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News Articles
MOTORBOAT & YACHTING Magazine
SWOT TEAM!
If you cruise foreign parts,
an International Certificate of Competence is as essential as your passport and
Mastercard. And there's no better place to take the two day course than under
some French sun on a bright blue Med.
Text: Quentin van Marle
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In this thrusting age of wizzbang
go-fasts, loadsamoney owners, and showbiz marinas, it's a shame to interrupt
one's boating with anything that seems like hard work. But I recently did just
that by returning to the Learning Zone in an effort to recall all Id
forgotten in the finer arts of boat handling and safety at sea. An effort, in
fact, to achieve that increasingly useful requirement known as the
International Certificate of Competence (ICC). For me, this is a bit like
re-taking ones driving test some 35 years after Id last glanced at
the Highway Code. There is absolutely no guarantee of success the second time
around. What is an ICC anyway? In effect, its the nautical
equivalent of the international driving licence. In continental waters, time
has all but run out for skippers with zero certification. Ever more frequently,
the official document that rubber-stamps ones ability to operate a vessel
is the very first thing that Mediterranean harbourmasters will inspect.
Oceanpro are a small, British-operated powerboat school based at
Beaulieu-sur-Mer on the French Riviera, a few miles west of the maritime mecca
called Monte Carlo. They are owned and run by Phil Godwin, a former Royal
Marine Reserve. Phil is in the process of shifting emphasis of Oceanpros
operations from Southampton to the sunny and colourful setting of the Riviera.
If, at my advanced age, I am to return to school, the pleasing union of
sunshine and the blue Mediterranean is a handy draw.
The course is held
over two relatively stress-free days spent mostly at sea., with the theory work
covered a by a couple short indoor sessions, or over lunch, or apres-ski style
in the bar. Phil Godwin keeps things refreshingly informal, though the RYA
rules and curriculum governing the ICC/Powerboat Level 2 course are
unswervingly applied. The final exercise is held in a decidedly school-like
atmosphere; a heads-down written test inside a small conference room, when all
the quips and chuckles of the past couple of days are temporarily forgotten.
This is crunch time, when 27 correct answers from the 32 questions posed are
required for a pass. |
THE
GROUP
In the truly glorious sunshine of a
Riviera autumn morning, three students board the confined space of
Oceanpros 5.5 metre Mako RIB, powered by a single Johnson 115 outboard.
We are a convivial mix aboard a fairly basic boat. There is Russell Crump, 32,
positively public school with an appreciable dash of 007 tucked into a hugely
outgoing persona. He already holds a yachtmasters (sail) ticket, but now
finds himself inhabiting that slightly twilight world of the Riviera Sunseeker
salesman. Down here in the Med, the EU-recognised ICC licence is fast becoming
a necessity of his high-octane profession. And there is his delightful
live-in girlfriend, Katja. Courtesy of Russell, she has many times been hurtled
across these playboy waters in a fast Sunseeker but shes not been
on board anything as small at the Mako before, let alone ever taken the wheel
of a boat. Katja is a complete novice.
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 Journalist
- Quentin van Marle |
And there is me, 57 and feeling it. At
different times of my life Ive owned half a dozen powerboats, but
Ive not driven one for two years. However, I expect to find an ICC useful
for a cruising project in mind. But I am rusty to say the least.
The
fourth and most essential person on board is of course, owner/instructor Phil.
We are soon hanging onto his every word, realising from the outset that his
approach to the course is to be thorough indeed. We can see why he was selected
as a RIB instructor for the Camel Trophy endurance
event.
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DAY
ONE Following an initiation into the
safety equipment and handling characteristics of the Mako, the day starts close
inshore with low-speed manoeuvring among the buoys. We perform figures-of-eight
in forward and reverse. We pick-up mooring buoys, we practise coming alongside,
and there is some general handling to do.
It's all seemingly kindergarten stuff -
Hey going back to school is a doddle! - until its pointed out that that
ones technique is at some variance with RYA/MCA recommendations. For
instance, with outboard or outdrive steering, coming alongside is made from a
sharper angle of approach than with a shaft driven, rudder steered vessel. Also
(I now know), correcting the steering angle while gliding up to the dock should
always be made in neutral gear before giving the boat a nudge.
Between
us, Russell and I have probably got thousands of sea-hours under our belts
yet even at this basic level, we are both definitely learning things, or
at least re-remembering them. As for Katja, she is seriously getting down to
business, concentrating hard, and doing her best to master each move as if her
very existence depends on it. These gentle exercises are followed by
high-speed S & U turns between distant offshore markers at various points
of the compass, thus testing our handling abilities in beam, head, and
following seas. It may be yawn-inducing to the nonchalant driver of a big
flybridge cruiser, but slicing through the swell at 30 knots on a low lying RIB
keeps you busy. At one point during the day, Russell admits to finding the Mako
more difficult to handle than any of the Sunseekers he regularly puts to sea
in.
Lunch is in one of the marinas' many outside restaurants, where the
time is used to talk over chart plotting exercises and GPS navigation. Then
its back to the boat to practice buoyage drill and confined-space
manoeuvres, the latter being of particular relevance inside these
tightly-packed marinas where the docking of a boat is almost a spectator sport.
Given the weather conditions (Med-beautiful with the wind at a
pleasant Force 2), we opt for a change of scenery. Round the nearest headland
lies Eze-sur-Mer, a gorgeous bay with a backdrop of high cliffs and cool
villas. Down at sea level, the most prominent feature is the rusty-red
beachside hideaway of U2s Bono, an easy barefoot stroll from Julian
Lennons pad. Then we spin the other way, high speed past Cap
Ferrat and into the port of Villefranche, where the days learning process
is gone through once more over a welcome beer. |

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DAY
TWO The morning is dedicated to
theory work in a nearby chateaux (which doubles as the hotel for Oceanpro
students). We cover the International Regulations for the Prevention of
Collision at Sea; the markings and meanings of buoys; tides; weather
forecasting; distress calls. Back at sea, our afternoon is given over
to towing procedures, the all-important Man Overboard drill, and anchoring
practice. (Chain and rope, five times the depth; all chain, three times depth.
I had completely forgotten this elementary premise). Back in port at
4pm, and it is now time for the written test. At this point Phil issues a
three-page list of questions on subjects which have been covered at some point
in the course. Much has been crammed into two days, and this is the moment of
truth. Phil himself retires to an ante-room while we three sit in concentrated
silence like school kids. I hope Im not going to make an idiot of
myself. As it happens, we all score pass marks, despite the slender
margin for error. Phil then issues us with signed RYA National Powerboat
Certificates, Level 2. In turn, the RYA/MCA will convert them into the
multilingual International Certificate of Competence, which theoretically
clears each of us to operate leisure craft up to 24 metres (78 ft) in
length.
Katja, still a relative novice, is not about to go to such
lengths - not yet, that is. But of the actual course she has this to say:
Before, I used to be scared of being out on the water. I didnt
understand one thing about the sea or boats. But I had complete confidence in
Phil, and now I just want to be out there at every opportunity, learning all
the time. She is unlikely to abuse her new qualification. Russell
is equally pleased with his few days: For me its been a refresher
course. A re-learning of those easy-to-forget basics. Im very glad I did
it. Yes, me too. It has honed rusty skills, re-engaged confidence, and
provided a sharp reminder of the rules of the game. Despite my lifelong
resistance to bloated authority and its epaulette-wearing lackeys, I have some
sympathy with the growing bureaucratic demand that all skippers be licensed to
at least the ICC level.
Besides which, its a fun thing to do.
Well, down in the South of France anyway. MBY
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