RYA Powerboat Instructor

RYA Powerboat Instructor qualifications will enable you to teach the best attended course in the entire RYA Scheme, RYA Powerboat Level 2, as well as the RYA Powerboat Level 1. This means that return on your training costs will be easy to achieve. So if you are considering a career in the boating industry by becoming a Powerboat Instructor read on for full details.

RYA Powerboat Instructor training prerequisites are simple but must all be achieved to be able to attend a RYA Powerboat Instructors course:

All candidates to be a minimum of 16 years old
RYA First Aid certificate (or equivalent)
RYA Powerboat Level 2 course completion certificate
Five seasons logged experience, reduced to 1 year with relevant experience
Successfully complete a pre course Skills Assessment

All potential Powerboat Instructors are required to complete a 1 day pre-assessment course to assess your personal boat handling skills. This assessment will take place the day before the course starts. The course fee does NOT include the price of the Powerboat Instructor Skills Assessment – this MUST be booked separately

What can I expect from this training course?

The Powerboat Instructors course is designed to take candidates who are good Powerboat Skippers and train them to a standard at which they will have the ability to pass on the knowledge to complete novices in a safe and understandable way. The instructional team on the course will teach you proven training techniques and prepare you for your career as a Powerboat Instructor. You will be expected to contribute to classroom discussions and deliver short teaching practices. The discussions and practices are designed to get you thinking like a Powerboat Instructor and not intended to be delivered as perfectly prepared and polished teaching periods. Essentially this is learning through practical application, in the safety of a training environment instead of in front of real students.

On completion of the course the RYA Powerboat Trainers that have been teaching you will provide feedback and tell you straight away the outcome of the course. Generally there are three different out comes:

Pass – This will mean once the paperwork is completed you can commence your career as a RYA Powerboat Instructor
Action Plan – This is for candidates that are almost ready to teach but need just a little more to help before teaching alone. This may simply mean you need to observe or assist another RYA Powerboat Instructor under real conditions. Action plans are quite normal and are designed to reward you for your good work while helping you with areas of weakness, so don’t feel despondent if this happens to you
Not ready to teach – This recommendation is increasingly unusual since the introduction of the Skills Assessment. However, if this is the opinion of both Trainers the whole course will need to be completed again. The best way to avoid this outcome is to be honest with yourself and only attempt the course when you have good practical experience and theory knowledge

On successful completion of the RYA Powerboat Instructors course and after gaining a few seasons experience as a Powerboat Instructor you should return for your RYA Advanced Powerboat Instructor training course.
A Commercial Endorsement added to your qualifications will make it more attractive to potential employers as it enables you to work on vessels that are subject to the MCA’s codes of practice. To achieve a Commercial Endorsement you must send the RYA the following documents:

A completed Commercial Endorsement Application form
A copy of your PPR course completion certificate
A completed copy of an ML5 Medical form
The original certificate that you wish to endorse
A copy of a valid RYA First Aid course (or equivalent)
A copy of your RYA VHF SRC certificate
A copy of your RYA Sea Survival certificate