Thumbs up Tec-Rec!

[Mrip23]

Being a complete newbie to ribs I have been looking for a good company to train me, I will be speeding around the busy waters of the Solent in my Searider SR4 when I move to the Isle of Wight soon and want to be in the best position to do this with the most knowledge and safety I can absorb.

I noted on this forum Tec-Rec in the commercial section and saw that they offered not just powerboat training but everything connected to maritime pursuits inc First Aid qualifications & VHF training to name but a few options.

I duly signed up for the PB2 course - A 2 day packed RYA syllabus based on Southampton waters. At the same time I signed up to the home study for the VHF course, this was totally interactive with a book to compliment learning followed by an exam at Tec -Rec -booked once I had felt I had learnt everything.

The PB2 course ratio was 3 students to 1 instructor, this is the maximum and the minimum is 1:1. Both days started at 9am and finished around 5pm and the course was feature packed with approximately 75% of the training on the water.

My instructor was Paul who had a very calm & patient nature to his training. I learnt from the 2 other students' (a retired couple) actions and mistakes at the wheel as much as my own. Before long on day 2 we were zipping across the busy lanes beside cargo ships, ferries & tugs. The confidence this gave me was priceless. We practised manoeuvres until we got it right with no rush to complete the tasks.

The Ribs we used were Ribcraft with 200hp and RibX with 220hp and was good to compare the 2 craft. To say my mind was frazzled after the course is an understatement, but then I still had my practical and Theory VHF to do that night! Successfully finishing 630pm at the end of day 2 somewhat shattered mentally.

If you are a novice or want to gain confidence and even progress your qualifications I wholeheartedly recommend Tec-Rec. I'm not getting paid for this, i am just giving credit where it is due. If you have any questions on this please PM me i will be happy to answer!

Cheers, IAN.