It’s easy to confess: you’ll get wet when training for your RYA Powerboat qualification. You will be out at sea in one of our RIBs (Rigid Inflatable Boats) and in our displacement boat (called Ark) which is like a small fishing vessel. Be ready for the sea to throw buckets of water at you.
We meet at the Seaford club-house for a briefing (you’ll already have been sent joining instructions) where you could have coffee at The Galley, our beach-side café. Everyone then moves to the marina at Newhaven where our boats are moored. The RIBs and Ark are used as our race-control and safety boats, but they are ideal as training vessels for your Powerboat qualification.
You’ll learn all about the boats while at the pontoons, before heading out in groups. Firstly, you’ll do some training in the harbour, learning mooring techniques. Then you’ll head out to sea. There’s nothing like the feeling of emerging from the confines of the harbour into the open sea, with the waves increasing and the wind rising. You’ll travel past our Seaford club-house into Seaford bay.
At sea your training continues, learning what the RIBs can do (and you will be able to make them go at a reasonable speed) and learning techniques such as buoy laying and how to approach static buoys.
This all happens over two days (with a session at Piddinghoe to learn about the powered safety boats we have there) with breaks for drinks and lunch at Newhaven. Finally at the end of the second day you’ll be back at the Seaford club-house to receive your certificate.
