Updated Guidance on Electronic Navigation Systems Published for Leisure Vessel Users

Our Small Craft Group has published an updated edition of its popular booklet Electronic Navigation Systems – Guidance for Safe Use on Leisure Vessels. The new version reflects the latest developments in navigation technology, user feedback from across the leisure marine sector, and introduces a new section on astronavigation as a vital backup to electronic methods.

Why this matters for small craft users

Since the original booklet was released in 2020, significant changes have reshaped the navigation landscape for leisure sailors and motorboaters:

• Evolving satellite navigation services: The global rollout of new regional satellite systems, coupled with the closure of some Differential GNSS (DGNSS) services, has placed renewed emphasis on Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) resilience. Leisure sailors must now navigate with greater awareness of both the strengths and vulnerabilities of GNSS.
• Shift to electronic charts: The accelerating move away from paper charts has exposed limitations in official Electronic Navigation Charts for leisure use. While private providers have helped fill gaps, important issues remain around display systems, backup arrangements, training, and cost. These challenges make it more important than ever for small craft users to understand the benefits and risks of electronic navigation.
• Astronavigation as a safeguard: The booklet now includes a dedicated sub-section on astronavigation. For long ocean passages or in situations where electronic systems fail—whether due to technical breakdown, hacking, or signal jamming—traditional methods remain an essential, reliable fallback.

Jane Russell, Editor, commented: “This update ensures that sailors and leisure craft operators have the most relevant, practical guidance at their fingertips. By incorporating astronavigation and the latest satellite system updates, the booklet helps users prepare for the realities of modern and future navigation.”

Paul Bryans, of the RIN’s Small Craft Group, added: “This edition comes at a crucial time. With the industry moving rapidly toward electronic navigation, the need for clear, trusted guidance has never been greater. We also continue to press for agreed standards across hardware, software, and chart suppliers. While leisure craft may be lightly regulated, many vessels operate commercially—such as charter yachts and training school boats—and they deserve systems and charts that are both safe and user-friendly.”

The updated Electronic Navigation Systems booklet is available now as a free digital download via the RIN website, with hard copies available to purchase.

RIN also invites interested sailors, industry professionals, and navigation enthusiasts to register for the 2026 RIN Electronic Navigation Conference, taking place on 6 February 2026. This biennial event brings together the international leisure marine community to discuss the future of small craft navigation, with the 2026 theme: “Small Craft Electronic Navigation in 2026, and Beyond.”

Supporting organisations

The Small Craft Group acknowledges the financial support of Trinity House and the contributions of the wider navigation community in developing this important resource. Partnerships with key organisations including the RYA, MCA, and RNLI continue to ensure that the guidance remains practical, authoritative, and relevant to leisure sailors.

Ella Hibbert at the Little Ship Club

by John Hasselgren

Another year has gone by and it was again time for the Small Craft Group to accept the hospitality of the Little Ship Club and to arrange a speaker for them.

This year’s talk was by Ella Hibbert, who very animatedly and enthusiastically described her plans to sail single-handed round the Arctic Ocean by way of both the North-West Passage and the North-East Passage. By this large undertaking Ella intends to draw attention to the changes that this part of the world is having inflicted on it by human activity, in particular by climate change. It will also be the first voyage of this kind and, as well as raising awareness of the state of the Arctic, it is expected to raise funds for two charities – Polar Bears International and Ocean Conservancy. The first is seeking to conserve polar bears which are under threat of reducing numbers due to loss of habitat, the second attempting to conserve the unregulated Arctic Ocean from mass exploitation and pollution.

Ella described herself as being used to a rather nomadic life due to her father having been a serving soldier who was relocated several times while she was growing up. Now 28 years old, she is a RYA Yachtmaster Instructor and a PADI Divemaster. She is bi-lingual and well travelled, and has a passion to preserve the oceans.

The first job when preparing for this voyage was to find a suitable boat. Ella had definite views on what she wanted.  Firstly, it must be sturdy and capable of  coping with ice conditions. This dictated a steel hull. Next requirement was for steering from inside a wheel house to allow an escape from the weather. Other desirable features were a sensible length; not too long to give manoeuvrability around ice and a reputable design that could be rigged for single-handed sailing. Quite by chance, while running a sailing school course, Ella berthed alongside what she realized was the right vessel, Yeva, a 38 foot Bruce Roberts designed steel ketch. Asking if Yeva was for sale, Ella found that she was, and then had to secure the funding to buy and refit her.

