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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Bank checked October 2, 2026.
A New York county wants its own boating safety certificate rule for motorboats. What does section 49(1)(b) say?Answer: The state rule supersedes all local laws or ordinances on the subject. Source: Navigation Law 49(1)
A New York court suspends a boater's privilege to operate under section 45. What else must it require?Answer: Completion of a boating safety course, with proof shown to the court. Source: Navigation Law 45(7)
A New York operator cannot show a boating safety certificate when an officer demands it. What does section 49(2) make of that?Answer: Presumptive evidence that the person does not hold one. Source: Navigation Law 49(2)
Besides courses the commissioner approves, whose boating safety course does section 49(1) name?Answer: The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary's. Source: Navigation Law 49(1)
During what activity do the certificate rules of section 49 not apply?Answer: While preparing for or competing in an authorized regatta or boat race. Source: Navigation Law 49(5)
The holder of which New York license is exempt from the certificate rule of section 49?Answer: A public vessel license issued under section 64. Source: Navigation Law 49(1)
Show all 103 questions (97 more)
Boating safety certificate, continued
How does section 49 define the boating safety certificate itself?Answer: A document which cannot be altered, given on completing a boating safety course. Source: Navigation Law 49(1)
Police officers, fire and rescue personnel and lifeguards are exempt from New York's certificate rule on what condition?Answer: When acting pursuant to assigned duties. Source: Navigation Law 49(1)
Section 49 of the Navigation Law sets two conditions for operating a mechanically propelled vessel in New York. What are they?Answer: The operator is at least ten years old and holds a boating safety certificate. Source: Navigation Law 49(1)
What may a person under eighteen be charged for the issuance of a New York boating safety certificate?Answer: Nothing; no charge whatsoever may be made. Source: Navigation Law 79(1)
What must boating safety instruction include, by the terms of section 78?Answer: The safe operation of personal watercraft and specialty prop-craft. Source: Navigation Law 78(1)
What must every approved internet-based boating safety course in New York do?Answer: Employ methods to ensure attendance of the student throughout the course. Source: Navigation Law 79(2)
What system does section 78 direct the commissioner to set up for boating safety certificates?Answer: One for tracking and replacing them, so a lost or stolen certificate can be replaced. Source: Navigation Law 78(3)
Which of these people may run a motorboat in New York without a boating safety certificate under section 49(1)(a)?Answer: A person licensed to operate vessels by the United States coast guard. Source: Navigation Law 49(1)
Who issues New York's boating safety certificate under section 78?Answer: The commissioner of parks, recreation and historic preservation. Source: Navigation Law 78(1)
Ages and rentals 9
A 15-year-old without a certificate rides a personal watercraft in New York with a certificate holder. How old must that holder be?Answer: Over eighteen. Source: Navigation Law 49(1-a)
A New York livery checks the group against the vessel's capacity plate. What may it not do?Answer: Rent the vessel when the persons using it exceed the maximum safety load. Source: Navigation Law 71-d(1)
A New York livery may rent a motorboat, not a personal watercraft, to a person with no certificate who is at least what age?Answer: Eighteen. Source: Navigation Law 71-d(1-a)
Before a renter without a certificate leaves a New York livery, what must the livery operator or agent do?Answer: Explain and demonstrate, by video or in the water, how the vessel and its safety equipment work. Source: Navigation Law 71-d(1-a)
For how long at most may a New York livery rent a vessel to the same person who has no certificate?Answer: Sixty days. Source: Navigation Law 71-d(1-a)
For New York's personal watercraft rule, what does accompanied by a certificate holder mean?Answer: The holder is upon the vessel. Source: Navigation Law 49(1-a)
How old must a person be to rent a personal watercraft from a New York livery?Answer: Sixteen or older. Source: Navigation Law 73-a(2)
