How do I....

[IzzyC]

Hi there I need some advice, I am trying to book my Powerboat instructor course at the moment (in the northwest if anyone knows of one). I am looking for a boat that I can gain experience in & also in the future get it commercially coded so that I can teach in it. I would be very grateful of any advice as to which type of boat I should go for/ avoid regarding both coding & insurance. Why do the current schools choose RIBs to teach on?

I have been looking at various powerboats including jetboats.

Thanks
Izzy

[Jono]

Originally Posted by IzzyC

Hi there I need some advice, I am trying to book my Powerboat instructor course at the moment (in the northwest if anyone knows of one). I am looking for a boat that I can gain experience in & also in the future get it commercially coded so that I can teach in it. I would be very grateful of any advice as to which type of boat I should go for/ avoid regarding both coding & insurance. Why do the current schools choose RIBs to teach on?

I have been looking at various powerboats including jetboats.

Thanks
Izzy

Please don’t take offence…but… if you're asking these kinds of questions, do you really feel that you are experienced enough to be an instructor?

[Jimbo]

Most schools use ribs for some of the following reasons, athough I'm sure there are more!

Durability - ribs are considered fairly hard wearing, especially the likes of seariders/deltas/ribcrafts with commercial spec reinforced tubes.

Ruggedness - a nice shiny hardboat wouldn't be as appropriate for spending most of it's working life bumping up agains pontoons etc.

Target Audience - most people attending powerboat courses like the idea that the type of boat they are doing it in is considered the 4x4 of the sea. In training dive boat coxn's, ribs are liked due to their low freeboard, stability at rest and in the rough, and the ability to sit divers on the tubes on route to dive locations etc.

A lot of it stems from the use of ribs in a dinghy/windsurf coaching environment, where the soft sides, and the low freeboard are a huge bonus. Recovering a man overboard into a rib is, in my experience, easier than into a sportsboat without a bathing platform etc.

I think the key thing with ribs is that they bounce, and you don't need to worry about fendering every time you come up to a pontoon (although I do leave mine fendered overnight)

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by IzzyC

also in the future get it commercially coded so that I can teach in it.

It's also worth noting - an RYA Training Powerboat does not have to be coded, it merely has to be RYA inspected and meet their minimum standards, and contain their minimum kit.

There are advantages to operating a coded boat as a teaching boat, which include the increased operating area, but in order to make use of this, your instructors would have to be advanced commercially endorsed skippers also.

[IzzyC]

Hi Jimbo - thanks for the constructive help, it is really appreciated. Everyone has to begin somewhere and it's nice to know that some people will help with general advice....that's what these forums are all about.
I have noticed that all the schools were using RIBs and considered that stability, ruggedness & durability were factors but thought that there may be something more to it than that....such as requirements of the RYA (eg. CE rating or ease of commercial coding).

Jono....well what can I say.....I have been boating for 6 years now, in motor cruisers & sailing boats. I began powerboating training about 2 years ago so powerboats are relatively new to me. I have the ability to teach, confidence in boat handling & am constantly developing my theory - so do you think that this counts for nothing just because I am asking some basic advice about type of boat & coding?

[Andy_Rs600]

Izzy,

assuming we are talking about teaching the RYA Scheme, you need to look at the instructor manual, and some of the website (www.rya.org.uk), so your clear on the way RYA training centers are established and inspected. That will affect your choice of boat, as well as a lot of other things. This really is stuff you should at least have a passing understanding of before your instructors course.

If we are talking a different scheme, most notably BSAC, there is no inspection or regulation criteria per se, but there is still a framework you have to work within.

[topbuoy]

Hi

From my experience most people booking a powerboat course will EXPECT your teaching vessel to be a rib so to satisfy the majority I feel you should go that way.

Depending on budget one consideration is size of the rib. Can you afford to buy a boat that is both suitable for teaching and could be used for charter work if MCA coded. That way you have two prongs of attack.

Good luck with your instructor course

Topbuoy

[Simon B]

To instruct or assess on a BSAC course you need to be a BSAC instructor, this does sometimes strike me as odd. Having been on a few BSAC boathandling courses one can see a range of skill levels in terms of boating within the instructors.

However to balance this when I did my Diver C'xn assessment (RYA Level 2 assessment) Our assessor was excellent and really put us through the ropes.

[Andy_Rs600]

Originally Posted by Simon B

To instruct or assess on a BSAC course you need to be a BSAC instructor,

Not quite. I thought this untill recently, but having looked at a copy of the instructor notes it say to be an Assistant Boat Handling intructor you can be a DC with another powerboat instructor qualification. Then you do your BH assist and DC assist as if you were a BSAC Instructor.

[Simon B]

Doh! poised to begin the long walk! cheers Andy, I can focus on my Advanced Powerboat and get my hours in the saddle up.

Our club has started off a little project to produce a CD that has all the relevant manuals for our boat on it so people can read up on the basics before they have to use them in anger.