What licence or boating certification do I need to operate a boat?
I'm looking at buying a 6-metre motorboat in Denmark, but I might also sail a small yacht occasionally. Do I need a boating licence, and would the same certificate cover a hired jet ski or using the VHF radio?
Answer
In Denmark, you generally need no boating licence for a privately used sailing yacht or displacement motorboat under 15 metres, but qualifying planing speedboats and personal watercraft require the appropriate certificate. Check the boat's hull type, length and engine power to establish the requirement; larger yachts, VHF use and boating abroad involve separate qualifications.
Check your boat's category
These are the usual Danish requirements for recreational boating. Commercial operation, carrying paying passengers and working as a skipper have different rules.
- Sailing yacht under 15 metres: no compulsory skipper's certificate for ordinary private use. A voluntary certificate of proficiency, called a duelighedsbevis, provides useful training.
- Displacement motorboat under 15 metres: generally no compulsory skipper's certificate. Engine horsepower alone does not make a displacement boat a legally defined speedboat.
- Planing speedboat under 15 metres: a speedboat certificate is required when the boat meets the applicable length and power criteria. The operator must be at least 16.
- Personal watercraft: a PWC certificate is required for both owned and hired craft. Do not assume a speedboat certificate also covers a jet ski.
- Yacht measuring 15 metres or more: larger-yacht qualification and manning requirements apply. The yacht skipper qualification required depends on the vessel and intended operating area.
A boat measuring exactly 15 metres falls outside the under-15-metre category. Use the vessel's documented dimensions, rather than the rounded length in its sales advertisement.
Speedboat certificate requirements
First, establish whether the hull is designed to plane. A planing boat can rise and skim over the water at speed; a displacement hull primarily pushes through it. Driving a planing boat slowly does not remove its certificate requirement.
For planing boats from 4 metres to under 15 metres, the usual power test is whether installed engine power in kilowatts exceeds the boat's length in metres squared, plus three:
Power threshold in kW = length × length + 3.
A 6-metre boat, for example, has a threshold of 39 kW, approximately 52 hp. A planing 6-metre boat with a 100 hp outboard exceeds that threshold. Boats below 4 metres have a separate power threshold, so do not use this calculation for a small tender of that length.
- Find the documented hull length and engine power.
- Check whether the power figure is in kW or hp; 1 kW is approximately 1.36 metric horsepower.
- Enter the details in the Danish Maritime Authority's speedboat calculator to confirm the requirement.
For a RIB, replacement engine or twin-engine installation, check the actual configuration rather than relying on what the previous owner needed.