Seeking sponsorship Ella was supported in Spring 2024 by several companies, the main one being capital.com, a financial investment company. Beyond this, though, are a long list of marine companies giving their products, time or equipment to this project. A full list of all these can be found on Ella’s website, ellainthearctic.co.uk.

Yeva has been given a full refit, including a repaint, new sails with both standing and running rigging, and several items designed to minimize any impact on the environment. These include a watermaker, both a solar panel and a hydro-generator to provide electrical power, self-steering and a heater. One innovation is a filtration system fitted to the bilge pump outlet that will remove micro-plastic that now seems to be found in all oceans.

Moving on to her desire to preserve the oceans, and particularly the Arctic Ocean, Ella spoke passionately of some of the problems. Unlike the Antarctic, there is no International Agreement on the ownership or use of the Arctic area, and no treaty to limit the pollution from oil and plastic. With the withdrawal of the ice there are likely to be conflicting demands for the exploitation of the mineral resources that have, until recently, been out of reach. There is the prospect that the Arctic could be free of ice by 2028, which, with the melting  of the Greenland ice sheet, will cause a large rise in sea level. Additionally, the darker colour of the unfrozen sea compared with the original ice will cause a reduction in the reflection of sunlight, thus increasing global warming. There will be the prospect of wild fires in the northern Russian forests. All this leads to Ella’s desire that her voyage will not contribute to any of these problems, and to many of the changes made to, and included on board, Yeva. The water generator, for example, will, given a speed of three knots, produce more electricity than Yeva consumes.

Last year, 2024, between July and October, Ella and Yeva undertook a shake-down voyage of 3,500 nautical miles, from the UK to Norway, with crew, then single handed to Longyearbyen on Svalbard and back. At Bear Island Ella experienced a total steering failure. She also had some flooding and a non-working bilge pump, leading to the need to pump manually. With advice and help to fix these difficulties, Ella then sailed back to Shetland before returning to the UK.

The yacht is currently undergoing a refit to counter problems discovered on shake-down voyage. “Is any boat ever truly finished?”, asked Ella.  She has now moved back on board and is getting on with some of the jobs. Amongst other things she is undertaking instruction in electricity and electronics with a view to becoming self-sufficient in these areas. 

One major effort is getting all the necessary permits and visas; so far the Russians have approved Ella’s plans, have accepted the boat’s survey and provided a list of ports that could be used if needed. Canada seems to be slightly slower in this regard. Before the planned departure date of May 2025 Ella plans to do more sea trials. In the mean time she will be giving talks and interviews  to schools, groups and clubs as well as using social media to raise awareness of the environmental issues.

More details are available on social media using the address @ellainthearctic.

Once again, Ella insisted that this is not a record attempt, but a wake-up call.

Once the journey is over, Ella plans to put Yeva up for sale by auction, with the proceeds being shared between the two charities, Polar Bears International and Ocean Conservancy.

During questions Ella stated that she has fitted Granny Bars at the main mast for safety when working there and that the winches are not self-tailing, needing two hands to work them.

On weather forecasts she told us that her father flew helicopters in the Army for 20 years and is used to looking at forecasts. He will be checking relevant forecasts and forwarding them to her.

Daily video reports from automatic cameras on board can be expected, but are dependent on the availability of the internet wherever she happens to be.

She would like to make the voyage non-stop, but needs to consider supplies. She would prefer to avoid stocking up in Russia, although they have suggested suitable ports.

On being asked if she would be collecting water samples, Ella said that although this would be ideal it wasn’t possible. The equipment to analyse the samples would be too bulky and heavy to carry. The alternative would be to have sufficient fridge space to return the samples for on-shore analysis.

On charts, Ella said she would be carrying both paper and electronic charts from the USA, Canada and Norway. Russian charts would be useful, although they were not easy to obtain.

At the end of the meeting Paul Bryans thanked the Little Ship Club for hosting us, and Ella for a fascinating and enthusiastic presentation.

Trinity House User Group Meeting

by John Hasselgren

I was privileged to attend this annual meeting at Trinity House in November. Unlike those before COVID-19, and that held last year on board THV Galatea, this was a hybrid meeting, with some being physically present and others attending online.

The recently appointed Deputy Master, Rear Admiral Iain Lower, introduced himself, explaining that another meeting would shortly require him to depart. Before doing so, he welcomed us and stressed the importance of these user group meetings. Trinity House’s new strategies were detailed in the Forward Plan launched in March. Feedback on this would be required. Its focus was on delivering safety and honouring Trinity House's heritage while still encouraging innovation. This would assist the nation’s economy and security. An innovative mix of real and virtual Aids to Navigation would be used, together with smart buoys with a longer life. Replacement vessels were to be sought; Patricia was now 44 years old, and Galatea 25 years.

