Section 2: Water sports establishments

Physical activity or sports establishments which provide sailing instruction on all types of pleasure craft must provide the supervision, technical and safety guarantees defined by this sub-section. Unless otherwise stipulated, establishments operating on inland waters are subject to the same rules as centres and establishments operating on maritime waters.

The location of the establishments provided for in article A. 322-64 must be adapted to the purpose of the instruction. The establishment’s internal regulations define the basin(s) and sailing area(s) that can be used. They also define these areas and basins separately according to the activities practised: cruising school, light yachting, special activities such as funboarding in the waves or speed funboarding. The basins and sailing areas are chosen so…

In each establishment, in a place visible to all, emergency advice and the establishment’s internal regulations are displayed, together with a plan of the basin(s) and sailing area(s) currently in use, showing in particular : – the authorised limits of navigation and, where applicable, their marking or natural or artificial delimitation ; – prohibited or dangerous areas, with an indication of the nature of the danger and, where appropriate, conditions…

In each establishment, the operator shall appoint a qualified technical supervisor responsible for ensuring that instruction takes place in accordance with the conditions laid down in this sub-section. Several qualified technical supervisors may be appointed, each responsible for the technical aspects of some of the nautical activities taught. For instruction in light pleasure craft, supervision takes place from or near a boat suitable for teaching and immediate intervention, with the…

The organisation of teaching activities takes into account the environment, the climatic and meteorological conditions, the level of the participants, the skills of the instructors and the surveillance and intervention system that can be mobilised. The qualified technical supervisor decides whether to adapt or cancel the activities in the event of a change in conditions in order to ensure that the surveillance and response system is as effective as possible.

The collective and individual water sports equipment and facilities provided by the establishments comply with the regulations in force and are properly maintained. In addition, they are appropriate for the purposes of the instruction and the surveillance and intervention system. Under no circumstances may life jackets not bearing the “CE” mark be made available to participants. The technical manager provided for in article A. 322-67 periodically checks that the individual…

The surveillance and intervention arrangements to be put in place for each establishment take account of the types of activities offered for instruction by the establishment concerned and the skills of the participants to whom these lessons are offered. It complies with the regulations in force concerning traffic or navigation in French maritime or inland waters. The nautical and land-based surveillance and intervention resources used to teach light sailing are…