Powerboat Basic Training

We’ve always found it puzzling that in our highly regulated society you can buy a massively powered motorboat and drive it away without first passing so much as the most rudimentary safety course. The same is true of purchasing a sailboat of course, but the damage you can do — at least to others — going five or six knots is minuscule compared to the carnage a powerboat can do at 30 to 60 knots.

Apparently this concern has recently crossed the minds of California’s legislators. Bill SB 941 passed the legislature last week and is headed to Governor Jerry Brown for signing. It will require the state Division of Boating and Waterways to issue vessel operator cards to powerboaters who have passed an approved exam.

SB 941 is supported by the Recreational Boaters of California. For starters, boat operators under age 21 will be required to get an operator card before they can operate watercraft. But there will be a seven-year phase-in beginning in 2018. The requirement would apply to all "operators of engine-propelled vessels" by 2025.

Online education, such as the BoatUS Foundation course, will help facilitate this safety effort.