Boating license at 16, starting Oct. 21 (and tender replaces raft)

Everyone boating at 16 with a boating license (and many other new features).
At long last, the long-awaited amendment to the Implementing Regulations of the Recreational Boating Code has been published in the Official Gazette (No. 222) and will come into effect on Oct. 21.

Boating license at age 16, how to get it

The most interesting novelty, of course, is the announced “boatinglicense ,” legally recognized as a “category D boating license,” the details and limitations of which have been disclosed. Obtainable by age 16 for watercraft and jet skis only, by age 18 may qualify to command boats up to 12 meters, exclusively in daytime navigation within 6 miles of the coast (1 mile for jet skis). As previously announced, the maximum power output will be 85 kW (115.6 hp).
More complex, on the other hand, is the limitation system on displacements, which varies greatly depending on the type of engine, schematized for convenience in the table below:

Boating license, examination mode

The license will be attainable following the attendance of a training course supplemented by practical exercises, held by nautical schools or nautical education centers, as well as the passing of a final aptitude quiz, which can also be carried out at the Offices of the Civil Motorization upon certification of having carried out the aforementioned practical exercises.
The subjects of the course and practical exercises, as well as the quizzes and the manner of conducting the final test, will be regulated by decree of the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport.
Upon reaching the age of eighteen, a standard category A boating license may be obtained by taking a supplementary theoretical examination, on subjects not included in the training course, and a practical navigation test.

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More moorings and buoy fields for small boating?
Hopefully

Another important novelty for small boaters and so-called “social boating,” i.e., thatboatingcarried out for exclusively sporting or recreational non-profit purposes by means of vessels up to six meters, is the identification of specific spaces for mooring, both buoy fields and also dry land, as well as public slips for putting the same units in the water and parking the related trolleys. This combination (availability of public slips + trolley parking areas) could give a new impetus to a sector that is becoming less and less accessible to those who want to approach small-scale boating, given the increasingly high costs, especially of berths.
In this regard, tariff reductions of at least 30 percent for the provision of dockside services in dedicated facilities will also be reserved for this category.
In addition, recreational units belonging to social boating will have to be given due consideration by the managers of marine protected areas in establishing buoy fields and equipped mooring fields, reserving appropriate facilities for them.

Safety equipment, what’s changing (goodbye traditional compass?).

Many changes are also devoted to safety equipment: an electronic compass is recognized, and for vessels and boats within 50 miles, flares are reduced from 5 to 3.
In addition, sailing vessels must be equipped with one deck safety harness if they sail beyond 12 miles, two if they sail beyond 50.
Units sailing beyond 12 miles from the coast but within the limit of the national search and rescue area, if equipped with electronic geo-locating instruments, may have on board the collective life-saving equipment provided for simple navigation within 12 miles.

Dinghy becomes raft (within 12 miles)

The collective life-saving craft intended for navigation within twelve miles of the coast may be substituted by a CE-marked inflatable boat (tender), provided it is a ready-to-use unit, equipped with a boarding device and the survival kit provided for the equivalent collective life-saving craft.
In addition, it must be capable of embarking the number of people on board, including the crew.

Finally, at last, within 500 meters from the coast, the speed limit drops further to 8 knots, and it becomes prohibited to produce noise nuisance. Confinudstria Nautica’s comment: “This was not an easy path, which required the concerted signatures of as many as 14 ministers and saw the national nautical industry and supply chain association in the front row to obtain the simplifications for businesses and users,” says Marina Stella, Director General of Confindustria Nautica. Stefano Monfroni

• For more, here is the Official Gazette publication of the amendments to the Recreational Boating Code

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