A remote catheter navigation system (RCNS) has been developed to permit fluoroscopic x-ray guidance of percutaneous catheters from a radiation-safe location. The RCNS employs a unique method to manipulate the remote catheter - namely, real-time motion sensing and motion replication of a local catheter. This maintains and utilizes the dexterous skills required for successful, conventional, bedside catheter navigation, while eliminating cumulative radiation exposure to the interventionalist. This paper presents a study investigating catheter navigation efficacy and learning effects during remote and manual catheter navigation. An operator, with no interventional experience, or experience with the RCNS, traversed 16 paths, containing 90 turns, in a custom-made, 2D multi-path phantom using conventional catheter manipulation and the RCNS. Each path was repeated 8 times in succession. Path success and navigation time were recorded for all trials. The operator successfully traversed all 16 paths and 90 turns using both navigation techniques. A mean increase of 12 seconds was observed using RCNS. Successive, repeated trials, of the same path, did not exhibit any learning trends. The operator successfully traversed all paths in the multi-path model using both navigation techniques, with only a slight increase in navigation time using the remote navigation system. This suggests that the RCNS, which requires minimal operator training, is comparable to, and as robust as, conventional bedside navigation.