I believe it is a very good idea for some sort of examination to be taken for anyone in charge of a boat on the canals, as suggested by Kevin McNiff.
Not only the GRP boats but the much more dangerous narrowboats that cause all the damage to lock gates and such through lack of knowledge.
There are plenty of people giving instruction, and really there is no a great effort involved in steering a boat and knowing what to do. I realise this would cause a problem to hire companies, but I am sure it could be done with a new hirer just giving up a couple of hours of time to get instruction and be tested.
Surely the time taken by the hire company would be better than the time and cost of retrieving a boat hung up in a lock, obviously caused through lack of proper instruction.
Kieran Coles