Irish registered boat dilemma

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XTE

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Levington, Suffolk, UK; Boat at SYH
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I have recently bought a boat in UK which was first registered on the Irish ship register. I want to change her name and update the register in my name. I can't now register her on the UK SSR as previous owners were Irish residents so I have to stay on Irish registry even though I keep the boat in UK. So I need help with the following.
Can I fly a UK ensign or must I have an Irish flag?
Do I need to fly a courtesy flag as a UK visitor?
How do I register and change name? Google is not helpful!
Do I still register my radio licence with ofcom?
Help much appreciated.
 
Is she currently on the Irish register, or are you merely saying she was in the past?
If still on it, she can most certainly be de-registered. Once that's done, you have two choices: place her on either of the UK registers (SSR or Part 1, the former being much simpler and cheaper); or leave her unregistered. Unless you plan on going overseas (or even to the Irish Republic), there's no need for a British vessel to be registered. No problem, either, in changing the name.

If she's currently on the Irish register, she should wear an Irish ensign. If she's not, wear the red duster, if anything (a British vessel, whether registered or not, is not required to wear an ensign in UK waters, although many do).

If she's not currently on the Irish register, you can do pretty much what you please.

Having a boat on two registers is naughty.
 
If you are UK resident, no reason at all why you cannot put it on the SSR. The nationality and registration of previous owners is irrelevant. Just make sure it has been de registered from the Irish register - the responsibility of the previous owner on his sale to you. Also register your radio with Ofcom, but you will get a new MMSI so you will need to reprogramme the radio.
 
SSR have said to me..... To register all owners must live in the UK mainland or Northern Ireland and be either UK citizens or Commonwealth EA or EU Citizens.
The first owner is a resident in Dublin!
I do want to cross the channel every once in a while so I do want her registered and she is currently in the Irish registry, so I appear to be stuffed! Right now I am flying the red duster, so I guess I must take it down.
 
XTE said:
SSR have said to me..... To register all owners must live in the UK mainland or Northern Ireland and be either UK citizens or Commonwealth EA or EU Citizens.
Click to expand...

I would read that as meaning all current owners unless SSR have told you differently. You would need to de-register from the Irish register
 
By first owner do you mean the first person to own the boat or is she owned by a syndicate?

If the first owner of the boat was Irish but you've now bought the boat outright, the only owner is now you, so no worries about registering on the SSR. The registry is not concerned with previous owners, only current ones.

If the boat is owned by a syndicate and one of the syndicate members is Irish, then you have two options. Leave the boat on the Irish register or de register the boat from Irish register and register the boat on the Part 1 register, which allow spilt ownership as far as I understand.

Rats. Giblets beat me to it!!!
 
Our boat was from Ireland ,previously on the Irish register ,she was de registered before our purchase .
We ( both UK residents ) registered her with the SSR ,no problem .Still sailing around with Irish sail number though ��
 
XTE said:
SSR have said to me..... To register all owners must live in the UK mainland or Northern Ireland and be either UK citizens or Commonwealth EA or EU Citizens.
The first owner is a resident in Dublin!
I do want to cross the channel every once in a while so I do want her registered and she is currently in the Irish registry, so I appear to be stuffed! Right now I am flying the red duster, so I guess I must take it down.
Click to expand...

Are you saying that you are not resident in the UK? or that there are more than one owner? or is the "first owner" you refer to the person you bought the boat from?

To be clear, if you are resident in the UK (as the MCA advise) you can use the SSR. If you are resident in Ireland you can transfer the registration to you if you qualify, or if your "first owner" is in fact a part owner, then you can register your share. Even if it stays on the Irish register in somebody else's name there is nothing to stop you using the boat flying the Irish ensign anywhere in the EU (or indeed the world).

Would help if you were clear about the ownership structure.
 
wilkinsonsails said:
Our boat was from Ireland ,previously on the Irish register ,she was de registered before our purchase .
We ( both UK residents ) registered her with the SSR ,no problem.
Click to expand...
+1 Previous owner de-registered ours in Ireland and we went for SSR. A major non-event compared to organising a UK person to do the survey, paying after the £ crashed against the euro a few years ago, finding a window to get round Lands End and then retrieving the car from Ireland. All excellent fun!
Cheers
Bob
 
It's the current owners the SsR are referring to, so previous owners are not relevant. Ofcom radio licenses and mmsi numbers are issued free. Ireland charges for these I believe. Stick with the UK stuff. Fly whatever flags you like, some people care a lot, but I've never heard of anyone actually being prosecuted for flying the wrong ensign.
 
wilkinsonsails said:
Our boat was from Ireland ,previously on the Irish register ,she was de registered before our purchase .
We ( both UK residents ) registered her with the SSR ,no problem .Still sailing around with Irish sail number though ��
Click to expand...

I'm not sure the irish register is legally valid anyway. Is it just an irish sailing association list? Surely not a genuine ships register in the international sense. But I've been wrong before... ...perhaps someone with more knowledge than me could clarify?
 
XTE:
with a little help from the SSR's ambiguity, you have got completely the wrong end of the stick. As said by others, when they indicated that "all owners mustkive in UK, etc." they meant all current owners, not every owner in the boat's history. Boats can, of course, have multiple owners at the same time.

If you ask them for clarification, that's what they'll tell you. So just go ahead and register the thing.
 
Thank you all. You were all right, I have just checked and it seams I miss understood the SSR guidance notes on the registration form and when questioning this with them they misunderstood my question. I shall now remove her from the Irish registry if not already done and register her on SSR and fly the red duster with pride. Thank you.
 
You are under the misapprehension that we have joined up government. :D We dont.

If you are a UK resident you can register the boat under SSR. When doing that you can change its name and length - nobody is going to appear with a tape measure - and its handy for some foreign marinas. To be very rule abiding you should make sure the boat has been de-registered on the Irish registry but I cant imagine that the Irish are any better at policing such things than we are.

As for Ofcom - totally separate issue

Unless you plan to sail abroad, why bother registering at all?
 
birdseye said:
When doing that you can change its name and length - nobody is going to appear with a tape measure - and its handy for some foreign marinas.
Click to expand...

That would be blatant deception and fraud if you simply invent a length to suit your purpose. However you can certainly measure your boat strictly according to the SSR instructions. (It might though hurt your pride that the paperwork says your boat is significantly smaller than you like to think it is).

Indeed it is useful at many foreign marinas and for French inland waterways dues. Sadly never works at UK marinas :( .
 
birdseye said:
You are under the misapprehension that we have joined up government. :D We dont.

If you are a UK resident you can register the boat under SSR. When doing that you can change its name and length - nobody is going to appear with a tape measure - and its handy for some foreign marinas. To be very rule abiding you should make sure the boat has been de-registered on the Irish registry but I cant imagine that the Irish are any better at policing such things than we are.

As for Ofcom - totally separate issue

Unless you plan to sail abroad, why bother registering at all?
Click to expand...
In Ireland we do have a register of ships, but, historically no register of small vessels. However, in the mid-2000s such a register was introduced, and the ISA was entrusted with its administration. It was not compulsory for local voyaging and only required if travelling to countries outside the British Isles, so there was not a huge take-up. Meanwhile the ISA fell into disarray and has experienced a major reorganisation with the result that our small ships register seems to have sunk without trace, with the result that at present, anyone wishing to sail from Ireland to anywhere other than the UK must now register on the British SSR in order to arrive legally in France, etc!
 
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