The boat school is one of four special driving schools found in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and is located in the Bayside Marina in the northwestern part of San Andreas. As with the game's other schools, it's marked on the map with a red "S," so players shouldn't have too much trouble tracking it down. Where it does differ a little, however, is that, unlike the driving and flying schools, players don't actually need to interact with the boat school as part of the main story. It's worth noting though that achieving at least a bronze medal in each of its five challenges is one of the requirements for achieving 100% completion in San Andreas.
As well as counting towards 100% completion, getting five bronze medals will also cause a Marquis to spawn at the nearby pier. Getting all silver and gold medals, on the other hand, will unlock a Squalo and a Jetmax in the same location, both of which are considerably faster. Unlike other driving schools that have damage penalties, the boat school instead issues time penalties based on how much damage they cause to the boat. This makes it incredibly important not to hit any of the floating buoys, as four of the five challenges are measured by players' overall time.
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Basic Seamanship (Coastguard)
Completing the Basic Seamanship challenge is incredibly straightforward, with players simply needing to throttle forward for a few seconds and then slam on the breaks so that the Coastguard stops somewhere between the buoys. To achieve a gold medal time, however, players should start breaking very early on, which should make mastering the challenge considerably easier.
How to Get a Gold Medal for the Basic Seamanship Challenge
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Finish Time |
9.9 Seconds or Less |
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Damage Penalty |
0:00 |
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Overall Time |
9.9 Seconds or Less |
Plot a Course (Coastguard)
To complete Plot a Course, players will need to drive the Coastguard through the middle of the buoy pairs without crashing into any of them. If they're having trouble, they can make the boat turn a little more sharply by using the handbrake button, through shouldn't really need this thanks to the challenge's somewhat lenient gold medal time limit.
How to Get a Gold Medal for the Plot a Course Challenge
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Finish Time |
30.9 Seconds or Less |
|---|---|
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Damage Penalty |
0:00 |
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Overall Time |
30.9 Seconds or Less |
Fresh Slalom (Dinghy)
Fresh Slalom is a lot like the last challenge, only with a faster vehicle that's more difficult to control and quite a few more buoys to drive through. This time around, players should definitely be using the handbrake button to tighten up their turns, while also paying attention to where the next buoys are going to be on their minimap. It's far from easy, but providing players are able to keep their speed up and avoid incurring any damage penalties, it shouldn't take more than a few attempts to achieve a gold medal.
How to Get a Gold Medal for the Fresh Slalom Challenge
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Finish Time |
80.9 Seconds or Less |
|---|---|
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Damage Penalty |
0:00 |
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Overall Time |
80.9 Seconds or Less |
Flying Fish (Vortex)
The Vortex hovercraft is able to reach its top speed fairly quickly and so players won't need too much of a run-up as they make their way towards the ramp over to their left. They'll definitely want to make sure that they hit it dead on though, and should also pull down on the left analog stick as soon as they make contact in order to gain some additional air. The latter alone is enough to make the difference between a bronze and a gold medal, as it adds a good 20-30 meters onto a jump's length if executed correctly.
How to Get a Gold Medal for the Flying Fish Challenge
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Jump Distance |
70 Meters or More |
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Land, Sea and Air (Vortex)
The final boat school challenge incorporates elements from the previous two, with players once again having to drive through buoys while also making a couple of jumps. The vast majority of this is all fairly straightforward, though the angles between the pairs of buoys do start to get a little sharp after the final jump, so players should aim to widen their approach angle as much as possible to avoid making any unnecessary contact. The nose of the Vortex also likes to weave from left to right while it's traveling at high speeds, so it can sometimes help to lay off the throttle just a little until it's facing straight between the buoys.
How to Get a Gold Medal for the Land, Sea and Air Challenge
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Finish Time |
130.9 Seconds or Less |
|---|---|
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Damage Penalty |
0:00 |
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Overall Time |
130.9 Seconds or Less |