After Iain Lower had departed, Commodore Nigel Hare, Director of Navigational Requirements, chaired the meeting. The Terms of Reference for this user group were introduced, stating that it hadn’t been updated for several years. Attendees were listed – one from the RIN – but we were assured that additions could be made and that it would be appreciated if requests to do so were made very soon, preferably within a week.


The meeting now moved on to recent and current issues:

In the Thames Estuary, Long Sand Head, which had been stable for several years was now moving North and had crossed the direct line between two buoys. This is a crucial area as the sandbank is likely to intrude into the Sunk TSS off Harwich. One buoy had been repositioned and a new one, East Long Sand Head - East Cardinal - instituted.

In the Stanford Channel the Holm Sand is migrating South and it is now only possible to mark a 4.5 metre contour.

Bishop Rock LH. The AIS signal ceased to operate. Since the nearest available helicopter to get a crew to the lighthouse to fix the problem was in Scotland, a virtual AIS mark was transmitted from St. Just with a 30-mile range. Unfortunately, this wasn’t receivable onboard ships at sea. To solve this range problem engineers installed a mobile AIS station at Peninnis Head on St. Mary’s until the one in the lighthouse could be replaced.

At Brancaster the wreck of the Vina, the marking of which TH took over in 1998, sits on the drying line and is now reported to becoming covered by the moving sand bank. As a result, the beacon marking it, used by local fishermen, is not easily visible. It is to be raised by 2 metres.

TH is aware of 9 new wrecks, leisure or fishing vessels, and has attended 7 of them. Lady Maureen was located with sonar by THV Patricia, with the search completed by RIB from THV Mair. In 24 metres depth there was no need to mark this. Similarly, the wreck of Skomar was found by THV Galatea with 8.5 metres over her, and no need to mark.

Andy Holt, Deputy Director of Navigation, reported a struggle to meet the schedule of maintenance due to the availability of vessels and the turnover of staff. Even so, maintenance was still ahead of IALA requirements. The moorings of Sandettie LV have been replaced and those for Fox Trot 3 LV are due to be done. A contract for the provision of helicopters for maintenance of isolated AtoNs is being pursued. Moving on to the vessels, THV Alert is having an extensive refit  in Lowestoft; the hydraulics are a serious problem. THV Patricia is now ‘delicate’, but her systems are mostly analogue so can be remade and replaced. However, she has bow thruster problems. THV Mair is a mainly west coast vessel, often used in conjunction with a RIB. She works mainly on beacons.

Lighthouses due for modernisation this year are Needles, Trevose Head and Pendeen. There will be system upgrades for the red light sectors at Nash Point, South Bishop and Dungeness. High-pressure mercury lamps (MBI) will be replaced at Bull Point, Round Island and Bamburgh Head. Projects agreed are those at Coquet, Cromer and Trevose Head, while modernization of Skerries has started.

The removal of the Royal Sovereign Lighthouse continues. The top accommodation section was removed in 2023, with the materials being recycled for the construction industry, and the pillar on which it stood is now being dismantled. Four cardinal buoys mark the site and will remain until surveys show the area is safe for navigation. 

Wolf Rock Tower has been repointed and inspected.

Adrian Oliver, Project Director, is responsible for the replacement of Patricia and Galatea. The basic technical specification has been agreed upon for two identical vessels. Engagement with the industry for the procurement is ongoing and it is hoped that approval will be given later this year.

Dr. Alan Grant, Head of Research, spoke of the areas covered by GRAD. These were:

Visual signalling.  
Assessment of the effectiveness of lighthouse and buoy lamps and the development of GLAs’ own LED sources, checking the long-term deterioration of LEDs and investigating how autonomous vessels will observe AtoNs.

Resilient PNT.        
Monitoring the performance and integrity of GNSS at several sites around the UK and looking at radar absolute positioning and other complementary PNT systems.

S-100 data structure.  
How different equipment and users will share data.

Digital services.
How do we authenticate virtual AtoNs, and can machine learning and AI identify failures before they occur?

One item of great interest to me is East Goodwin Lightvessel which is being replaced by a buoy since, with the accuracy of GNSS, many ships pass between it and the Goodwin Sands, and it has become a hazard itself. As AtoNs have a secondary role in helping position finding in the event of failure of other systems, I asked if the characteristic of the light could be something other than a single flash, from which is almost impossible to take a bearing at night from a small yacht. The light vessel is to be replaced by an East Cardinal Buoy with the characteristic three flashes.