This seems to be one of the perpetual boating discussion topics in
Finland as well. We still live in a free wild world, though there has
been some effort in building a formal education system. One fear is
that if the authorities get involved in setting up the system it will
introduce quite a bit of costs to burden boaters. Therefore our safety
courses are run by volunteer organizations, which is a typical
situation for many boating related services in Finland. In many EU
countries the regulations are stricter, so one goal of our education
system is providing the necessary certification for pleasure boaters
who want to rent a boat abroad.

Piloting larger/powerful vessels involves stricter regulations, though
it seems our fatalities concentrate on small motor boats (and
rowboats). Alcohol is a high risk factor. It could also be good to have
education for some boaters about not creating disturbing waves, what is
a safe distance for overtaking, etc. But a question remains how much
this is dependent on knowledge and how much on attitudes and does a
mandatory education system bring benefits equal to the incurred
overhead.

Risto