Learn to Handle a Powerboat with Confidence
Two days of practical RYA Powerboat Level 2 training in Poole Harbour, with a maximum of just three students per instructor and training boat.
£349 per person
Includes a FREE online VHF radio course voucher worth £99
Powerboat training in Poole Harbour
Take a look at Get Lost Powerboat Training, our boats, our instructors and the waters where you’ll learn.
The course that turns “I’d love to have a go” into “I can do this.”
RYA Powerboat Level 2 is the practical course most people choose when they want to learn how to handle a powerboat properly.
You do not need to own a boat.
You do not need years of experience.
And you certainly do not need to arrive already knowing what you’re doing.
Over two days we’ll teach you how to control a powerboat at slow and higher speeds, manoeuvre around pontoons, understand wind and tide, recover a person from the water and begin making sensible decisions as a skipper.
The aim isn’t simply to leave with a certificate.
It’s to leave thinking: “I understand what the boat is doing, and I know how to control it.”
You don’t have to be an experienced boater
In fact, many of our students arrive with little or no previous powerboat experience.
Complete beginners
You’ve always wanted to learn but don’t have family or friends who can teach you properly.
Holiday boaters
You’d like the confidence and recognised training to hire and use powerboats when boating in the UK or overseas.
New boat owners
You’ve bought, or are thinking about buying, a powerboat and want to learn good habits from the beginning.
Existing boaters
You already have some experience but want proper instruction, more confidence and an RYA certificate.
Couples & families
You want more than one person in the family to understand how the boat works and what to do on the water.
Future skippers
PB2 is your first step and you expect to progress into navigation, coastal cruising or more advanced training later.
What will you learn on Powerboat Level 2?
PB2 is predominantly practical. You’ll spend the course learning the skills you’ll actually use when handling a boat.
- Preparing the boat safely
- Leaving and returning to a berth
- Coming alongside pontoons
- Slow-speed control
- Turning in confined spaces
- Using wind and tide to your advantage
- High-speed handling
- Boat trim and throttle control
- Man-overboard recovery
- Basic navigation and buoyage
- Weather and tidal awareness
- Basic passage planning
- Safety and skipper responsibility
Learn in Poole Harbour — not a simulated training ground
Where you learn matters.
Get Lost Powerboat Training operates from Cobbs Quay Marina in Poole, Dorset, on the South Coast of England.
Poole Harbour gives beginners an unusually varied place to learn.
During your training you’ll be working in an environment containing marinas, pontoons, tidal water, marked channels, navigation buoys, leisure craft, commercial traffic and sheltered areas suitable for developing new skills.
You’re not simply practising a manoeuvre.
You’re beginning to understand how that manoeuvre works in real boating.
The RYA syllabus may be the same. The experience doesn’t have to be.
We have deliberately built our PB2 course around practical time, experienced instruction and giving beginners the confidence to actually use what they learn.
Maximum three students
You learn to drive a powerboat by driving it.
Our maximum is three students per instructor and training boat, so the practical time is not being divided between a large group.
Real tidal & coastal training
You will learn in Poole Harbour, with real pontoons, channels, navigation marks, wind, tide and other vessels around you.
Experienced instructors
Our instructional knowledge extends considerably beyond Powerboat Level 2, including advanced powerboat, navigation, VHF and Yachtmaster-level disciplines.
That wider experience helps us teach not just what to do, but why it works.
Free VHF radio course
Coastal boating isn’t just about controlling the boat. Communication matters too.
Your PB2 booking currently includes a voucher for our online VHF radio course, worth £99.
Our training guarantee
We cannot promise that everybody will meet the RYA standard on their first attempt.
What we can do is stand behind our training. If you need additional course training to reach the required standard, our current guarantee allows you to return without paying another full course fee, subject to our published terms.
Support after PB2
Your certificate should be the beginning rather than the end.
We offer further practical experience, navigation training, VHF training and progression opportunities for students who want to become more capable skippers.
RYA Powerboat Level 2 — £349
Two days designed to give you a proper foundation in practical powerboat handling.
If you’ve already decided PB2 is right for you, you can view our available dates and book online.
If you’re still unsure, keep reading. We’ve answered the questions most first-time students ask us below.
RYA Powerboat Level 2
per person
- Two days / 16 hours
- Maximum three students
- RYA course tuition
- Use of our training boat
- RYA Start Powerboating handbook
- Course completion certificate when standard achieved
- Free online VHF course voucher worth £99
- Lifejackets and required training safety equipment
What actually happens on the course?
We introduce the skills progressively so you have time to understand what you’re doing, practise it and then apply it in a real boating environment.
Build control and confidence
We begin with the boat, safety and the principles that make powerboat handling easier to understand.
You’ll then spend time developing low-speed control, manoeuvring, leaving and approaching pontoons and learning how wind and tide influence the boat.
The objective is not speed.
It is making the boat go exactly where you intended.
Put the pieces together
As your confidence grows we’ll build on the fundamentals with higher-speed handling, navigation, safety exercises and practical decision making.
By the end of the course, the individual exercises start fitting together into something much more useful: understanding how to operate a powerboat safely.
Don’t simply take our word for it
Get Lost Powerboat Training currently holds a 5.0 rating on Tripadvisor from 99 independent reviews.
“Plenty of chances to get comfortable with manoeuvres.”Powerboat Level 2 student • Tripadvisor
“Professional, relaxed and informative.”Powerboat Level 2 student • Tripadvisor
“A great way to gain essential skills and certification.”Powerboat Level 2 student • Tripadvisor
You are not expected to arrive knowing how to drive a boat
One of the most common things beginners worry about is looking inexperienced in front of everybody else.
