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ISA Approved
Powerboat

At Splashsports Powerboat School, we pride ourselves on offering a unique and unparalleled training experience. Nestled in one of Ireland’s most stunning coastal locations,a Hidden gem along the Wild Atlantic Way. Our school is surrounded by the picturesque Maharee islands on the breathtaking peninsula that divides Tralee bay and Brandon Bay, providing the perfect backdrop for your powerboat journey.

Our impressive fleet of boats, combined with a classroom just 300 meters from Scraggane pier, ensures that you’re never far from the action. As an ISA (Irish Sailing Association) and UIM (Union Internationale Motonautique) accredited school, we deliver a full range of courses, from beginner to professional level, designed to suit every skill set and ambition.

What sets us apart is our dedication to personal interaction. With only two highly experienced instructors—one male (Phillip) and one female (Charlotte)—you’ll benefit from consistent, hands-on guidance from start to finish. Whether you’re navigating for the first time or honing advanced skills, you’ll always be working with the same knowledgeable team.

We are proud to specialize in delivering premier diver coxswain training. With extensive backgrounds in scuba diving, both of our instructors possess a deep understanding of the unique requirements divers want for their boat operators. This expertise enables us to provide precise, practical training that equips coxswains with the skills and knowledge needed to support safe and efficient diving operations.

Join us at Splashsports Powerboat School and discover a professional, friendly, and immersive learning environment tailored to your needs.

Meet the team

Phillip Fitzgibbon

Phillip Fitzgibbon is the senior powerboat instructor in Splash Sports. Phillips' experience in powerboating is second to none. So if you are looking for the best you found him.

Experience

With over 30 years’ experience in powerboating, Phillip started the powerboatschool with the intention of sharing his knowledge and preventing mistakes inboating, giving confidence to those who tiptoe on deck.

Achievements

Current holder of the UIM Round Ireland Powerboat Record in a state of the art “Allblack SL44” with Team Hibernia. Establishing a record of 12 Hours 54 minutes and 24 seconds with an average speed of 101.02 km/h.

Charlotte Doolin

ISA Senior Powerboat Instructor

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Course Enquiries

  • Call: +353 (0)87 2778236
  • Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ISA INTRO TO POWERBOATING (LEVEL 1)

Course aims:
The aim of this course is to provide a short practical introduction to boat handling and safety on powerboats being used on all Irish waters.

It is ideally suited to anyone new to powerboating and whose primary role will be as crew on a powerboat. By the end of the course participants will be able to safely and effectively crew a powerboat and take the helm while under supervision.

  • Duration: 1 Day (9am - 5pm)
  • Ratio: 3:1
  • Prerequisites: No previous experience or knowledge is required.
  • Syllabus: Boat preparation, Clothing, Slow speed handling, Manoeuvring at speed, Anchoring, Man Over Board, Regulations, Safety, Rope work, Towing, Weather, Navigation & Pilotage.
  • Award: ISA Introduction to Powerboating Certificate. (On successful completion)
  • Cost: €175pp


ISA NATIONAL POWERBOAT CERTIFICATE (LEVEL2)

Course Aims:
To develop the skills and knowledge necessary to safely, and effectively, skipper an open powerboat, by day, on inland and coastal waters with which they are familiar.

  • Duration: 2 Days (9am - 5pm)
  • Ratio: 3:1
  • Prerequisites: Some previous boating experience is necessary. The ISA recommends this certificate as the minimum level of training/knowledge required before anyone uses a power boat on their own.
  • Syllabus: Preparation of the boat for use,Clothing & equipment,Launch & recovery,Basic boat handling,Planing & manoeuvring while on the plane,Leaving & coming alongside,Securing to a mooring buoy,Anchoring,Man overboard,Application of the “Rules of the Road”,Regulations,Safety on board,Rope work,Engines & drives,Types of craft,Towing,Weather,Navigation & pilotage,Coastal knowledge.
  • Award: ISA National Powerboat Certificate (upon successful completion)
  • Cost: €325pp

ISA SAFETY BOAT CERTIFICATE

Course Aims:
The aim of this course is to introduce participants to the techniques and skills used in powerboats which are escorting racing fleets of dinghies, windsurfers and canoes,providing safety and rescue cover for training fleets and assisting in race and water-based event management duties.

