SBF NavigatorWhat you need for the exam
The equipment the German recreational boating licence regulation prescribes, and what each piece does in the exam.
This list rests on two official sources and adds nothing to them. Annex 3 No. 1.3 of the Sportbootführerscheinverordnung (SpFV) lists the aids permitted in the navigation exercise exhaustively: anything not named there stays off the table, a pocket calculator included. Annex 4 names the nine knots, seven of which are tested in the practical exam.
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Ready-made sets
Collecting the pieces one by one works just as well, and the list below names each of them. If you would rather buy once, take one of these.
Navigation instrument set
Course triangle, docking triangle, marine dividers and a mechanical pencil in one set. That covers the navigation exercise, except for the chart.
The practice cards included are the manufacturer's own study material, not the official nautical chart. They may not be taken into the exam.
View on AmazonKnot practice set
A cleat, two practice lines and a knot chart to look things up while practising.
The knot chart is for practising at home. In the practical exam you tie the knots without a reference.
View on AmazonBoth together
The navigation instrument set and the knot practice set in one box. Covers both lists below.
The Übungskarte D49 is missing here too, you buy that separately.
View on AmazonThe 15 chart excerpts as a book
All 15 official chart excerpts the navigation exercises play out on, printed for practising at home.
Practice material for home, not a substitute for the full Übungskarte D49. The chart is supplied at the exam, but having practised beforehand is still on you.
View on AmazonWhat may be on the table at the exam
Allowed
Navigation triangle, docking triangle, parallel ruler, Portland plotter and dividers. Plus a pencil, eraser and sharpener for drawing, and a ballpoint pen for ticking answers. The chart is supplied at the exam, you do not bring it.
Not allowed
Everything else. The regulation names reference works explicitly, electronic ones included: no calculator, no smartphone, no smartwatch, no formula sheet. Knot charts, practice cards and crib sheets from practice sets stay at home too.
Anlage 3 Nr. 1.3 SpFV
For the navigation exercise
SBF See only. Annex 3 of the SpFV lists the permitted aids exhaustively: navigation triangle, docking triangle, parallel ruler, Portland plotter and dividers. Everything else is forbidden, including a calculator or a reference book.
Course triangle and docking triangle
You plot and read courses and bearings on the nautical chart with them. A set of two triangles or a double docking triangle is the usual choice.
Basis: Anlage 3 Nr. 1.3 SpFV
Chart dividers
For taking distances off the latitude scale at the side of the chart. A plain pair of dividers without a pencil lead is enough and slips less on the chart.
Basis: Anlage 3 Nr. 1.3 SpFV
Portland plotter
An alternative to the triangles: a course plotter with a rotating compass rose. If you have practised with it, you may use it in the exam too. You do not need both.
Basis: Anlage 3 Nr. 1.3 SpFV
Practice chart D49 (INT 1463)
All 15 navigation exercises play out on this one chart, the estuaries of the Jade, Weser and Elbe. The exam supplies it, so you do not bring your own. For practising at home you do need a copy; it comes from the BSH and may not be shipped with the app or from this page. And since it never goes to the exam, you can draw on your copy as much as you like.
Soft pencil, eraser, sharpener
A lot gets drawn on a nautical chart and taken off again. A soft pencil (2B) erases without residue, a hard one digs into the paper. For ticking the question sheet and writing down your answers you also need a ballpoint pen.
For the practical exam
For every licence. You practise the manoeuvres on the boating school's boat, but the knots have to go through your own fingers, and that only works with your own line.
Two practice lines, 8 to 10 mm
About a metre and a half each, ideally of different thickness: the sheet bend joins two lines of unequal diameter, and that is exactly where the examiner sees whether you have understood it. Laid rope holds its shape better than braided.
Basis: Anlage 4 SpFV
Cleat or knot board
Making fast to a cleat with a locking hitch is one of the nine knots and cannot be practised on a door handle. A single screw-on cleat will do; a knot board brings the cleat and a bar with it.
Basis: Anlage 4 SpFV
Wooden bar or pole
The clove hitch and the slipped clove hitch go around a bollard or a rung. A broom handle is perfectly good for practice, nothing needs to be bought for this.
No guarantee is given. The Sportbootführerscheinverordnung in its current version governs; when in doubt ask your boating school or the examination board.