Section 49(1-a) sets a minimum age for operating a personal watercraft or specialty prop-craft in New York. What is it?Answer: Fourteen. Source: Navigation Law 49(1-a)
What is the youngest age at which a certificate holder may run a motorboat alone on New York's navigable waters?Answer: Ten. Source: Navigation Law 49(1)
Life jackets and the cold-season rule 8
Between which dates must everyone aboard a small New York pleasure vessel wear a flotation device while it is underway?Answer: Between November first and May first. Source: Navigation Law 40(1)
How many wearable flotation devices must a canoe carry on New York's navigable waters?Answer: At least one for each person on board. Source: Navigation Law 40(1)
New York adds a type IV throwable device to the flotation gear of some pleasure vessels. Which ones?Answer: Those sixteen feet and greater in length. Source: Navigation Law 40(1)
New York's cold-season wearing rule covers pleasure vessels of what length?Answer: Less than twenty-one feet, including rowboats, canoes and kayaks. Source: Navigation Law 40(1)
On a New York pleasure vessel of sixty-five feet or less that is underway, each person below what age must wear a securely fastened flotation device?Answer: Under twelve. Source: Navigation Law 40(1)
Under New York's definition, a personal flotation device must be of an appropriate size for whom?Answer: The person who intends to use it. Source: Navigation Law 2(30-a)
Where on a New York vessel is a child under twelve excused from wearing a flotation device?Answer: Within a fully enclosed cabin. Source: Navigation Law 40(1)
Who is responsible for seeing that a New York pleasure vessel carries its flotation devices?Answer: Every operator or person in charge or control of the vessel. Source: Navigation Law 40(1)
Speed near shore, dive flags and zones 13
An officer sees a vessel run so hazardously that an accident is likely. What may the officer direct under section 49-c?Answer: That it stop and go at once to the nearest safe anchorage, dock or mooring. Source: Navigation Law 49-c
Besides underwater diving, what may the red flag with a diagonal white bar mark under section 45(1-a)?Answer: A designated course for racing shells. Source: Navigation Law 45(1-a)
By what vote may a county board, city or village establish a vessel regulation zone in New York?Answer: A three-quarters vote of its members. Source: Navigation Law 46(1)
For how long may a New York court suspend the privilege to operate a vessel after a conviction for reckless operation?Answer: At least three but less than twelve months. Source: Navigation Law 45(7)
How close may a vessel other than the tending vessel come to a red flag with a diagonal white bar on New York waters?Answer: No closer than one hundred feet. Source: Navigation Law 45(1-a)
How far from the shore line may a local vessel regulation zone reach at most in New York?Answer: Fifteen hundred feet from the low water mark. Source: Navigation Law 46(2)
New York's five mile per hour limit applies inside what distance of the shore, a dock or a moored vessel?Answer: One hundred feet. Source: Navigation Law 45(2)
Under section 49-c an officer may order a hazardously run vessel to the nearest safe dock. Which craft does the section name as covered too?Answer: Rowboats, canoes and kayaks. Source: Navigation Law 49-c
What excuses a New York vessel from the five mile per hour limit near shore?Answer: Operating there so that a water skier can take off or land. Source: Navigation Law 45(2)
What general speed rule does section 45(1)(b) set for every vessel in New York?Answer: No faster than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and hazards. Source: Navigation Law 45(1)
What is New York's speed limit for a vessel close to the shore, a dock, a pier, a raft, a float or an anchored vessel?Answer: Five miles per hour. Source: Navigation Law 45(2)
What must the signboard at the boundary of a local zone say in large letters, under section 46?Answer: VESSEL REGULATION ZONE, with the speed limit or other restrictions. Source: Navigation Law 46(3)
Where may a diving flag not be placed on New York waters?Answer: Where it denies access to a boathouse, wharf, harbor, bay, channel or navigable waterway. Source: Navigation Law 45(1-a)
Towing skiers and tubes 8
A person may be towed after sunset in New York in one case. Which?Answer: A paid performer engaged in a professional exhibition. Source: Navigation Law 73(2)
A small craft is controlled by the person it tows and carries no observer. What must it have that acts when the operator lets go?Answer: An automatic shut-off mechanism. Source: Navigation Law 73(4)