  • Duration: 2 Days (9am - 5pm)
  • Ratio: 6:1
  • Prerequisites: National Powerboat Certificate or equivalent
  • Syllabus: Race Management (sailing boats), Rescue techniques for: sailing dinghies, windsurfers, canoes & kayaks, kitesurfers, Safety boat specifications, Incident management / medical emergencies, and Search patterns.
  • Award: ISA Safety Boat Certificate (upon successful completion)
  • Cost: €325pp

Course Enquiries

  • Call: +353 (0)87 2778236
  • Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Powerboating in Ireland

Power boating is one of the easiest ways to get on the water today. Maybe you just want to spend a sunny summer’s day out with the family and friends, skiing, fishing or just relaxing. Or perhaps you’re a commercial user who needs qualifications for work.

At Splash Sports we provide a comprehensive range of the Irish Sailing Association powerboat courses for those certificates which are both nationally and internationally recognized and our own in house powerboat clinics for those of you that want to learn how to get your boat into and out of that tricky space in the marina and see how the professionals make it look so easy.

ISA DIVE COXSWAIN CERTIFICATE

Course Aims:
The Dive Coxswain Certificate (ISA) course aims to introduce and develop the skills necessary to take charge of a powerboat that is deploying and recovering divers on inland and coastal dive sites, by day, on waters with which the coxswain is familiar.

  • Duration: 2 Days (9am - 5pm)
  • Ratio: 6:1
  • Prerequisites: ISA National Powerboat Certificate & personal experience in, or knowledge of, diving would be an advantage. It is strongly recommended that participants hold a first aid certificate and the Short Range (SRC) VHF radio operator’s certificate. Coxswains taking divers to dive sites further offshore, or to coastal sites with which they are not familiar, should consider completing the ISA Advanced Powerboat Certificate.
  • Syllabus: Boat handling, Diving operations including: Deploy shot lines, lazy shots, decompression stops; Describe use of equipment including magnemometer, Deploy and recover divers, Passage planning, Passage making, Weather, Coastal knowledge, Application of the “Rules of the Road”, Boat types, Safety & emergency situations, Care of boats & equipment.
  • Award: ISA Diver Coxswain Certificate (upon successful completion)
  • Cost: €330pp

ISA PERSONAL WATERCRAFT (PWC)

Course Aims:
This course is designed by PWC users for PWC users
Duration: 2 days
Pre-Requisites: none.

  • Duration: 2 Days (9am - 5pm)
  • Ratio: 6:1
  • Prerequisites: NONE
  • Syllabus: Personal equipment, Pre-launch checks, Rules of the road, safe speed, overtaking, Local rules/Bylaws, Charts & tides, Weather, lee shores, Safety & emergency equipment, Courtesy to others, Launching from a trailer, Controlling at low speed, Falling off & re-boarding, Control at speed, Collision situations & Slalom exercises, Towing and maybe one or two tricks!
  • Award: ISA Personal Watercraft Certificate (upon successful completion)
  • Cost: €325pp

ISA INTERMEDIATE CERTIFICATE

Course Aims:
The aim of this course is to provide the recreational powerboater with the skills they need to plan and use their boat for general recreation use in fair weather conditions, during daylight hours and in waters with which they are familiar. It includes the typical skills they will need to enjoy longer coastal passages, family day trips and activities such as swimming from the boat.
  • Duration: 2 Days (9am - 5pm)
  • Ratio: 4:1
  • Prerequisites: Participants must hold the ISA National Powerboat Certificate or an equivalent certificate. It is strongly recommended that participants hold a first aid certificate and the Short Range (SRC) VHF radio operator’s certificate.
  • Syllabus: Revision of National Powerboat skills at a higher level, Precision boat handling, mooring/anchoring/marina berths, swimming from a boat, Navigation, Passage planning, Passage making, Weather, Rules of the road, Boat types, Incident management/medical emergencies, Care of boats & equipment.
  • Award: ISA Intermediate Certificate (upon successful completion)
  • Cost: €330pp

