Swiss Boat Skipper Theory (Kat. A/D) case studies
Swiss Boat Skipper Theory (Kat. A/D) · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Swiss boat skipper theory examination (categories A and D) is the written knowledge test that candidates must pass to obtain a Swiss pleasure-craft driving licence for inland waters. Category A covers motorboats, category D covers sailing boats; both share a large common core of navigation law, lights and signals, buoyage, safety and seamanship, so candidates often prepare for both together. The Swiss Boat Skipper Theory (Kat. A/D) case studies are 5 cases and about 5,113 words.
1Bodensee evening crossing: a yacht on the starboard bow and a Kurschiff on the port bow
You are alone at the helm of a 7.5 m motor cruiser with a 150 hp inboard, crossing the Bodensee on a clear July evening. Your course is 075° true at 14 kn (26 km/h); visibility is about 5 km, and you have GPS, echo sounder and VHF but no radar.
970 words, about 5 min2Fog patches off Lutry: four light configurations and a signal from the starboard bow
You are motoring back to Lutry on Lake Geneva at 22:40 in a 6.5 m open motorboat at 8 kn, heading 240°. The air is clear but fog patches are forming over the water, and within 20 minutes visibility drops from 1 km to about 150 m.
1,054 words, about 5 min3Overnight anchoring under a thunderstorm risk on Lake Lucerne
At 17:30 in mid-August you anchor a 9.5 m, 4.5 t motor cruiser in a bay on the north shore of Lake Lucerne to swim and stay the night. Your echo sounder reads 14 m under the bow; the chart shows mud and weed with a small 6 m shoal 60 m to the north-east.
1,019 words, about 5 min4Gust front off Brunnen: reading the sky and choosing where to run
You are in a 6 m open glassfibre boat with a 90 hp outboard, three adults and a child aboard, off Brunnen on Lake Uri, 1.2 km from the shore, heading south toward Flüelen. Air 31 °C, water 21 °C, humidity high.
1,012 words, about 5 min5Man overboard in 11 °C water off Estavayer, with one person left aboard
Late April, 09:20, Lake Neuchâtel off Estavayer. Air 9 °C, water 11 °C, wind 15 kn south-west with a 0.4 m chop, visibility good.
1,058 words, about 5 min