Increasingly, local authorities that own slipways, and the dinghy angling clubs that use them, are insisting on evidence of insurance and some sort of boat handling proficiency certificate before boats are allowed to launch. The main reason why most anglers buy boats is the freedom they supposedly bring, and in that respect, proof of handling competency feels like yet another barrier being erected on what is fast becoming an obstacle course to the waters edge. On the other hand, with personal injury lawyers blatantly touting for business on TV and in the press, is it any wonder that those responsible for providing services and organisation feel a need to protect themselves too by being seen to have taken every reasonable step possible to ensure the well being of both paying participants and the public at large.

The most widely requested minimum boat handling qualification is the Royal Yachting Associations RYA Certificate Power Boat Level 2. One way of getting this qualification is to go to the RYA website for details, then buy a place on a local course. Another is to put a big Honda outboard on the back of your boat and be handed a place on the course as part of the deal. Honda have taken the unprecedented step of providing all who buy one of their outboards at 75 hp or over with an RYA training voucher. Warrior boats in agreement with Honda have taken this one step further by lowering the qualifying barrier down to 50 hp, providing it is on the back of a Warrior boat. Warriors view is that boat anglers as well as power boat enthusiasts will benefit from the training which for many of us looks like becoming mandatory in the near future if not already imposed.

Cynical sales gimmick or responsible marketing ploy?. I’m sure other outboard manufacturers and boat builders will have their own thoughts on that question. But in defence of Honda, their engines are already held in the very highest of esteem, so anglers generally will not need the extra coaxing that a scheme like this implies. Honda’s policy of producing 4-stroke units only for the benefit of environmental protection through the reduction of energy consumption and emissions is another example of the company wanting to put something back. And so far as Warrior boats go, they fit outboards to customer preference, so it’s no skin of their nose whether you buy a Honda, a Suzuki or a Yam. It’s just a deal they have been able to pull together with one outboard manufacturer which they have been only too happy to pass on to their customers.

My initial feeling was that with over 30 years dinghy fishing and handling experience under my belt, why should I have to prove anything. I was being forced back into the classroom. But the small boat club to which I belong brought it in as a mandatory requirement starting in January 2006. So with a Honda 75 on the back of our Warrior 165, I got Paul Haines and Phil Byrom to have a word the Honda people who gave us the thumbs up. A case then of turn up, get it over with, and walk away with the necessary paper work, or so I thought. How wrong I was, but in the nicest possible way. It often takes something like this to re-assuringly remind you of how much you do actually know, and equally, that there are things you still don’t know or need to brush up on. The important factor to stress is that it isn’t onerous. Approached with the right frame of mind the two day course is actually enjoyable. Well worth the money, even if you have to finance it yourself.

Honda operate the scheme through Seafever International Ltd. based in Sussex. Peter White, a man with many books and TV appearances on the subject to his credit does the actual training, made the long trek up to Lancashire to conduct the course. For once we actually needed some wind to give us a variety of sea conditions to work with in the River Wyre estuary. We chose the Wyre because of the facilities at Knott End and the assured shelter the estuary would give in case the open sea on the day was too rough. But wouldn’t you just know it; the water was like a sheet of glass under a bright blue winter sky. After weeks without a prayer of getting afloat and fishing along the Fylde Coast due to the weather, everyone (except Dave Devine, Charlie Pitchers and myself) was out that weekend filling their boats with cod while we were pottering about in the estuary. We predicted this would happen, and sod's law saw to it that it did.

The first morning was spent sat in Knott End café looking at how charts break down along longitudinal and latitudinal grid lines, how these relate to true and magnetic compass bearings, and how it all relates to basic chart navigation. Buoyage was also explained. Then it was down onto the slip to demonstrate launching, basic start up and safety procedures, and a range of actual handling skills. This is where a bit of wind was required to make the basic low speed manoeuvres to and around static objects that bit more challenging. I was fascinated at how the fulcrum turning point of a boat switches from mid point in forward gear to the transom in reverse, and how working in close was so very much easier to do in reverse, which is something I personally had never previously bothered to try as there isn't much call for it out on the open sea. Using the breeze (what breeze) and the tide to manoeuvre is another useful skill.

Day two’s ‘classroom’ session looked at rights of way, light and horn signals, and touched to a limited degree on flags both as a means of identifying certain boats intentions, and for sending out messages. Ironic really with Trafalgar Day just having been on the TV showing Nelson's famous 31 flag signal from HMS Victory “England expects that every man will do his duty”. Not that I would have been able to read that lot. Out on the water it was man over board rescue time. With no volunteers to take a dunk in the icy waters of the Wyre, we improvised by half filling the plastic drum we use as an anchor buoy with water and rescuing that. Fine tuned manoeuvring is crucial if the victim is to be retrieved and not to be injured further by the boat. Again, a bit of wind would have made the procedure more interesting.

The RYA power boat level 2 certificate is not a full boat driving license yet. But complain and resist as we may, by default, it is fast becoming one. Without this internationally recognised qualification, increasingly, small boat anglers are going to find themselves (as I already have) turned away from launching slips, harbours and clubs, with the knock on effect of lost fishing. And short of isolated open access beach launching or staying at home, there is damn all we can do about it.

SEE THE VIDEO VAULT – RYA Power Boat Level 2