Should you have to qualify to skipper a boat in the UK?

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db631018

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Hi

I have been having an ongoing debate over here with a Spanish 'colleague' who cant believe you can use a boat in the UK without a licence or any training.

As a training establishment I obviously have a vested interest in this but it would be good to get an unbiased opinion on this from you guys.

Is it probably only a matter of time before 'Big Brother' pokes his nose in and makes it compulsary anyway?

Could bue a good debate! over to you.......
 
You are correct - currently there are no legal requirements for training or a licence to use a boat (for non-commercial use only), unless you wish to use it abroad.
 
At what stage do you need a licence in Spain? Pedaloes are unlicenced, right?

Does a sailing dinghy need a licence?

What about a dinghy with an outboard?
 
[ QUOTE ]
You are correct - currently there are no legal requirements for training or a licence to use a boat (for non-commercial use only), unless you wish to use it abroad.

[/ QUOTE ]Nor for if you to use it abroad..... the rules applied (or those that should be applied) are those of your country of origin, not the country you find yourself in... other than for some inland waterways where you need an ICC with CEVNI endorsement.

Yes... I know that some nations don't seem to get this!
 
Before I retired as a Yachtmaster Examiner some years ago the Royal Yachting Association had an unofficial motto "Education before Legislation" in the belief that those who voluntarily undertook training because they wanted to were far better than those who were forced to do it. I am sure that this attitude has been the mainstay of the RYA's many training schemes at all levels (well, perhaps not pedaloes) and has been so successful.
As an island race we have always regarded it as our right to sail upon the sea without legislation, unless we want to make money out of it.
 
Slightly off topic. I did once go on an RYA keelboat course and it was a bit like Alan Sugar's "Apprentice" on water.
The single most depressing experience in forty years sailing.
If it is made compulsory the suicide rate might well go up.
 
The sea is the last place left to the simple man to find something and escape the drudge of shore life,long may it be free of legislation.Spain has no real culture of the common man on the sea ......but they hae a deep love of regulations and laws and inpections ad infitum .
 
Legislation really winds me up so don't push for it in the UK. I have more than enough qualifications but that was my choice. The only time legislation should step in is when somebody is constantly needing rescuing (think there was a case recently)
 
I believe the French also don't call for any qualifications for leisure sailing.

Ironic that the two countries with the most difficult sailing conditions in the world don't see the need for licencing. Perhaps natural selection works better . . . it only takes a couple of tidal mis-calculations to wake people up to the idea that there's more to driving boats than driving cars.
 
One of the last of the few freedoms we still have in the UK.
People who have a tendency to do stupid or irrational acts will do them with or without a licence - look at car drivers!
One of the issues with a licence, as I see it, is that the licence says that I can do it, so I will do it. Which doesn't allow for the sanity check - should I do it!
No licence may allow for a more cautious approach.
 
The majority (myself included) are against legislation but watch this space! You know how much politicians love to legislate - it really is only a matter of time. Once Gordon Brown finds out someone is enjoying themselves and not being taxed he will move faster than the slimy reptile he is.
You have been warned! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
I think something more important like child production & rearing should be subject to compulsory regulation & competancy first. HMG take note please. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
OK, I'll buck the trend. I believe that a licence is both inevitable and desirable.

Inevitable. Like it or not we live in an increasingly risk averse society. We are well past the point where a limited number of people set off, self-reliantly across the channel. We now have relatively large numbers of increasingly large craft, look at The Solent, Thames Estuary, Plymouth Sound, etc on a summer weekend for evidence. And whilst it is true that any accident will most affect the driver of the craft, I believe that it is only a matter of time before we have a multi-fatality incident with an inexperienced skipper and the press for a licence will be unstoppable.

Desirable. Boating must he last refuge of an actvity where a powered vessel does not require a licenced operator and it's about time it wasn't. You'll remember that PWC ploughed into another vessel and was prosecuted. This didn't stick because the judge ruled that the colregs didn't apply to the driver. It would have been nice to take the perpetrator off the water but there aren't any powers to make this happen. I understand the freedom of the seas argument but beleive that, on balance, safetly considerations outweigh this.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I believe that it is only a matter of time before we have a multi-fatality incident with an inexperienced skipper and the press for a licence will be unstoppable.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats an incredibly weak argument and flies in the face of all statistics about boating and its relative safety compared to almost any other aspect of our daily lives.

[ QUOTE ]
You'll remember that PWC ploughed into another vessel and was prosecuted. This didn't stick because the judge ruled that the colregs didn't apply to the driver. It would have been nice to take the perpetrator off the water but there aren't any powers to make this happen. I understand the freedom of the seas argument but beleive that, on balance, safetly considerations outweigh this.

[/ QUOTE ]

So you want licencing because a Jetski is not classed as a 'ship' as defined in the Merchant Shipping act - rather than fix the original definition? Or you want a licence so it can be taken away - but surely they could use an ASBO, so why haven't they?

The status quo seems to be working very well - I see no need to change it.

Rick
 
[ QUOTE ]
I believe that it is only a matter of time before we have a multi-fatality incident with an inexperienced skipper and the press for a licence will be unstoppable.



[/ QUOTE ]

Are you working for Gordon Brown by chance?

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
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