Instructor Profile

Trent Boat Handling's Chief Instructor is Ray Cullis. Ray has spent over 40 years in and around boats, with some of this time spent in service with the Royal Navy.

Naval and Police Service

Ray served with the Royal Navy in the 1960s and finished his service as a Chief Petty Officer Instructor. After his naval service Ray joined the Nottinghamshire Constabulary, where his last 16 years were spent as a full time River Patrol Officer patrolling the River Trent, River Soar, and canals of the East Midlands around Nottinghamshire and the adjacent counties.

Ray retired from the Police in 2001, and set up Trent Boat Handling.

Knowledge and Experience

Over the years Ray has experienced the behaviour of both crews and boats under stress on the Rivers and canals as well as amassing a wealth of information on the local waterways. This information is now offered as instructional material for his clients.

Ray is a friendly instructor with the ability to impart knowledge pitched at exactly the level required for each individual client. In addition to Ray's in house courses, he is the Proprieter of Trent Boat Handling, which has its RYA registered base at kegworth Marine on the River Soar in Nottinghamshire.

Ray has spent over 3 years specifically researching the tactical use of, and the safety of boats in the response to flooding. He has developed a series of innovative courses specifically aimed at flood responders. Some of this material is very relevant to everyday boating and is available on the Advanced Boat Handlers Course.

Qualifications

As well as his wealth of experience in boat handling and river and waterways knowledge, Ray also holds the following:

RYA Inland Waterways Helmsmans Course Instructor
RYA Power Boat Instructor - Level Two
Boatmasters Licence - Class Two
Marine and Coastguard Agency and Association of Chief Police Officers codes C and D certificates for Boat Handling
RYA SRC VHF Radio Instructor
RYA Radar Instructor
RYA Powerboat level 2 Coastal Instructor
RYA Intermediate Powerboat Certificate Instructor
RYA National Powerboat Certificate Advanced
RYA Powerboat Advanced Instructor
RYA Shorebased Instructor Navigation and Seamanship

Ray also has his 5m and 10m swimming badges from school. ;)

Additional Instructors

When a course or the numbers attending a course require additional instructors, Ray has access to other professional instructors to assist him. We do this to make sure that you receive the same expert tuition and to maintain safety on our courses.

Ray is the proprietor and Chief Instructor of Trent Boat Handling and looks forward to meeting you on one of our courses in the near future.