A Lifetime of Experience on the Water
Ocean crossings. Antarctic operations. Superyachts. Sailing schools. Commercial vessels. Diving. Yacht deliveries. And thousands of miles spent simply learning how boats, weather and people behave.
This is the experience behind Get Lost Powerboat Training.
The people teaching you have spent a large part of their lives on boats.
An instructor qualification matters. But we believe the experience behind it matters too.
Between our team, we have sailed oceans, worked aboard superyachts, managed boats in Antarctica, taught sailing and diving, operated commercial vessels, delivered yachts and motorboats, and spent years working around the British coast and overseas.
We bring that experience back to Poole Harbour and use it to teach people who may be stepping aboard a powerboat for the very first time.
You don’t need to want to cross an ocean or work at sea. You might simply want to take your family boating safely at the weekend. Our job is to give you the skills and confidence to do that well.
Noel Hutchinson
Yachtmaster Instructor • Advanced Powerboat InstructorNoel’s experience spans both sail and power and has taken him through some very different parts of the boating world.
He has sailed, chartered and taught in Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Oman, Morocco, Gibraltar, the Balearic Islands and the Solent.
His delivery work has included sailing yachts, fishing vessels, dive boats and motor cruisers — experience that has exposed him to very different vessels, crews, conditions and ways of operating.
Today he brings that breadth of experience into the way Get Lost approaches practical training: understanding why something works, rather than simply learning how to pass a course.
Emily Copeland
Advanced Powerboat Skipper • Rescue DiverEmily combines powerboat experience with a background in diving and the professional yachting industry.
Her boating experience extends into the Southern Hemisphere, while her professional career has included working in the superyacht industry in the Balearic Islands.
She is also a rescue diver, bringing another dimension of practical water awareness, safety and experience to the team.
Jamie Cozens
Yachtmaster Sailing Instructor • RYA Examiner • Advanced Powerboat SkipperOriginally from South Africa, Jamie brings genuine ocean-going experience to the GLPT team.
He has crossed both the Indian and Atlantic Oceans and combines his sailing background with advanced powerboat experience.
Jamie is a Yachtmaster sailing instructor and RYA examiner, as well as a qualified professional dive instructor.
That combination of ocean sailing, examining and professional instruction gives him an unusually broad perspective on seamanship and how people learn.
Louis Day
Advanced Powerboat Instructor • British Antarctic SurveyLouis’s maritime career started early. He became the youngest person to receive a Trinity House scholarship.
He went on to qualify as an Advanced Powerboat Instructor before taking his skills considerably further south.
Louis completed two tours with the British Antarctic Survey, managing its fleet of boats in one of the world’s most demanding operating environments.
On his second tour he returned as a station leader — bringing together seamanship, operational responsibility and leadership in an environment where good judgement genuinely matters.
Mark Sutherland
Powerboat InstructorMark has perhaps the most appropriate journey of anyone on the team because he started on the other side of the training relationship.
He was originally a member of Powerboat Club, gaining experience and spending regular time on the water before progressing his skills all the way to instructor level.
He now teaches many of our RYA Powerboat Level 2 courses.
Having made the journey from recreational boater to instructor himself, Mark understands exactly what new students are trying to achieve and the confidence they need to build.
Tommy Luke
Advanced Powerboat Skipper • Professional SkipperTommy combines teaching at Get Lost with professional work on the water.
He works as a skipper for QinetiQ and is an Advanced Powerboat Skipper, bringing current professional operating experience into the training environment.
At Get Lost he teaches RYA Powerboat Level 2, helping students develop the practical handling skills and judgement they need to start boating independently.
Experience that goes far beyond the training boat.
Between us, our experience reaches from Poole Harbour to the Antarctic and across some of the world’s great sailing grounds.
Experience is only useful if you can pass it on.
We don’t expect our students to arrive already knowing what they’re doing. That’s why they’re coming to us.
Good instruction isn’t about showing somebody how much the instructor knows. It’s about creating an environment where the student feels comfortable enough to try, make mistakes, understand them and try again.
Our practical courses are deliberately hands-on. We want students driving the boat, making decisions and gradually taking more responsibility as their confidence grows.
Whether your ambition is a Sunday lunch in Wareham, taking your family around the Dorset coast or eventually crossing oceans, the foundations are remarkably similar: good seamanship, sound judgement and confidence built through experience.
Everyone on this page started by learning.
You don’t need experience to begin. You just need the right course, enough time behind the wheel and people who know how to help you progress.
Explore our courses