zmk1962 Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 36 minutes ago, Plethora said: • Drive any vessel, other than a PWC, at a speed of 10 knots or more: – Without the holder of a general boat driving licence who is 16 years of age or older being present in the vessel, or – Between sunset and sunrise, or – While the vessel is towing anyone. Yes... but again that is specific to driving at 10kts or more. If you drive below 10kts there is no restriction that I can see that mandates a licensed driver has to be on board.... (and similarly I cannot find anything that further restricts it if a boat is capable of exceeding 10 knots.) So as I read it - specifically for boats (not PWCs), as long as you stay under 10kts you do not need a boat license regardless of the boat's speed capability or kw (HP). BTW, it makes sense that a licensed driver has to be present for driving at 10kts or more because that is how we teach people the practical marine driving skills - instructor licensed, student unlicensed. Cheers Zoran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekD Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 Hi Plethora, Thanks for that. As per the information you provided - on page 7 it says that "Anyone who is operating a power vessel on NSW water at 10 knots or more must have a must have a boat driving licence". My interpretation of that sentence is that need a licence if you a DRIVING a vessel at 10 knots or more. To take that further the reverse of that statement is that if DRIVING a boat UNDER 10 knots you do not need a licence. This is what @JonD and a few others were stating. The statement talks about operating speed at the time and not the speed the vessel is capable of. When I did my boat licence decades ago the advice was that for a lot of boats the speed at which it starts to plane on the water is about 8 knots. So in general if you are not planing you will not need a licence to operate that vessel. Regards, Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrone07 Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 Division 5, part five of the marine safety act 1998 which can be accessed through Austii has all your answers if anybody is interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 33 minutes ago, tyrone07 said: Division 5, part five of the marine safety act 1998 which can be accessed through Austii has all your answers if anybody is interested. Any links mate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrone07 Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 8 hours ago, kingie chaser said: Any links mate? https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/regulation/2016/308/part5/div4/sec102 here you go mate this is the actual division that relates, as what Jon said he is correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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