Here's a few tips for yachts that are running (or wish to run) the RYA PWC Safety course on board.

New Centres If you would like to become an RYA PWC Centre the first step is to contact the recognition department at the RYA and fill in the ‘Expression of Interest’ application. The application is fairly straight forward to fill in but if you’d like the notes we’ve written to explain each section please drop a quick line to info@oceanpro.co.uk and we’ll send that through.

What you need to get your yacht recognised to run this course:

A crew member trained as an RYA PWC Instructor
One or more PWCs and relevant equipment.
An operations manual stating how PWC operations take place on board.
Safety cover in the form of a powerboat or tender.

Frequently asked questions:

We’re a privately registered Yacht do we need to be an RYA Centre or is just for charter yachts?
In countries where it’s required that PWC users be licensed it is considered the status of the yacht makes little difference. In the event of an incident it is better that the PWC user, and those responsible on board the yacht can show that there was adequate training and safe operating procedures in place.

We’re operating in the Caribbean, do we need to bother training guests as a licence isn’t required here?
As any serious incidents are likely to be investigated by your flag state as well as local authorities it is considered foolish not to carry out training for PWCs when a system exists for this.

How many PWC instructors must we have to be recognised as an RYA Training Centre?
You only need to have 1 RYA PWC instructor. That person must deliver the initial RYA PWC Safety course. Subsequent supervision may be by crew who hold at least the RYA Introduction to PW Safety qualification, are trained in the operations of the centre and hold the RYA Powerboat Level 2 Certificate to drive the safety boat.

We've received a training centre certificate that’s valid. Do we need an inspection?
Yes you will need to have an inspection this year. The training centre recognition runs from March to March and is re-instated automatically as long as your yacht was inspected in the previous year, you’ll automatically get a new certificate. This is done to give everyone a bit of breathing space and allow you time to work with your allocated inspector to organise a mutually convenient date.

We’d like to run RYA PWC Instructor training onboard, what are the rules?
You must have a minimum of 3 candidates (maximum 6)*
The yacht must be registered as an RYA Recognised Training Centre or have applied for RYA recognition.*
Permission to use PWCs must be obtained from the local authority or harbour master.

*Regulations for running the course on board a Yacht issued by the RYA Training Department in the UK

We’ve had a change of crew, what should we do regarding our RYA PWC Training Centre?
The RYA must be informed if you have a new Principal or Chief Instructor. This can be done by contacting recognition@rya.org.uk and asking for the relevant form or under the Changing your centre’s recognition section of the RYA Training Support website that your training centre should have access to. You can also change other details relating to your centre (contact details etc) with this form.

Please also free to contact us with any questions about the above or for information on:

PWC Instructor training at our centre

raining on board

RYA Training in general.

Phil Godwin

Tel: +33 (0)6 85 97 22 91
Tel: +33 (0)4 93 53 65 95

mail: info@oceanpro.co.uk

web: www.oceanpro.co.uk