Frequently Asked Questions

The Sportbootführerschein (SBF) is the official German boating license for recreational motorized vessels. It is required for motorboats with more than 15 HP (11 kW) on federal waterways. There are two variants: SBF Inland (Binnen) for inland waterways and SBF Coastal (See) for coastal waters. Both can be taken together in a combined exam.

The SBF Inland (Binnen) authorizes you to navigate inland shipping waterways – rivers, canals, and inland lakes. The SBF Coastal (See) is valid on coastal shipping waterways along Germany's North Sea and Baltic Sea coast. These are two separate licenses, each requiring its own exam. If you want to navigate both areas, you need both – or take the combined exam.

As soon as you operate a radio on board, you need the matching radio operator certificate. For inland radio (rivers, canals) that is the UBI (VHF radiotelephone certificate for inland waterways). For coastal sea radio it is the SRC (Short Range Certificate), and for worldwide sea radio including MF/HF and satellite it is the LRC (Long Range Certificate). These radio certificates are independent of the SBF and are offered as separate learning modules in Boatpass.

Rule of thumb: for a motorboat over 15 HP you need the SBF Inland on inland waters and the SBF Coastal at the coast. If a radio is on board, add the matching radio certificate – UBI for inland, SRC for coastal, LRC for worldwide voyages. You'll find an overview of all licenses on the "Licenses" page.

For the North Sea and Baltic Sea you need the SBF Coastal (See), because coastal waters are sea shipping waterways – the SBF Inland is not sufficient there. Important: the border between coastal and inland does not run along the coastline but at the river mouths. On the Elbe, for example, you need the SBF Coastal up to Hamburg and the SBF Inland above it. Lake Constance has its own rule (Bodensee-Schifferpatent). If you want to navigate both coastal and inland waters, take both licenses – cheapest as a combined exam. See our full guide on SBF validity for a complete overview of which license applies where.

It depends on your waters. For coastal sea radio – a VHF marine radio with DSC – you need the SRC (Short Range Certificate). For inland radio on rivers and canals, the UBI (VHF radiotelephone certificate for inland waterways) applies. The SRC is not valid for inland radio, and the UBI is not valid for sea radio – if you navigate both, you need both certificates. In Boatpass you learn UBI and SRC as separate modules for a one-time €7.99 each.

Both are sea radio certificates and differ mainly in range. The SRC (Short Range Certificate) covers VHF sea radio with DSC in the coastal area (sea area A1, about 35 nautical miles). The LRC (Long Range Certificate) additionally covers worldwide sea radio via MF/HF (medium and short wave) and satellite (sea areas A1–A4) – required for offshore and blue-water sailing. For coastal waters the SRC is enough; the LRC builds on it and is the choice for the open sea. In Boatpass both are available as separate modules (SRC €7.99, LRC €9.99).

The minimum age for the SBF Inland and SBF Coastal under motor is 16 years each. For the SBF Inland under sail, 14 years is enough. You may register for the exam a little earlier (from about 15 years and 9 months) – you only need to reach the minimum age by the time the license is handed over. Even operating a license-free boat up to 15 HP requires you to be at least 16.

To register with the examination board (DMYV or DSV) you need: the application for admission, a medical certificate for SBF applicants (vision, hearing and color test, valid for 12 months, approx. €30–65), a biometric passport photo (35 × 45 mm), proof of reliability (a copy of your car driving license or a police clearance certificate of type O), and the exam fee. No course attendance is required – you may register even after preparing solely with the Boatpass app.

In Germany you may operate motorboats up to and including 15 HP (11.03 kW) from age 16 without a boating license – on both inland and sea shipping waterways. Only above 15 HP does the SBF become mandatory. Exceptions: Lake Constance (Bodensee-Schifferpatent) and the Rhine have lower limits, and individual zones (e.g. a section of the Spree in Berlin) require a license regardless of engine power. For the open sea or a charter abroad you almost always need the SBF Coastal.

No, not in that form. Recreational boats are not governed by road traffic law (StVG) but by the inland waterway rules (BinSchStrO) or the sea waterway rules (SeeSchStrO): the skipper must be fit to navigate at all times. Intoxication becomes a criminal offense under § 315a StGB – relative unfitness can already apply at low levels combined with signs of impairment, and absolute unfitness from 1.6 per mille. The safe rule: as a skipper you do not drink alcohol. More in the article on the blood alcohol limit on a boat.

The German boating license has no expiry – it is valid for life, with no renewal needed. Since 2018 it has been issued in credit-card format with the ICC (International Certificate of Competence) on the back, recognized in more than 30 countries including the main charter areas such as Croatia, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Turkey. Old paper licenses without an ICC can be converted to the new format via the DMYV or DSV.

The charter certificate (officially Charterbescheinigung) allows you to operate a rented boat without a boating license on certain designated inland waters – above all the Mecklenburg Lake District. Conditions: the boat is at most 15 m long and 12 km/h fast, the minimum age is usually 16, plus a 2–3 hour briefing by the rental company. Rules such as a night-travel ban and a no-go from wind force 4 apply. The charter certificate does not replace the SBF: it is valid only for the rented boat, only in the designated area, and not abroad. Details in the article on the charter certificate.

