The question comes up every summer, usually the day before: “do I need a licence to hire a boat?”. The short answer is that it depends, but it doesn’t depend on chance — it depends on three precise parameters that Italian law sets out clearly. Those who know them choose the right boat in ten minutes. Those who don’t risk signing a contract they cannot use.
This is the guide we would give a guest before putting them in touch with a charter company.
When a licence is really needed
Italy’s Recreational Boating Code links the licence requirement to the navigation actually carried out, not to ownership of the boat. For vessels up to twenty-four metres, the cases are as follows.
A licence is always required, at any distance from the coast, in two situations: when sailing more than six nautical miles from the coast, and when driving a jet ski, without exception.
Within six miles, the licence requirement depends on the engine. The threshold that matters in practice is power above 30 kW, that is 40.8 horsepower. The rules also set a series of engine-displacement thresholds alongside this criterion, which vary according to engine type — two-stroke or four-stroke, carburettor or injection, inboard or outboard, naturally aspirated or turbocharged diesel.
There is a grey area of interpretation on how the two criteria should be combined: the prevailing reading among sailing schools and operators is that the conditions are cumulative, meaning the requirement applies when both the displacement and the 30 kW are exceeded. There is, however, no official clarification that settles the matter definitively. In practical terms, for a customer, this means just one thing: take the 40.8 horsepower threshold as your reference and don’t venture into borderline reasoning.
Above twenty-four metres the question doesn’t arise: anyone taking command of a pleasure ship must hold a category B licence, always, regardless of the distance from the coast.
Without a licence, within six miles and below the thresholds, age requirements remain: eighteen for boats, that is hulls between ten and twenty-four metres, and sixteen for small craft, up to ten metres.
In market terms: “licence-free” hire in Sardinia covers RIBs and small craft up to ten metres with engines up to forty horsepower, within six miles of the coast. Everything else requires a licence.
A useful clarification, because it circulates widely: a new reduced qualification for sixteen-year-olds has been introduced, but the implementing decrees are still missing and it cannot yet be obtained. If someone offers it to you, ask to see the certificate.
Charter or bareboat hire: two different contracts
In everyday language people always say “hire”. In the Boating Code there are two distinct contracts, and the difference determines who is liable if something goes wrong.
In a bareboat lease (locazione) — what the market calls bareboat, without crew — use of the vessel passes to the lessee. It is the lessee who navigates and assumes the responsibility and risks. If a licence is required, the lessee must hold it. Fuel is at their expense unless otherwise agreed.
In a charter (noleggio) — with a skipper or crew — the vessel remains at the owner’s disposal, and the crew remains employed by them. Responsibility for navigation does not pass to the customer. In this case, unless otherwise agreed, fuel, water and lubricants are paid by the charterer, that is, by the person hiring the boat: it is one of the items that most often comes as a surprise at the end of the day, and it should be clarified beforehand.
In both cases, for pleasure boats and pleasure ships, the contract must be in writing, on pain of nullity, and must be kept on board in the original or a certified copy.
There is also occasional chartering, reserved for private individual owners, which does not constitute commercial use and enjoys a favourable tax regime up to a cap on the number of days. It requires prior notification to both the Revenue Agency and the Harbour Master’s Office, and a boating licence held for at least three years is sufficient to take command. It is a legitimate formula, but the customer is entitled to check that those notifications have been made.
Who can be the skipper
Here is a point almost no customer knows and which distinguishes a serious operator from an improvised one: for a boat used for commercial charter, the skipper’s boating licence is not enough.
Crew on pleasure boats and ships used for charter must hold professional yachting qualifications: recreational navigation officer, recreational captain, recreational master, with increasing competence according to tonnage. The recreational navigation officer is the qualification required to command pleasure boats used for charter.
The only significant exception is occasional chartering, where a licence held for three years is sufficient for boats — but not for pleasure ships, for which the professional qualification remains mandatory.
Asking the skipper which qualification they hold is not rude: it is the same question you would ask a pilot.
Safety equipment depends on distance, not the boat
Mandatory safety equipment was redefined by the new implementing regulation that came into force in autumn 2024, with a one-year transition period now over. The principle is that equipment depends on the navigation zone, not the type of hull.
Simplifying the zones relevant to coastal hire: within one mile you need life jackets for everyone and little else; within three miles you add a lifebuoy, smoke signals and hand flares; within six miles parachute rockets, a light buoy and navigation lights are required; within twelve miles a coastal life raft, compass, clock, VHF radio and signal chart become mandatory; beyond that, and with no limit, you add a life raft for everyone on board, GPS, nautical charts, radar reflector, barometer and emergency beacon.
The regulation also introduced some modern equivalences worth knowing: hand flares can be replaced by approved LED devices, the magnetic compass by an electronic one, and in certain conditions the emergency beacon by a satellite phone with an emergency button.
