RYA Inland Waterways Helmsman's Course - River Training

The one-day RYA Inland Waterways Helmsman’s Course based at Rugby is an excellent training day to prepare the helmsman for any type of water but based on the canal, it lacks some of the special characteristics of a river.

Here at Willow Wren Training, we recognise this so we are able to offer the same RYA course but using a narrowboat on the River Nene in Northamptonshire.

This can also be taken as the second day of two day's training encompassing canal skills on day one and river skills on day two.

The Nene has broad locks with electrically operated sluices which are quite different from the narrow locks on the North Oxford Canal used on the canal day. We also have the opportunity to deal with "man overboard" in a wider section allowing us to turn and recover.

The training follows the same RYA syllabus as the canal day so the qualification is equally valid but some of the elements are naturally specific to that particular type of water. Call us if you are not sure which course is more appropriate to your needs.

See "Syllabus" for more detailed information.