During which period may no person be towed behind a vessel in New York?Answer: From sunset to sunrise. Source: Navigation Law 73(2)
How old must the observer be on a New York vessel that is towing a person?Answer: At least ten. Source: Navigation Law 73(1)
Section 73(4-a) bars towing a person into a collision. Which collision is outside the rule?Answer: One between two persons towed behind the same boat. Source: Navigation Law 73(4-a)
What does towing a person not include, under section 73(7)?Answer: Towing persons in a vessel to which assistance is being rendered. Source: Navigation Law 73(7)
What must a person towed behind a New York vessel be wearing?Answer: A securely fastened Coast Guard approved personal flotation device. Source: Navigation Law 73(3)
Which list matches the devices that section 73(7) names for towing a person?Answer: Water skis, a tube, a surfboard, a tow rope, an aquaplane or a parasail. Source: Navigation Law 73(7)
Personal watercraft 9
A New York city bans personal watercraft inside a regulation zone. What limit does section 46 put on that ban?Answer: It may not prevent access to federally maintained and designated navigation channels. Source: Navigation Law 46(1)
Between which times does section 73-a bar operating a personal watercraft or specialty prop-craft?Answer: From sunset to sunrise. Source: Navigation Law 73-a(1)
Each person riding a personal watercraft in New York must be wearing what?Answer: A securely fastened Coast Guard approved flotation device. Source: Navigation Law 73-a(1)
The far shore is less than five hundred feet from a bathing area. At most how fast may a personal watercraft pass in New York?Answer: Ten miles per hour. Source: Navigation Law 73-a(1)
What does New York's bathing area rule for personal watercraft leave open?Answer: Launching the craft from designated launching areas or sites. Source: Navigation Law 73-a(1)
What is a specialty prop-craft in New York's definitions?Answer: A craft with an outboard or propeller-driven motor, ridden sitting, standing or kneeling. Source: Navigation Law 2(31)
Which of these does section 73-a(1)(g) treat as reckless operation of a personal watercraft?Answer: Jumping another vessel's wake unreasonably close to that vessel. Source: Navigation Law 73-a(1)
Which visual signal must a personal watercraft carry in New York?Answer: A fluorescent-orange distress flag at least one foot square, or another approved signal. Source: Navigation Law 73-a(1)
Within what distance of a designated bathing area may a personal watercraft not be operated in New York?Answer: Five hundred feet. Source: Navigation Law 73-a(1)
Accidents and reports 8
A New York operator damages a moored boat and its owner cannot be found there. What does section 47 require?Answer: A report, as soon as physically able, to the nearest police officer, police station, bay constable or judicial officer. Source: Navigation Law 47(1)
Before leaving the place of a damage-only accident in New York, what must the operator give the person who sustained the damage?Answer: Name and address, the owner's name and address, and the vessel's identification number. Source: Navigation Law 47(1)
Besides death, injury and property damage, which event makes a New York accident reportable under section 47-b?Answer: A person disappears under the water. Source: Navigation Law 47-b
Does damage to the operator's own property count toward New York's reporting amount?Answer: Yes; the section says any one person, including himself or herself. Source: Navigation Law 47-b
Section 47 applies when an operator knows a person was injured. What other event does it name?Answer: Another person has disappeared under the water. Source: Navigation Law 47(2)
Section 47-b gives a New York boater a deadline for the written report after a reportable accident. How long?Answer: Five days. Source: Navigation Law 47-b
Section 47-b gives a second deadline to an owner who was ashore when the boat was involved. From what moment do the five days run?Answer: From the day the owner learns of the facts. Source: Navigation Law 47-b
Section 47-b sets a dollar figure for boating accidents with property damage alone. What is it?Answer: More than one thousand dollars. Source: Navigation Law 47-b
Required equipment 16
A disposable fire extinguisher is considered expired how long after its date of manufacture, under section 40?Answer: Twelve years. Source: Navigation Law 40(6)
