New boat license only through boat schools. Here’s why

In a recent article we explained to you that for admission to the examination for the new boating license-whose modalities will officially come into effect on May 13, 2022 (here all the new quizzes, unified nationwide) – Five hours of certified practice at a licensed boating school are required, And that the Italian Naval League is not understood as a nautical school. As a result, LNI candidates who have prepared in recent months find themselves unable to register for the upcoming exam sessions.

A veritable uproar of comments was raised: those who cried “scandal,” those who speculated about an increase in course prices in nautical schools, and those who thought the measure was just and sacrosanct.

New boat license, the viewpoint of the Nautical Schools

To provide clarity on the new boating license, we publish the clarification of Adolfo D’Angelo, national secretary of the boating section of Confarca, a trade association of driving schools, consulting firms, nautical schools and review centers. D’Angelo reiterates the centrality of the nautical school in the path to a license and hopes that the training of so-called “expert sailors” (trained by LNI and FIV), from which to draw personnel for the sailing license exams, will resume as soon as possible.

Dear Director,

The debate fueled by the article published last weekend by this prestigious newspaper allows us to intervene by clarifying some issues that have finally been resolved with the entry into force in September 2021 of Decree 323 (better known as the “licensing decree”) regarding recreational boating. A much-needed clarification that was strongly requested by the confederation I represent and supported by, among others, Confindustria Nautica and Unasca.

Over the past two decades, as representatives of sailing schools, we have found ourselves fighting a rampant phenomenon in our country, or unfair competition of associations that, with tax regimes that were extremely more advantageous than those provided by the ATECO code applied to the owners of nautical agencies and schools, were able to organize courses for nautical licenses at often bargain prices, advertised almost everywhere and open even to those who were not registered. These associations, it should be remembered, are by statute nonprofit.

As a confederation, through the zeal of yours truly and his deputy, Marco Morana, we documented and presented, with evidence in hand, this phenomenon at ministerial technical tables during the drafting of the decree approved last August 10, 2021. The legislature has acknowledged the inconsistency and pleaded the cause of those in professional practice, reiterating again yesterday, with the explanatory circular clarifying the role of nautical schools, which are the only ones empowered to obtain licenses, and which should always be the guarantors of high training, as is still the case today.

Ours has not been a war against anyone in particular: it is a matter of principle. We pay taxes, lots and lots of taxes, and we do not want to see ourselves harmed by those who see a levy applied that does not exceed 3 percent because on paper it appears to be an association.

Associations such as Lega Navale or Federazione Italiana Vela, are historical bodies that contribute to the popularization of seafaring culture, especially among younger people. We hope that this can continue over the years, in compliance, however, with the provisions of Decree 323. And it is with this hope in mind that we hope that the NICs
(Nautical Education Centers, ed.)

return to training expert sailors, key figures for the practical examinations for the boating license, and that they do so as stipulated by ministerial regulations, that is, by training sailors from other institutions as well.

Unfortunately, courses for training these professionals have been frozen for five years now: this will lead to a freeze in turnover within nautical schools, as well as congestion in examinations on a par with what is happening within the automotive sector for driver’s licenses. We cannot afford a stalemate in the sector: our hope is that what the dicastery reiterated until yesterday will again lead to harmonious and fruitful cooperation to develop even more the whole boating industry.

With esteem,

Adolfo D’Angelo

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