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After many years of working as a boat instructor on the south coast of the UK Lucy McCarter has seen quite the evolution in teaching styles and tactics.
The growth of digital navigation in the classroom
Whilst modern boat instructors still provide an essential mix of theory and practical training and assessments, there has been one notable change over the years, the increased use of digital navigation aids.
Recent developments within the marine industry have seen the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) announce that it will phase out the manufacture of paper charts to completely end production by late 2026. This is a big turn in the tide when it comes to traditional navigation. This decision comes in response to more marine, naval and leisure users primarily using digital products and services for navigation, with the sale of paper charts falling from 80% of sales in 2018 to just 16% in 2021. In response, it can be seen that the Royal Yachting Association is also looking to ramp up its digital presence within the classroom.
Always one to be on top of the latest developments within the industry Lucy worked to increase the presence of digital navigation aid training in her classroom. When planning her classes Lucy quickly realised that over the years she had used many marine navigation apps including Navionics, iNavX, C-maps, Windy, savvy navvy - you name it. With so many apps and sources of information, the fear was that students might be easily confused by having to refer to multiple apps to put all the information they needed together to have a safe and enjoyable day on the water.
Incorporating digital navigation aids into the classroom
To combat this Lucy decided to use savvy navvy as the main digital navigation aid within the classroom as it was the easiest to use and combined the the most functionality within one app.
The problem was that for many years Lucy had saved hundreds of key markers (locations) within various other apps from preferred marinas to danger zones, great anchoring spots and ideal locations for restaurants. The thought of manually re-integrating these into another app was unappealing at best. Luckily for Lucy savvy navvy released an Import Markers feature which made migrating her saved markers (and years of hard work) into savvy navvy quick and easy.
Importing saved markers into savvy navvy from other apps
The Import Markers feature allows savvy navvy members to easily import their saved markers from other navigation tools by uploading a GPX file, streamlining the transition to the savvy navvy app to enhance their navigation experience. Previously this was a process that would have taken many laborious hours to complete and now it can be done with the download and upload of a file.
“Ultimately if you spend years saving markers for key boating locations or navigation marks, that’s your hard work, so it seems only right that you should be able to take them with you if you decide to become a savvy navvy member. The effort that goes into saving markers over the years can be critical to your boating experience and the confidence you feel out on the water, we want to make sure that comes with you,” commented Hannah Postma from savvy navvy.
Savvy navvy gives boat instructors a boost with free accounts and discounts for students
To support instructors and to help build confidence for future boaters savvy navvy launched an initiative to provide free top-tier accounts to any qualified boating instructor. In addition, any instructor students can apply for 20% off their subscription.
“By enabling qualified boat instructors to have free access to savvy navvy we are ensuring digital navigation aids are taught during the early stages of a boaters learning journey. Instructors are very influential on their students and we hope that this initiative will help build confidence when students graduate and head out on the water for the first time, making their boating journey safer and more enjoyable,” commented Alex Ostler, CMO at savvy navvy.
Are you a boating instructor?
If you are a qualified boat instructor and would like to gain access to savvy navvy for free please visit our website to apply.
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