Boat name

[bluejeans]

How do I check whether or not the name I have chosen for my boat has already been taken? Buying a new sail boat and wish to select the name in order to register with the UK authorities.
Thank you

 

[rob2]

If you are intending to register on Part 1, then you will need a unique name. As far as I know, you simply apply and if the chosen name is unique then it will be accepted. There is no direct access to the register, so you cannot check in advance, but you may like to check your favourites against the MARS database which lists radio installations against name.

Most UK private boats are nowadays on the SSR (Small Ships Register) and we could all have the same name if we wanted as it is purely to give a registration number to meet international regiulations when going foreign. The number must be displayed on the vessel, so the name becomes an irrelevance.

There are restrictions on either register regarding company ownership and UK residency status, so you can learn a lot by visiting the RYA website and reading up on the subject.

Rob.

 

[Tim Good]

Yeah there is no need for it to be unique in SSR. My Dads boat is called Seabiscuit and mine Shadowfax. I thought they were both fairly original but on reading the results to a competition recently we saw two boats that were DNS (Did Not Start). Sea Biscuit and Shadowfax!

Not sure what to make of that

 

[nigelmercier]

Interesting, I can't remember if my boat is Part 1 or SSR, and the certificate doesn't say!

 

[macd]

All of the above is true (well, I'm happy taking northcave's word on Sea Biscuit etc), but, as rob2 implies, there is of course no need to register a UK leisure boat at all if kept in UK waters, in which case you can call it pretty much what you like. That said, the old advice to be mindful of how it sounds on VHF is worth heeding.

 

[prv]

Interesting, I can't remember if my boat is Part 1 or SSR, and the certificate doesn't say!

Well, the SSR certificate says "Part III" at the top, and the number starts with SSR. It also includes the phrase "Small Ships Register" in the blurb at the bottom. So that's fairly clear.

Alternatively, does the boat have an SSR number painted on it!

Pete

 

[nigelmercier]

No, none of that. I assume I can change when I renew.

 

[jwilson]

No, none of that. I assume I can change when I renew.

Easy to downgrade from Part 1 to SSR, the other way slightly more complex and sometimes impossible if you do not have an adequate proof of ownership trail. Also costs £££ money to have a "tonnage survey" done. For Part I you have to give three choices of name as it must be completely unique for any other British ship, including commercial shipping. Don't expect "Sundowner" or similar to be available, though "Sundowner of Chipping Sodbury" probably is.

 

[prv]

Don't expect "Sundowner" or similar to be available, though "Sundowner of Chipping Sodbury" probably is.

Hence the sail training ship Pelican of London, of London

Pete

 

[laika]

As far as I know, you simply apply and if the chosen name is unique then it will be accepted. There is no direct access to the register, so you cannot check in advance, but you may like to check your favourites against the MARS database which lists radio installations against name.

+1. You actually list alternatives on the part one application form, in order of preference. When I went through this 5 years ago the MCA people responsible for administering this refused to look at their system and tell me whether my chosen name was registered before applying. But I had to tell the surveyor for tonnage a name to put on the survey I had done to apply for part 1 registration with. It turned out that my first choice was taken so my survey form forever has a different name on to what my boat is registered as. Not that that really matters. I wasn't aware of the ITU database 5 years ago but rob2's suggestion is good: Few people will be part one registered but not have a registered radio. Here's the link:
http://www.itu.int/online/mms/mars/ship_search.sh

 

[rptb1]

That said, the old advice to be mindful of how it sounds on VHF is worth heeding.

A good example of bad being “Coughdrop of Loughborough”. (I think that's from “Sell Up and Sail”.)

 

[Resolution]

Longer name equals more letters equals more cost for embroidered boom covers or dodgers.

 

[TQA]

Are you Scottish by any chance Resolution.

If you want a unique name avoid anything with the word wind in it. Carpe Diem will be taken. too. My first cruising boat I renamed Carpe Diem on SSR. In my wanderings I came across 30 Carpe Diems before I stopped counting.

Also there are some names that should not be reused eg Stormvogel.

 

[LadyInBed]

Another point about strange / long names is that if you contact the CG, they might ask you to spell the name, so make sure your phonetic alphabet is up to scratch.

 

[Border Terrier]

I have registered to enable trips to Europe: Freudian slip.

"Amy Eleanor and the dangerous brothers" was too long, so the Registrar suggested "Amy Eleanor".

Yeah, yeah...just haven't posted for a while.

 

[AuntyRinum]

Easy to downgrade from Part 1 to SSR, the other way slightly more complex and sometimes impossible if you do not have an adequate proof of ownership trail. Also costs £££ money to have a "tonnage survey" done. For Part I you have to give three choices of name as it must be completely unique for any other British ship, including commercial shipping. Don't expect "Sundowner" or similar to be available, though "Sundowner of Chipping Sodbury" probably is.

Sundowner XXVI is probably still available, and Shadowfax LXIII.

 

[macd]

Also there are some names that should not be reused eg Stormvogel.

I'm not sure you could use it as a unique name. Isn't Stormvogel already extant on Part 1?
Just curious.

 

[Halo]

Yeah there is no need for it to be unique in SSR. My Dads boat is called Seabiscuit and mine Shadowfax. I thought they were both fairly original ........

Not sure I agree that "Shadowfax" was an original thought ! Nice name though and easy to transmit over the radio.

Expect I will call my next one "Anduril" "Strider" or "Arwen"

 

[Tim Good]

Not sure I agree that "Shadowfax" was an original thought !

No not hugely original but not common. I bought the boat wit that name and by fathers boats have always been called after horses. Stroller, L'escargot, Wollow, Sea Horse, Sea Biscuit.

So when I found this boat I thought I'd stick with Shadowfax and keep the tradition going.

 

[maby]

The crew of Frumious Bandersnatch which is based around the Medway should hope that they never spring a leak - they could be totally submerged by the time they finish spelling that out phonetically.