Calls for licensing and mandatory education almost always come about as a result of serious injuries or death. If you look at the causes of most fatalities, alcohol and terrible judgement and often both together are the major cause of loss of life. I am pretty sure that no course material will stop some people from taking small power boats with iffy outboards out fishing on days with high wins forecast. Obviously a large amount of sailing time did not prevent the captain of the Bounty from sailing into a super storm. To me, the only justification for mandatory education and testing would be to protect passengers and other boaters from the bad judgement of others. The Coast Guard has a lot of rules to that end. Rules governing right of way, use of radios, safety equipment, required lighting all exist, but there is in most areas no requirement that you prove knowledge to buy and operate a boat. Maybe it is time to address the reality that a man, with the funding, can buy a large boat, take a bunch of people aboard and sail out into the ocean. Maybe we need type certification. Might be a tough sell to the already hurting
boating industry.