Both licenses have a written theory exam. For the SBF Inland, the paper consists of 30 questions (7 base questions + 23 specific inland questions) to be answered in 45 minutes. You pass by answering at least 5 of 7 base questions and at least 18 of 23 specific questions correctly. The SBF Coastal additionally includes a navigation task with 9 questions (at least 7 correct), for a total of 39 questions in 60 minutes. The theory exam is followed by a practical exam on the water.

A course is not required – you can prepare entirely on your own. The official question catalogs are publicly available, and apps like Boatpass enable structured study without a sailing school. Many candidates pass the theory exam without a course. For the practical exam, at least one day of practice on the water is recommended.

With consistent studying (20–30 minutes daily), 4–6 weeks for the theory part is realistic. Working systematically through the official question catalog and reviewing mistakes helps you get exam-ready faster. The Boatpass app tracks your progress and specifically trains your weak areas.

The SBF Inland is recognized on German inland waterways. Abroad, national regulations apply – in many European countries the SBF is sufficient, while others additionally require the ICC (International Certificate of Competence), which you can obtain based on your German license. For details on specific charter destinations, see our article on the SBF abroad covering Croatia, the Netherlands and Italy.

For the SBF Inland you may answer at most 2 of 7 base questions and 5 of 23 specific questions incorrectly – you pass with at least 5 base and 18 specific questions correct. For the SBF Coastal the same applies to base and specific questions; additionally you must solve at least 7 of the 9 navigation tasks correctly (at most 2 mistakes). In the Boatpass exam simulation you instantly see whether you would have passed by these official criteria.

You can retake the exam – failed parts are repeated individually. If you only failed the theory or only the practical, you repeat just that part; a part you have already passed usually does not have to be retaken. Retake fees in 2026 are roughly €37–49 for the theory and €57–75 for the practical, depending on the examination board. With the targeted error training in Boatpass you revise exactly the topics that tripped you up. For what to do right after a failed attempt, see the article on failing the SBF Inland exam.

The navigation task is considered the most demanding part of the SBF Coastal by many, but it is very learnable. You work with an official training chart and solve 9 tasks covering courses (compass course, magnetic variation and deviation), position and distance fixing, and tides. At least 7 of the 9 tasks must be correct. With some practice using the chart, plotting dividers and the course triangle, the task becomes routine – Boatpass trains the related questions from the official catalog.

The official SBF question catalog is set by the DSV and DMYV and published freely via ELWIS. Under motor, the inland catalog contains 72 base questions and 181 specific questions (253 in total), plus 47 sailing questions for the sailing scope. The coastal catalog contains 72 base questions and 213 specific coastal questions (285 in total). Boatpass contains the complete current catalog for both licenses.

The radio certificates have their own official question catalog – not the ELWIS/SBF catalog. The exam questions for the sea radio certificates SRC and LRC and for the inland radio certificate UBI are issued by the Bundesnetzagentur (Germany's Federal Network Agency; its Hamburg branch office is responsible for sea radio), while the exams themselves are administered by the DSV and DMYV committees. The currently valid catalog has applied since the radio-certificate reform of 1 October 2018. Boatpass contains the complete official catalog for each radio module – UBI, SRC, and LRC.

Boatpass contains the current official question catalog for each license. For SBF Inland and SBF Coastal that is the catalog published via ELWIS by the DSV/DMYV; for the radio modules UBI, SRC, and LRC it is the official radio question catalog of the Bundesnetzagentur. Whenever one of these bodies updates its catalog, we update the app promptly – so you always study with the exact questions used in the real exam.

The official exam fees (theory + practical) in 2026 are €130.78 for the SBF Inland and €148.38 for the SBF Coastal license. Taking both together as a combined exam costs just €178.61 instead of €279.16. Optional preparatory courses cost extra (online courses from around €340). With the Boatpass app, you can learn the theory without an expensive course.

Yes. Taken separately, the official exam fees are €130.78 (Inland) and €148.38 (Coastal), €279.16 in total. The combined Inland + Coastal exam costs only €178.61 – you save around €100. This is possible because the 72 base questions are identical for both licenses and are examined only once. In Boatpass you learn both catalogs in the complete bundle for €16.98 instead of €19.98.

The official exam fees (admission, examination, and issuing of the certificate) are around €109 for the UBI, around €128 for the SRC, and roughly €188–207 for the LRC. A preparatory course is optional. In Boatpass you learn the theory as a module: UBI and SRC for a one-time €7.99 each, LRC for a one-time €9.99 – no subscription.

Yes – the app is free. In the free mode, you can work through 15 study questions per day and explore the app. Full SBF access (unlimited questions, exam simulation, error training) is a one-time purchase of €9.99 per catalog – or both SBF catalogs as a complete bundle for €16.98 (you save €3). The radio modules UBI, SRC, and LRC are unlocked separately (from €7.99). No subscription, no hidden fees.

Boatpass is currently available for Android (Google Play Store). An iOS version is currently in development.

Yes – all questions and explanations are available offline after the initial download. An internet connection is only needed for the first download and any catalog updates.