New driving license available for sixteen-year-olds
Recently Confindustria Nautica presented the modalities and benefits of a great novelty for boaters: the introduction of the “small boat license” of category D1: at 16 years of age, with daytime navigation within six miles from the coast with boats up to 10 meters or, from 18 years, with boats up to 12 meters and maximum 115 HP. This is a strong incentive to support the small boating market. A concrete opportunity to introduce young people to boating and sea culture.
Let’s see the details of how we got to this milestone. The intensive representation activity of the recreational boating industry, constantly carried out by Confindustria Nautica in the interest of the sector and also of the users, led to the new Implementation Regulation of the Recreational Boating Code (Decree of 17 September 2024, no. 133, Regulation amending Decree of 29 July 2008, no.146), which follows the license decree (decree of 10 August 2021) that introduced the new quiz examination methods.
The measure was presented at the 64th International Boat Show in Genoa in the presence of Matteo Salvini, Vice President of the Council and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, and other top government officials present at the Boat Show, always a place of institutional confrontation between the industry and the government. Many interventions are contained in the 101 articles, including the introduction of the awaited “small boat license” that allows 16-year-olds to approach the sea and boating.
The D1 license can be obtained from 16 years of age and allows only daytime navigation within six miles from the coast with “boats” (units up to 10 meters) or, from 18 years, with boats up to 12 meters in length, or with jet skis within one mile from the coast, if these units are equipped with engines not exceeding 85 Kw equal to 115.6 HP.
“It took over four years of intense work, marked by the change of three governments, to bring approval to the new Regulation,” – underlines the Director General of Confindustria Nautica, Marina Stella – “demonstrating the role and value of the structure of the national category Association, capable in every circumstance of enhancing the interests of the sector and promoting adequate development policies to the benefit of the entire supply chain. We will already see benefits from the next season. In the meantime, since last February, we have been working so that in the next Blue Economy DDL there will be a further package of administrative simplifications, measures for the competitiveness of the Italian flag, and environmental protection regulations.”
“We look at the new generations and the new license offers various opportunities, anticipates by two years the development of young people’s skills in boat handling, opening up new opportunities for them both recreationally and professionally and promoting knowledge, safety culture, and respect for the marine environment through a compulsory training course based on these three pillars. At the same time, it represents a support for the growth of the boating sector, stimulating the demand for the purchase and rental of boats and related services,” concludes Stella.
“The D1 license is part of a broader action to protect, in this case, Small boating,” confirms Roberto Neglia, responsible for institutional relations at Confindustria Nautica, “which finds support in the DCI (Declaration of construction and importation) for boats, a form of legal protection of ownership without resorting to the costs and burdens of registration that also allows navigation in foreign waters, and in the obligation for public ports to allocate spaces for mooring units up to 6 meters.”
The introduction of the D1 qualification also supports knowledge, culture, and respect for the marine environment: it requires targeted training that prepares young people for safe navigation, teaching the main rules and techniques of motor and sailboat operation, increasing their sense of responsibility, awareness, and respect for the rules of behavior at sea. The new D1 category license is obtained by attending a training course, integrated with practical navigation and motor maneuver exercises, and passing a final fitness quiz test, held by Nautical Schools and Instruction Centers. The ministerial decree with the procedures will be issued shortly.
However, the exemption regime from the boating license does not change. The new Implementation Regulation of the Nautical Code does not modify the exemption regime from the boating license for the use of engines with power not exceeding 30 kW or 40.8 HP. Consequently, for the operation without a boating license of pleasure craft not exceeding 24 meters, which navigate within six miles from the coast, with an engine power and displacement not exceeding 30 kW or 40.8 HP, only the possession of the following requirements is required: a) for boats, being 18 years of age. b) for boats (up to 10 meters in length) being 16 years old. c) for sailboats with a sail area not exceeding four square meters as well as for rowing units that sail more than one mile from the coast, being 14 years old.
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