Spring is approaching and everyone wants to get out on the water. One or two people are still missing their inland or sea sports boat licence (SBF). Hundreds of licence candidates are therefore currently taking their exams at weekends all over the country - and quite a few are stumbling over the same questions and tasks again and again.
Bremen sailing instructor Klaus Schlösser from the sailing school Boat training has analysed the test results - with interesting results:
When navigating by sea, many budding skippers get "lost" in bend 12, followed by bend 10, as the journey begins at buoy 10 of the Wangeroog fairway. Buoy 10 of the Weser fairway is also shown on the chart, which often leads to confusion.
Task 12 also requires the calculation of a cutlery displacement, which some people are unable to cope with: Coupling location and observed location and the resulting difference are quantities that are not obvious to everyone in the age of smartphones and electronic navigation.
The same applies to the rule of three for speed, distance and time. Setting up a formula and dividing it in writing without a calculator - this is almost forgotten knowledge. You can find the formulas here.
In the questionnaires, some tasks are conspicuously often solved incorrectly. But let's be honest, whether you're a beginner or a salt hump: would you have known? Here are the most frequently incorrectly answered questions for the SBF See and Binnen:
Basic questions for recreational craft licence
Question 41: How does the ship generally behave in reverse with a clockwise rotating propeller?
- a.) The stern turns to port.
- b.) The stern turns to starboard.
- c.) The course of the ship does not change.
- d.) The bow turns to port.
Pleasure craft licence sea
Question 220: What is a flashing beacon?
- a.) Light phenomenon shorter than darkening, blink less than 2 s long.
- b.) Light appearance longer than darkening, flashing for at least 2 s.
- c.) Light phenomenon shorter than darkening, flashing for at least 2 s.
- d.) Light appearance longer than darkening, blink less than 2 s long.
Question 118: Which vehicles emit three consecutive beeps with the whistle at least every two minutes, long, short, short, when visibility is reduced?
- a.) An unmanoeuvrable vessel underway, a vessel with impaired manoeuvrability underway or at anchor, a vessel with impaired draught underway, a sailing vessel underway, a towing or pushing vessel underway, a fishing vessel underway or at anchor.
- b.) An unmanoeuvrable vessel underway, a vessel with impaired manoeuvrability underway or at anchor, a vessel with impaired draught underway, a power-driven vessel underway making way through the water, a towing or pushing vessel underway, a fishing vessel underway or at anchor.
- c.) An unmanoeuvrable vessel underway, a vessel with impaired manoeuvrability underway or at anchor, a vessel with impaired draught underway, a sailing vessel underway, a towing or pushing vessel underway, a fishing vessel underway or at anchor, a power-driven vessel underway which has stopped its engine and is not proceeding through the water.
- d.) An unmanoeuvrable vessel underway, a vessel with impaired manoeuvrability underway or at anchor, a vessel with impaired draught underway, a sailing vessel underway, a towing or pushing vessel underway, a towed vessel or the last manned vessel of a towing convoy underway, a fishing vessel underway or at anchor.
Sport boat licence inland
Question 187: A small craft A is sailing downstream at night on a downwind course, mainsail to starboard. A green sidelight of a boat B, which has no top light, is approaching from port abeam. Who is obliged to give way?
- a.) Small craft A is obliged to give way. A boat with wind from starboard must give way if it is not clear whether the windward boat has the wind from port.
- b.) Small craft A is obliged to give way. A boat with wind from port must give way if it is not clear whether the windward boat has the wind from starboard.
- c.) Boat B is obliged to give way because vessel A is a small craft under sail with the wind to port.
- d.) Boat B is obliged to give way because it is a small craft and small craft must give way to other small craft under sail.
Question 99: Which side of the fairway does an upstream vessel have on its starboard side and how is it labelled?
- a.) The right-hand side of the fairway, marked by red truncated buoys or floating poles.
- b.) The left side of the fairway, marked by red truncated buoys or floating poles.
- c.) The right-hand side of the fairway, marked by green pointed buoys or floating poles.
- d.) The left-hand side of the fairway, marked by green pointed buoys or floating poles.
Navigation (without calculator!)
The speed over ground is 8 knots. In what time is the distance of 6.1 nm travelled?
The solutions:
- Question 41: a.)
- Question 220: c.)
- Question 118: a.)
- Question 187: b.)
- Question 99: d.)
- Navigation: 46 minutes (rounded)
