On May 29, a statement from Confindustria Nautica brought the issue of “
boating license
“. After all, cracking down on the limits and modalities for obtaining a boating license seems to be one of the Authority’s favorite hobbies on the subject, somewhat like the Ministry of Education changes the high school graduation exam every other year.
Well, this time, after numerous interventions and changes – more or less useful, you judge – it seems a new, interesting opportunity is finally being given to boaters: a
mini-license or nautical license
as it may be.
Where did the boating license go
The term “seems” refers to the fact that a complete text is not currently available for review, and probably will not be until it is published in the Official Gazette. For now, we have to be content with what is reported in the communiqué of the Confindustria itself, which is certainly well-informed, as the change is precisely the result of joint work by the National Trade Association and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation.
This is how the communiqué reads, regarding the nautical license: “Issued from the age of 16, for daytime navigation within 6 miles from the coast, with units up to 12 meters (for minors the license is limited to 10 meters), it can be obtained following compulsory attendance of a training course at nautical schools, supplemented by practical exercises in navigation and motor maneuvering, and upon passing a final quiz test.”
Needless to say, the effectiveness of the measure will all depend on the practical implementation of the last stage. If this training pathway, represented by the whole: course + drills + exam, is really easier, faster and-above all-cheaper than the current boat license, we could see a great diffusion of this license. The positive repercussions will be, first and foremost, obviously on the safety of all sea users, but we may also see benefits on the small boat market, no longer castrated by the limitations in power and displacement to which we have become accustomed.
On the subject of power and displacement, there is a major unknown, and there is no mention of this on the Confindustria Nautica communiqué. One hopes that the lesson of the last change in displacement regulations, when overnight a large number of outboard(the “Evinrude” case) and inboard engines had suddenly become “licenseable,” has been incorporated. In addition to the anger of boaters over the “hoax” there had also been major fallout on the economic value of those engines. The hope is that this time what is currently available in the motor market has been considered before making a good chunk of it “off patent.”
Boating license: why it can help
The writer has been going to sea since he was 5 years old. Let’s face it, we all know the most common infractions that, often, are also the cause of most serious accidents: high speed and failure to observe distances. From the buoys, from the shoreline, from other units.
Yet how often, going out on crowded summer Sundays, do you see 15 meters open at 20 knots just a few meters from leaving the harbor, perhaps raising 2 meters of wave that threatens to seriously endanger the poor 6-meter pilot boat that is going out with the whole family on board.
You might rightly object that any of these rude people have a license, and that the latter does not guarantee having common sense as well. This is certainly true, but the point is another: safe boating does not require a lot of knowledge and related hours and hours of courses and study. Just pay attention to speed and distance. And a healthy look at weather conditions.
Few but fundamental concepts that should always be in the mind of every yachtsman, assimilated in a few hours of explanations and related verifications, perhaps carried out in a single weekend, at the end of which the license is already obtained. Not that it is necessary to wait for one or two months for the document signed by the Coast Guard. Word to the wise.
In this way, one could think about making this license increasingly widespread, and perhaps, gradually, even mandatory, without crippling the entire small-unit rental industry.
Waiting for the 2nd class officer…
There has been a lot of buzz lately about simplifying and unraveling some of the major knots that hinder the sea trades and the usability of the sea. On Feb. 5 of this year, the Decree of Dec. 13, 2023, was published in the Official Gazette, establishing the figure
of the yachting officer 2nd class
. On May 20, the Executive Decree making explicit the examination methods was released.
And what’s so strange about waiting five months for a decree in Italy? Nothing, in fact. The problem, however, is that currently, almost 2 months after the aforementioned decree, upon contacting two different capitaneries in two parts of the country to find out how one can take the exam in question, both of them basically replied “we don’t know anything for now.”