A New York vessel under twenty-six feet has an engine cut-off switch. When must the operator use it?Answer: When operating on plane or above displacement speed. Source: Navigation Law 40(13)
A vessel is twenty feet long. Which class is it under section 43 of the Navigation Law?Answer: Class 1. Source: Navigation Law 43(1)
How far must a New York vessel's whistle be heard in still weather?Answer: At least one-half mile. Source: Navigation Law 40(2)
How many 5-B fire extinguishers must a Class 2 motor boat carry in New York?Answer: Two. Source: Navigation Law 40(6)
Motor boats longer than what must carry a bell in New York?Answer: Thirty-nine feet. Source: Navigation Law 40(9)
New York vessels of what length must carry the visual distress signals the Coast Guard requires on federal waters?Answer: Sixteen feet or more. Source: Navigation Law 40(7)
On New York vessels below what length may a mouth whistle be used?Answer: Less than thirty-nine feet. Source: Navigation Law 40(2)
Section 44 caps the sound of a pleasure vessel measured while it is stationary. What is the cap?Answer: 90 dB(A). Source: Navigation Law 44(2)
What does section 44 say about a pleasure vessel fitted with a muffler cutout or bypass?Answer: It may not be operated on the waters of the state. Source: Navigation Law 44(4)
What must every mechanically propelled vessel carry for anchoring in New York?Answer: An anchor and cable of sufficient weight and strength for a safe anchorage. Source: Navigation Law 40(3)
When is the engine cut-off switch of section 40(13) not required?Answer: When the operator is in a fully enclosed cabin. Source: Navigation Law 40(13)
When must the equipment listed in section 40 be aboard a New York vessel?Answer: While underway, or at anchor with any person aboard. Source: Navigation Law 40
Which craft make up Class 5 in section 43?Answer: Rowboats, canoes and kayaks. Source: Navigation Law 43(1)
Which motor boats are excepted from New York's fire extinguisher rule?Answer: Outboard motor boats less than twenty-six feet, of open construction. Source: Navigation Law 40(6)
Which vessels may carry a siren whistle in New York?Answer: Those operated by a police department, fire department or public utility company. Source: Navigation Law 40(2)
Public vessel licenses 17
A New York public vessel carries passengers. What count of wearable flotation devices does section 67(2) require aboard?Answer: One for each passenger it is certified to carry, and one more for each crew member. Source: Navigation Law 67(2)
A New York public vessel certified for more than how many passengers must carry a marine radio or working cellular phone?Answer: More than ten. Source: Navigation Law 67(6)
A New York public vessel certified for more than sixty-five passengers must also be equipped with what?Answer: Functional radar. Source: Navigation Law 67(6)
Before a New York public vessel license is suspended, how much notice must the holder be served?Answer: Written notice, served personally at least five days before the appearance. Source: Navigation Law 64-a(3)
For what term is a New York public vessel license granted?Answer: One year. Source: Navigation Law 64
How old must an applicant be for a New York license as joint pilot and engineer?Answer: At least eighteen. Source: Navigation Law 64
On which ground may the inspector suspend or revoke a New York public vessel license?Answer: Satisfactory proof of recklessness, carelessness or incompetence. Source: Navigation Law 64-a(1)
The owner of a New York public vessel cannot find a licensed officer. What does section 60 allow?Answer: With the inspector notified and approving, the deficiency may be supplied temporarily. Source: Navigation Law 60
Section 64 sets an age floor for a license to command or run the engines of a public vessel. What is it?Answer: At least twenty-one. Source: Navigation Law 64
What does section 64 allow on a public vessel of less than ten tons?Answer: The license must be carried but need not be posted. Source: Navigation Law 64
What is a joint pilot and engineer licensed to do in New York?Answer: Act as both pilot and engineer on a public vessel that one person can safely navigate. Source: Navigation Law 2(12)
What is a public vessel in the Navigation Law?Answer: A mechanically propelled vessel used for commercial purposes, such as carrying passengers for pay. Source: Navigation Law 2(6)
What sets the number of passengers a New York public vessel may take on board?Answer: The number allowed in its certificate of inspection. Source: Navigation Law 58
