(summer 2023 : While my instructors and myself love to meet boaters from all over the world, ICC assessments are time consuming and usually only for one person. After two years of COVID I have to focus on classroom and practical courses. Feel free to inquire, please do not expect us to have ICC assessment dates available directly. We have special arrangements if you own a Linssen or Wajer Yacht) 

Europe has it all for the boating enthusiast. Stunning beaches, quiet waterways, bustling historical cities, vineyards and high speed areas. But it can be a bit of puzzle to find the right boating paperwork. Every countries has it own laws, changes to international laws, preferences and interpretations of the rules. Don't let that discourage you! The wonders of the European Waterways are waiting.

The text below is to the best of my knowledge. If someone in a country far-far-away from here does not agree I will offer you my sincere apologies but not much more. 

Things to remember when you read this:

• The European Union does a lot of things, but it does not do much for skippers. As a consequence, don't expect any rule to be interchangeable between countries.
• The International Certificate of Competence (ICC) is not a European boating certificate. It is only valid when a country has decided to sign the treaty.
• Several factors are decisive for the boating licence that you need: your nationality (which may or not be your country of residence), the flag under which the boat sails and the country in which you are.
• In real life, the authorities on the waterways just want to know that you know what you are doing. Whatever the law states, if you have a shipshape boat, sail on the starboard side of the channel, with all equipment ready to go and with a well studied chart and pilots books in front of you, typically they will let you carry on. (a fresh cup of coffee also helps) But fines can be steep, and insurance issues can be complicated.
• If you think leisure paperwork is complicated, know that it's even worse when you go commercial. I am allowed to operate a combination of six push barges, weighing 14.400 ton, 23m wide and 269,5 meters in length. But if I want to teach on a 10 meter motorcruiser in Belgium I need a separate certificate.... 

So, here we go, keep reminding yourself it's worth the effort!

Every country in Europe has its own rules to operate leisure boats. In The Netherlands and Belgium, you don't need any paperwork for a boat when it is under 15 meters in length and not capable of going faster than 20 km/hr. (It doesn't matter how fast you go, if it can go faster you need a licence)

The RYA has a wealth of knowledge, so its worth to become a member, even if you're not British. 

For France, you need paperwork if the engine is larger than 4,5 kW or 6.1 HP. 

For Germany, you need a certificate above 5 hp.
etc, etc, etc

Since there are differences in the courses and exams between countries, every country thinks its own certificate is better. So most countries do not accept other boating licences. There are some exceptions, the Dutch accept a Yachtmaster certificate as equivalent to their Klein Vaarbewijs, and RYA course completion certificates are accepted in many countries, especially in the Mediterranean. 

Luckily many countries have signed the ICC treaty. Any country who has signed the treaty can issue an ICC to its Nationals, and all countries who have signed the treaty will accept that ICC. Generally, this works really well. But there can be exceptions: the Dutch accept an RYA ICC for boats under 24 meter, even when you can operate a larger boat in your own country. There are 131 footnotes describing the exceptions. 

Still reading and still interested? Great! Now the fun stuff, the RYA can issue ICC's after a practical course. That is, if you are NOT from one of these countries: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Ukraine. 

Which course allows you to do what?

• Level 2 course
  2 day for powerboats up to 10 meters in length. Coastal + inland (after a CEVNI theory exam, which is not to difficult)
  We introduced this course in The Netherlands in 2004. 
  
  
• Inland Waterways,
  2 day course. Motorcruisers (In NL up to 24 meter). Inland waterways only, but since we are also a powerboat training centre we can offer you an upgrade to coastal.
  
  
• Dayskipper / Yachtmaster SAIL: sailboats + motoryachts up to 10 meter
  Not available at AquaPlanning
  
  
• Dayskipper / Yachtmaster POWER: motoryachts of all lengths. (In Netherlands: up to 24 meter)
  Not available at AquaPlanning at the moment

If you have experience you can do an ICC assessment during which you convince an assessor that you can handle a boat safely and reasonably competently, without shouting overly to your crew. You should be at a level where passing a lock should be routine. A good ICC assessment will take half a day, including a bit of theory.
If you have your own boat, we can come over for an assessment. If you don't, it's a bit of a puzzle because we don't hand over the wheel for our teaching boats until we know your capabilities. Renting a boat for just one exam makes it very costly.

Our newsletter is our main way of organizing courses. Every couple of months we send one with possible course dates.