructor will cover the following topics with you during your course: Preparation for sea Boat Handling (inc rough water) Passage making Pilotage Meteorology Rules of the road Use of engines Emergency situations Undertaking searches Night cruising The quality of the Instructors makes a huge difference to the value you derive from the course. Our Advanced Instructors are hugely experienced - read more about them. We have often been successful in linking up with local SAR units on our courses and have undertaken numerous practice lifts with our students. Whilst this cannot be guaranteed we will always try to facilitate this. NB: If you want to work commercially you will need your Advanced Powerboat Exam - read more here.