Buying a boat without RCD plate

aitchem

aitchem

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Hi,
In simple terms, what are the implications of buying a 32 year old yacht which doesn't have a RCD plate.
I wouldn't anticipate wanting to sell it on soon, unless I win the Lotto, then I wouldn't care anyway. I would just leave it at Nautor Swan as a gift.

thanks
Howard
 
aitchem said:
Hi,
In simple terms, what are the implications of buying a 32 year old yacht which doesn't have a RCD plate.
I wouldn't anticipate wanting to sell it on soon, unless I win the Lotto, then I wouldn't care anyway. I would just leave it at Nautor Swan as a gift.

thanks
Howard
Click to expand...

Providing it is a UK based boat that was born and bread in the EU then you don't have a problem. Thousands of us in ths same Boat!

I think bascically the wording says that boats in use within the EU prior to June 1998 are exempt.

However if your 32 year old boat was built and used outside the EU and came to the UK after 1998 then it is a different story and the seller is probably breaking the law if no RCD etc available.
 
Bilgediver said:
I think bascically the wording says that boats in use within the EU prior to June 1998 are exempt.

However if your 32 year old boat was built and used outside the EU and came to the UK after 1998 then it is a different story and the seller is probably breaking the law if no RCD etc available.
Click to expand...

Aiui, this is true. However I believe the standard of proof required for conviction is "beyond all reasonable doubt", and what would have to be proved is that the boat had not been inside the EEA prior to 1998. So provided she was built before that date I don't suppose any official will think it worth their while to investigate...

Boo2
 
aitchem said:
Hi,
In simple terms, what are the implications of buying a 32 year old yacht which doesn't have a RCD plate.
I wouldn't anticipate wanting to sell it on soon, unless I win the Lotto, then I wouldn't care anyway. I would just leave it at Nautor Swan as a gift.

thanks
Howard
Click to expand...

Like other comments nothing.
My boat is 34 years old and doesn't even have a hull number fitted. Like a lot of British built boats, the manufacturers went bust which is a great shame.
 
Launched is the critical word. If "launched" before 1998 then fine if not launched at that time then it will be subject to RCD however old the hull is.
 
From the RYA site the wording is:


A boat does need to comply with the RCD if it is not one of the exclusions below and if:-
It was/is first placed on the EEA market after 16 June 1998
It was/is put into service in the EEA after 16 June 1998 (this included boats imported from outside

The text I was aware of used the word launched for "put into service". I suppose it does mean that if it was on the market before the relevant date it's exempt, a bit strange as there must have been a fair number of boats in various states of completion being "on the market" before that date.
 
savageseadog said:
Launched is the critical word. If "launched" before 1998 then fine if not launched at that time then it will be subject to RCD however old the hull is.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that's quite correct. This is from the RYA's RCD compliance guide:

"A boat does not need to comply with the RCD if:-
It was built in the EEA prior to 16 June 1998
[or] It was in use in the EEA prior to 16 June 1998"
(There are two other exceptions that are irrelevant in this case. The EEA is all EU states plus Norway and Iceland).

Bilgediver gives the only scenario I can think of in which a pre-98 boat would be non-compliant.
 
Last edited:
macd said:
I'm not sure that's quite correct. This is from the RYA's RCD compliance guide:

"A boat does not need to comply with the RCD if:-
It was built in the EEA prior to 16 June 1998
[or] It was in use in the EEA prior to 16 June 1998"
(There are two other exceptions that are irrelevant in this case. The EEA is all EU states plus Norway and Iceland).

Bilgediver gives the only scenario I can think of in which a pre-98 boat would be non-compliant.
Click to expand...

The full quotation is:

A boat does need to comply with the RCD if it is not one of the exclusions below and if:-
It was/is first placed on the EEA market after 16 June 1998
It was/is put into service in the EEA after 16 June 1998 (this included boats imported from outside
the EEA)
It is a home built boat placed on the market within five years of completion
It is an experimental or racing boat being redesigned for compliance with the RCD
A boat does not need to comply with the RCD if:-
It is one of the exclusions listed in Appendix 2
It was built in the EEA prior to 16 June 1998
It was in use in the EEA prior to 16 June 1998
It is only visiting the EEA for reasons of tourism or in transit (time scales are undefined)

I think we can be forgiven for being confused because the first part states that a boat will require compliance if put into service (ie launched) after that date but the second part somewhat contradicts that by saying compliance is not required if built before that date. These seems to leave a grey area for boats that were built but not launched by the relevant date, as far as I can see. I have seen a different wording somewhere which refers to launching as the critical operation and point in time over and above "built"
 
savageseadog said:
The full quotation is:

A boat does need to comply with the RCD if it is not one of the exclusions below and if:-
It was/is first placed on the EEA market after 16 June 1998
It was/is put into service in the EEA after 16 June 1998 (this included boats imported from outside
the EEA)
It is a home built boat placed on the market within five years of completion
It is an experimental or racing boat being redesigned for compliance with the RCD
A boat does not need to comply with the RCD if:-
It is one of the exclusions listed in Appendix 2
It was built in the EEA prior to 16 June 1998
It was in use in the EEA prior to 16 June 1998
It is only visiting the EEA for reasons of tourism or in transit (time scales are undefined)

I think we can be forgiven for being confused because the first part states that a boat will require compliance if put into service (ie launched) after that date but the second part somewhat contradicts that by saying compliance is not required if built before that date. These seems to leave a grey area for boats that were built but not launched by the relevant date, as far as I can see. I have seen a different wording somewhere which refers to launching as the critical operation and point in time over and above "built"
Click to expand...


Yes, it is a bit tortuous and practically begs to be mis-read. When I first encountered it, I had to read it three times to work it out. The 'exceptions below' are clearly the four points under '...does not need to comply...' So a boat built in the EEA before June '98, even if it's been sat on a mountaintop for every day of the intervening years, does not need to comply.

To MASH: an 'RCD plate' is something that wasn't even thought of when your boat (and mine) was made. Essentially, it's a CE mark, much as you might get on an electrical appliance.

And finally, a correction: EEA also includes that other hotbed of boat production, Liechtenstein.
 
aitchem said:
Hi,
In simple terms, what are the implications of buying a 32 year old yacht which doesn't have a RCD plate.
I wouldn't anticipate wanting to sell it on soon, unless I win the Lotto, then I wouldn't care anyway. I would just leave it at Nautor Swan as a gift.

thanks
Howard
Click to expand...

To answer the OP's original question - There are no RCD implications to buying a 32 year old yacht without an RCD plate as it was not subject to the RCD when built in 1979.
 
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