PWC and Boating Safety Requirements
In 2007, the Virginia General Assembly enacted a law to establish a boating safety education compliance requirement. This requirement will be phased in over the next several years and by 2016, all operators of PWCs (Personal Watercraft such as jet skis, Sea Doos, Wave Runners) and operators of Motorboats with a 10 hp or greater motor, will be required to have a boating safety education course completion card on board when operating a PWC or Motorboat.
As of July 1, 2010, all PWC operators 35 years old and younger must complete a boating safety course. This is the next phase-in of the Education Compliance Requirement for all Virginia boaters. Beginning July 1, 2011, all PWC operators 50 and younger must take a boating safety course and Boat operators ages 20 and younger need to take a boating safety course.
PWC Age Restriction: No person under the age of 14 may operate a PWC. Those operators 14 and 15 MUST show proof of completing an approved and accepted boating safety course either in a classroom or online. The challenge exam or other provisions of the Education Compliance Requirement do not meet the requirements of the age restriction law.
A Personal Watercraft or PWC, more commonly known as a Sea-Doo® (Bombardier Recreational Products), Waverunner® (Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA), and JET SKI® (Kawasaki Motors Corp., USA), is defined as a motorboat less than 16 feet in length that are powered by jet pumps, not propellers, where the persons stand, kneel, or sit on, rather than inside the boat. Classroom and Internet courses that are NASBLA approved and accepted by VDGIF to meet these requirements are listed at the links below. If you are an experienced boater, you may choose to take an equivalency/challenge exam rather than take a boating safety course.