Where is a public vessel license kept on board a vessel of ten tons or more?Answer: Framed under glass and posted in a conspicuous place. Source: Navigation Law 64
Where is one copy of a public vessel's certificate of inspection kept, on vessels of ten tons or more?Answer: Posted in a conspicuous place on the vessel. Source: Navigation Law 63
Who examines an applicant for a New York public vessel license?Answer: The inspector. Source: Navigation Law 64
Who must be in charge of a New York public vessel that is under way under its own power?Answer: A licensed master, pilot, engineer, or joint pilot and engineer. Source: Navigation Law 59(1)
How this list was compiled: Written only from the New York Navigation Law: section 2 (definitions) and article 4, part 1 (sections 40, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 47-b, 49 and 49-c), part 2 on public vessels (sections 58, 59, 60, 63, 64, 64-a and 67), part 3 (sections 71-d, 73 and 73-a) and part 5 on boating safety education (sections 78 and 79). Each section was read on 2026-10-02 in the Laws of New York on the Legislature's own site, http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/lawssrch.cgi?NVLWO:, whose laws database was current through chapter 312 of 2026. Each question names its section and links to the same section on the State Senate's site, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/NAV. That a course and certificate exist is section 49 and section 78; the law gives no number of questions and no pass mark for the course examination, and none for the public vessel license examination of section 64, so none is stored here. Title 9 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations was not read and nothing is asked from it. Licence: Own work. Questions, answer choices and explanations were written for this site from the statute text; nothing is copied from a boater handbook, a boating course, a course provider's study guide or another practice test.
How it works
Use this unofficial NYS boater safety course study guide to practice the law part only. Each question comes from the New York Navigation Law with its section; steering rules, buoys and boat handling stay with the course. Read October 2026.
Read the full guide
Age ten, 100 feet, November to May
Section 49 asks every motorboat operator for a boating safety certificate and bars anyone under ten; a few people are exempt. A personal watercraft takes an operator of 14. Within 100 feet of shore or a dock the limit is 5 miles per hour (section 45). Under 12, a life jacket is worn underway; from November 1 to May 1 everyone wears one on vessels under 21 feet (section 40).
The course and the license in the statute
Section 78 has the commissioner issue the certificate after an approved course, and section 79 allows approved internet courses. The law states no question count or pass mark. Section 64 has the inspector examine public vessel officers.
Towing and personal watercraft both end at sunset in New York, with no half-hour of grace.
Questions and answers
Who needs a boating safety certificate in New York?
Every operator of a mechanically propelled vessel on the state's navigable waters, who must also be at least ten. Section 49 exempts a few people, such as holders of a Coast Guard license or a public vessel license and officers on duty.
Is there a New York public vessel license study guide here?
Yes, as one topic. Its questions come from sections 58 to 67: the inspector's examination, the one-year license, age 21 for masters, pilots and engineers, 18 for a joint pilot and engineer, and the certificate of inspection.
How many questions are on the New York boating safety course exam, and what is the pass mark?
The Navigation Law gives neither number. It requires an approved course and a certificate from the commissioner. The 25 questions of Exam mode on this page are this site's own figure, and no pass line is drawn.
How old do you have to be to drive a boat in New York?
Ten, with a boating safety certificate, for a mechanically propelled vessel (section 49). A personal watercraft takes an operator of 14 or older, and a livery rents one only to a person of 16 or older (section 73-a).
Is this study guide from New York State Parks?
No. This site is not a government website, and the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has reviewed none of it. Every answer names a section of the Navigation Law to check. The approved course also covers steering rules and handling.