Bell Boat Helm

Course Description

Become a Bell Boat Helm!

• Looking to lead bell boat journeys?
• Do you want to lead people from all walks of life on sheltered water?
• Are you a paddler or do you have experience of paddling?
• Do you want to support your centre, school or club as a Bell Boat Helm?

If so, becoming a Bell Boat Helm could be for you!

Why become a Bell Boat Helm?

First of all, the award is open to all paddlers! The award supports your existing skills and enables you to lead fun, safe and enjoyable bell boat trips. 

Secondly, you will be supported to develop your personal, safety and group control skills during the combined training and assessment, with like-minded bell boaters.  

Furthermore, this award is used by clubs, outdoor centres, schools and organisations to support their activity delivery on bell boats. 

What can a Bell Boat Helm do? 

Your award will support you to run rewarding and enjoyable trips, based on your group’s needs and aspirations. You will lead journeys on sheltered water, including slow moving river and quiet canals, for a range of paddlers of all ages. 

As a  Helm, you can work independently or be deployed by a club, centre, school or organisation to lead trips and journeys. The purpose of these trips may be wide ranging from educational experiences, expeditions, competitions or trying something new.

You will be able to provide British Canoeing Awards and Training such as:

Personal Performance Awards – Paddle Start and Paddle Discover.

Note: other experience, training or qualifications may be required. Find out more in our develop skills section.

How should I prepare for the training and assessment course?

There are no formal Personal Performance Award or Safety Award requirements to becoming a Helm. However, to get the best from your course you need to feel comfortable in a bell boat and be able to paddle on sheltered water.

In addition you will need to be a member of your National Association, have attended Safeguarding and First Aid Training (within the last 3 years).

You can look at the Course Guide here.

You can access the course handbook here.

Registration

Before you book onto your Bell Boat Helm Course, you will need to be a member of British Canoeing, ensure you have experience of paddling a Bell Boat, have received recognised Safeguarding Training, at least a 1 day First Aid Training course (both dated within the last 3 years) and complete your Check In.

Assessment Checkin

Check In is a process for aspirant helms who are planning to attend a Bell Boat Helm course. The purpose of Check In is to confirm the you hold all prerequisites, its free, quick and confirmation sent straight to your inbox*. This should then be shared with the assessor to confirm eligibility for assessment. It also gives you peace of mind that you have everything you need in place and you can focus on enjoying your assessment. Please do not try to check in unless you hold all prerequisites and have updated your membership record with copies.

• Confirmation of Check In will not be issued until the conditions are met.
• Please Check In using your Membership Portal. Under the Menu tab, select Registrations.

*Note - as long as you meet the prerequisites, you will be automatically sent confirmation of your Check In.

Course Content

The course content is delivered through a training course, which is usually two days’ of formal training or as modular delivery, which also includes the assessment. The course covers personal skills, group control and safety.

To effectively prepare you to take responsibility for the crew and bell boat, the training will cover the following areas:

• Philosophy behind the bell boat
• Sheltered Water – Remit and Ratios
• Risk Assessment – able to identify hazards and risks and how to reduce/remove them.
• Safety, the environment, equipment, emergency procedures and leptospirosis
• Coaching techniques
• Negotiating a Lock
• General Information: The next step; British Canoeing; Access to water; the Environment

You can look at the Course Guide here.

Bell Boat Assessment

We believe in assessments for learning and you will definitely learn a lot from your assessment. To find out more click on the assessment tab.

Course Assessment

We do everything we can to take the stress out of assessments, we are focused on the journey and not the destination. The experience will be safe, engaging and enjoyable, with you at the heart of the process. Consequently, the assessments are part of the learning and as enjoyable as the rest of the course!

By the end of the assessment you will have to demonstrate the following knowledge and skills with a Bell Boat and crew, successfully and safely:

• Safety routines, checking equipment and screening crew
• Load a boat and give safety information to crew
• Move away from the bank
• Basic forward paddling technique
• Teach proper use of the paddle and basic paddle strokes
• Emergency stop
• Steering the boat over a straight course
• Steering through a figure of eight course
• The procedure for negotiating a lock
• An approach to the landing stage, disembark the crew and secure the boat
• The procedure for lining the boat round a rapid or weir (venue dependent)

Help and support ahead of your assessment

Every Bell Boat Helm will prepare differently for their assessment, however, you can check your readiness for assessment using:

• The Bell Boat Helm Course Guide here. – this explains in detail, the training and assessment process, as well as course structure
• Skills Checklist – can be used to self-profile and check if you’re ready for assessment

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