One rule always applies, regardless of distance: anyone using windsurf boards, kitesurfs, jet skis and similar craft must wear at all times a CE-marked buoyancy aid. And when sailing alone at night, the life jacket must be worn, not kept under the seat.
What to check before signing
The law requires the lessor to hand over the vessel in perfect working order, with all safety equipment, navigation documents and insurance cover. It further requires the charter operator to fit it out and equip it properly and to have insurance cover extended to the customer and passengers for injury and damage.
In terms of what to physically ask for before stepping on board:
- The written contract, which must remain on board.
- The navigation licence with a valid safety certificate.
- The engine’s power declaration: this is the document that tells you whether you need a licence or not.
- The insurance policy, checking that it extends to passengers in the case of a charter.
- The commercial-use annotation on the licence, if the vessel is used commercially.
- The marine protected area authorisation, where you sail in a protected area, with the sticker visible on the hull.
- The expiry dates of rockets, flares and life-raft servicing: these are what is most often found to be out of date.
- The distance-from-coast limit allowed by the contract and the insurance, which is almost always more restrictive than the legal one.
On insurance, one clarification: third-party liability cover is mandatory for every motorised vessel, including small craft and tenders, and follows a removable engine onto whatever hull it is fitted to. The only exclusions are rowing boats and sailing boats without an auxiliary engine.
Which boat for which day
Once the question of qualifications is settled, what remains is the practical choice, which depends less on budget than you might think and a great deal on the kind of day you have in mind.
A RIB up to forty horsepower, licence-free, is the right craft for exploring a nearby stretch of coast: coves a few minutes away, swims, back for lunch. It is not suited to crossings, does not handle rough seas well, and the six-mile zone becomes a real constraint as soon as you want to go somewhere. It is perfect for half a day, tiring for a whole one.
A large RIB with a skipper solves the opposite problem: agility, speed, the ability to get in anywhere, and someone who knows the local rules on your behalf. It is the most efficient choice for seeing many coves in a single day. The price is comfort: little shade, little room to sit down to a meal.
A classic motorboat or a gozzo slows the pace and improves it. You see three coves instead of six, but you have a proper lunch, rest in the afternoon, and come back without being scorched by the sun. For a family it is almost always the right choice.
Sailing is a different experience and should be chosen knowingly: transfers take time, the programme depends even more on the wind, and with small children it can be demanding. In return, in some protected areas sailing boats enjoy reduced access fees, and sailing with the engine off through certain channels is something you never forget.
A crewed yacht changes the very nature of the day: a galley on board, a tender for going ashore, space for those who want sun and those who want shade. With large groups it is often the only formula that brings different needs together.
The mistakes we see most often
Booking the boat before checking the wind. On this stretch of coast the mistral has no real summer break, and a day booked weeks in advance may fall on the wrong day. It is worth asking from the outset what the policy is in the event of bad weather: rescheduling, partial refund, nothing.
Confusing declared power with actual power. An engine can be derated or show different values on the plate and in the documents. The only valid reference is the power declaration, and it is also the only one that counts in the event of an inspection.
Taking the navigation limit for granted. Many bareboat contracts restrict the lessee to a distance from the coast shorter than the legal one, and in the event of an accident outside that perimeter the insurance may not pay out. It is a line in the contract, and it must be read.
Anchoring by eye. A sandy bottom is recognisable by its pale colour, posidonia by its dark green. When in doubt, move twenty metres. It is not only an environmental issue: inside a protected area it is a violation with heavy penalties, and posidonia holds an anchor badly, so it is also a risk to the boat.
The extra rules that apply in Sardinia
Here national legislation is only the starting point. Sardinia has seven marine protected areas plus the La Maddalena Archipelago National Park, and each has its own regulations. There is no single Sardinian rule: you have to check the area in which you are sailing.
The constants found almost everywhere are very strict speed limits close to shore, an absolute ban on jet skis and towed sports, authorisation required to moor at buoy fields, caps on commercial activities and a ban on anchoring on posidonia.
On this last point it is worth being precise, because it causes a lot of confusion. Outside protected areas, Italian law does not yet contain a general ban on anchoring on posidonia with its own penalty. A recent law established the principle that anchoring must not damage sensitive habitats, including posidonia meadows, but environmental associations have pointed out that it provides for no penalties of its own and no obligation to restore: it is a statement of principle, not a sanctioned ban.
Inside protected areas, on the other hand, the ban is full and sanctioned by the respective regulations. And there is a further aggravation provided for by the Boating Code: if the violation causes damage or the risk of damage to the environment, penalties are increased, the boating licence is always revoked and in the most serious cases the vessel is seized.
One last warning, especially for those planning ahead: daily access caps, the number of authorisations available, mooring fees and passenger limits per vessel are set by annual regulations, which change from season to season. Any figure read in last year’s article — including this one — should be checked again before setting off. It is the very reasonable price of sailing in a sea that has stayed like this.