ISA ADVANCED POWERBOAT CERTIFICATE

Course Aims:
The aim of this course is to develop boat handling, seamanship, pilotage and navigation skills up to the standards required to drive a planing powerboat safely by day in all coastal waters and by night in coastal waters with which you are familiar.
  • Duration: 2 Days & 1 Night
  • Ratio: 6:1
  • Prerequisites: Participants must hold the ISA National Powerboat Certificate or an equivalent certificate and have been boating regularly with a minimum of 32 hours logged as helm. Following this course, it is strongly recommended that at least one member of a safety boat’s crew should hold a first aid certificate and the Short Range (SRC) VHF radio operator’s certificate.
  • Syllabus: Revision of National Powerboat skills at a higher level, Going into further detail in terms of weather, passage planning, coastal knowledge & boat types, Applying rules of the road, Passage making.
  • Award: ISA Advanced Powerboat Certificate (upon successful completion)
  • Cost: €425pp
Call for information regarding the ISA INLAND MOTOR CRUISER

ISA COASTAL NAVIGATION FOR SMALL BOATS

Course Aims:
The aim of this course is to provide participants with the skills and knowledge required to safely navigate a boat by day and by night in coastal waters with which they are familiar. It is intended as preparation for; • ISA Advanced Powerboat Certificate (open powerboats) • ISA Advanced Sailing Certificate (sailing dinghies, keelboats or catamarans).
  • Duration: 1 Day (Classroom based)
  • Ratio: 12:1
  • Prerequisites: Participants should have completed either:
    • ISA National Powerboat Certificate (open powerboats)
    • ISA Improving Skills Certificate (sailing dinghies, keelboats, or catamarans)
    • ISA Competent Crew Certificate (sailing yachts)
    • ISA Helmsman Certificate (motor yachts)
  • Syllabus: Weather, navigation & equipment, coastal knowledge including day shapes and lights, passage planning, application of "Rules of the road", safety.
  • Award: ISA Coastal Navigation for Small Boats Certificate (upon successful completion)
  • Cost: €175pp

INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATE FOR OPERATORS OF PLEASURE CRAFT (ICC) - TEST ASSESSMENT

Course Aims:
The aim of the ICC is to provide boat owners and people wishing to charter boats abroad with an internationally recognised document certifying their competence to skipper a boat for recreational use. The International Certificate for Operators of Pleasure Craft is not a training course, and the Direct Assessment procedure is only suitable for sailors or powerboaters who have significant previous experience and the required competencies.
  • Duration: 1/2 Day
  • Prerequisites: Participants should have completed the ISA National Powerboat Certificate.
  • Award: The application for an ICC is made via Irish Sailing. Please note, to issue an Irish ICC, you must hold an Irish National Powerboat Certificate, or have been directly assessed and hold an ICC Direct Assessment Report Form.
  • Cost: €175pp

School Powerboat Fleet

  • Whaly 4.35m: Rescue boat with a 30hp Tohatsu outboard engine, fully equipped. (Tiller control, planing craft)
  • Ribcraft 6.5m: 150hp Mercury outboard engine, fully equipped. (Console control, planing craft)
  • Excalibur 9m: Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) with a 315hp inboard-outboard engine. (Console control, planing craft)
  • Mitchell 31: Hard boat with a 345hp diesel engine, fully equipped for intended use. (Fixed drive, semi-displacement)
  • Kawasaki and Seadoo PWC's: (Console control, waterjet, planing)
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