There really is no need.
Teaching beginners is precisely what this course is for.
We’ll explain the manoeuvre, demonstrate it, let you try it and give you time to practise.
Getting something wrong while an instructor is sitting beside you is not a failure.
It’s one of the safest and most useful ways to learn.
Small groups also mean we can adapt the coaching to the people actually aboard rather than rushing everyone through at the same pace.
What if I don’t reach the required standard?
RYA courses have standards that must be achieved.
We think that matters.
A respected qualification should mean something when it is awarded, so we won’t promise that simply turning up guarantees a certificate.
What we will promise is this:
if you need additional course training to reach the required standard, our current course guarantee allows you to come back for further training without paying another full PB2 course fee.
Why?
Because if we believe in the way we teach, we believe we should share some responsibility for helping you reach the standard.
Guarantee subject to Get Lost Powerboat Training’s current published course terms and reasonable availability.
Learn your first skills from people who teach far beyond PB2
Powerboat Level 2 may be an introductory course, but the knowledge behind the instruction doesn’t need to stop there.
The experience within Get Lost Powerboat Training includes higher-level RYA powerboat instruction, navigation, VHF and Yachtmaster-level disciplines.
That matters because the best answer to:
“What should I do with the controls?”
is often followed by the more useful question:
“Why does the boat behave like that?”
Understanding the principles gives you knowledge you can take onto different boats and into different situations later.
Your PB2 booking includes our online VHF radio course
Worth £99 — currently included with your Powerboat Level 2 booking at no extra charge.
Knowing how to control the boat is only part of becoming a capable coastal boater.
Marine VHF radio is used for communication with marinas, harbour authorities, other vessels and the coastguard.
That’s why we currently include a voucher giving PB2 students access to our online VHF radio training course.
The separate SRC examination and licence requirements remain subject to the normal RYA/Ofcom process.
PB2 + VHF
PB2 course: £349
Online VHF course: normally £99
Current PB2 student price for online course: £0 with your voucher
Book Powerboat Level 2PB2 is the beginning, not the destination
Two days can teach you the fundamentals. Experience is what turns those fundamentals into confident skippering.
Once you’ve completed PB2, you can continue developing through VHF, navigation and further practical experience.
We even run a dedicated post-PB2 experience where qualified students move beyond individual exercises and begin planning and undertaking real journeys from Poole towards destinations such as Wareham and Swanage.
You don’t have to buy a boat to keep using your PB2 skills
One of the biggest challenges after Powerboat Level 2 is simply getting enough time behind the wheel.
That’s why we recommend Powerboat Club to students who want to keep boating from Poole, build experience and take family and friends out on the water without immediately buying, berthing and maintaining a boat of their own.
Discover Powerboat Club and keep boating after PB2 →Everything you need to know before booking
Duration
Two days, with a minimum course duration of approximately 16 hours.
Group size
Maximum three students per instructor and training boat.
Location
Cobbs Quay Marina, Poole, Dorset, on the South Coast of England.
Minimum age
Minimum age 12. Students under 16 must attend with an accompanying adult on the course.
Previous experience
No previous powerboat experience is required.
Your boat or ours
Training can be undertaken on our training craft or, by prior arrangement, on your own suitable powerboat.
RYA Powerboat Level 2 FAQs
Do I need any previous experience?
No. RYA Powerboat Level 2 is suitable for complete beginners. We introduce the skills progressively and give you time to practise them during the course.
Is Powerboat Level 2 a boat licence?
The UK does not generally require recreational boaters to hold a statutory driving licence in the same way that motorists need a driving licence.
RYA Powerboat Level 2 is a widely recognised certificate of practical competence and is often the qualification people mean when they informally refer to a powerboat “licence”.
How many people are on the course?
We limit our training to a maximum of three students per instructor and training boat.
How long does the course take?
Powerboat Level 2 is normally completed over two days, with a minimum duration of approximately 16 hours.
Where does the course take place?
Our training centre operates from Cobbs Quay Marina in Poole, Dorset. Poole Harbour provides marinas, pontoons, tidal water, marked channels and a varied coastal training environment.
What if the weather is bad?
Powerboat training naturally takes place outdoors and some wind or rain is simply part of boating.
Safety comes first, however. If conditions make the planned training unsafe or unsuitable, we will make the appropriate operational decision and contact affected students where necessary.
Do I need to own a boat?
No. You can complete the course using our training craft.
Can I take the course on my own boat?
Yes, subject to the boat being suitable and the arrangements being agreed with us in advance.
What happens if I don’t pass?
The required RYA standard still has to be achieved before a certificate can be issued.
Our current training guarantee means that if you need further course training to reach that standard, you can return for additional training without paying another full PB2 course fee, subject to our published terms.
Is Poole a good place to take Powerboat Level 2?
We believe it is one of the best training environments on the South Coast because students can experience marina handling, tidal water, buoyage, marked channels, sheltered areas and genuine coastal boating within one location.
Read our guide to choosing a PB2 course on the South Coast →
What should I do after Powerboat Level 2?
Get some experience.
VHF radio, navigation training and supervised practical boating are all useful next steps depending on what type of boating you want to do.
You don’t need to become an expert before you start
That’s what the course is for.
If you would like to learn to handle a powerboat safely, understand what you’re doing and gain the confidence to start enjoying boating for yourself, Powerboat Level 2 is an excellent place to begin.
We’ll provide the boat, the instruction and the training environment.
You just need to choose a date.
Start your powerboating adventure
Two days • Maximum three students • Free £99 online VHF course
Not quite ready to book? Call us if you’d like to talk through whether Powerboat Level 2 is the right course for you.