Official Boat Length

[Sticky Fingers]

"Registered Length" as used to calculate Registered Tonnage for Part 1, is defined as "the horizontal distance from the forward face of the stem at deck level to the forward face of the sternpost". So if your bows have bulwarks that flare above deck level, then that part is not counted; similarly, the hull aft of the sternpost isn't counted, hence the difference (unless you have plumb-stem hull with a transom-mounted rudder).

Exactly so. My boat the “registration” LOA excludes the bathing platform and a bit of the anchor.

 

[MrB]

Ok just for you to ease the withdrawal
View attachment 96984

Don't do any sharp turns lol!!!

 

[ShaneAtSea]

"Registered Length" as used to calculate Registered Tonnage for Part 1, is defined as "the horizontal distance from the forward face of the stem at deck level to the forward face of the sternpost". So if your bows have bulwarks that flare above deck level, then that part is not counted; similarly, the hull aft of the sternpost isn't counted, hence the difference (unless you have plumb-stem hull with a transom-mounted rudder).

So basically its doesn't include the bathing platform?

 

[Sticky Fingers]

So basically its doesn't include the bathing platform?

Depends. If that's part of the hull, then yes it would. If not, no. The surveyor has to decide how to interpret the rules when he sees the boat.

 

[AuntyRinum]

It's actual LOA, which is not the necessarily the same as registered LOA (mine is Pt1 Registered, the LOA on the registry cert differs by 1.5m from actual for obscure reasons) or builders' LOA which won't include davits or the like.

I had a Hillyard moored at Brighton Marina and declared the boat length as the LOA shown in the British Registry document. The marina decided to measure it after a year or so and found that it was a metre longer because their LOA included the pulpit and pushpit which had been added since the boat was built 50 years before so wasn't shown in the registration document. They also charged me retrospectively for the extra length.

 

[Bouba]

I had a Hillyard moored at Brighton Marina and declared the boat length as the LOA shown in the British Registry document. The marina decided to measure it after a year or so and found that it was a metre longer because their LOA included the pulpit and pushpit which had been added since the boat was built 50 years before so wasn't shown in the registration document. They also charged me retrospectively for the extra length.

You can only underestimate it when doing an overnighter, if your boat is full time in a marina sooner or later someone will look at it

 

[dombuckley]

So basically its doesn't include the bathing platform?

That's right. "Registered Length" does not include anything aft of the stern post (or rudder stock), as it is part of the tonnage measurement, which was originally designed to assess cargo carrying capability.

On the other hand, "Length overall" means the distance between the foreside of the foremost fixed permanent structure and the after side of the aftermost fixed permanent structure (i.e. the limits of the hull). The MCA regulations state that "It does not include functional arrangements such as safety rails, bowsprits, pulpits, stemhead fittings, rudders, steering gear, outdrives, outboard motors, propulsion machinery, diving platforms, boarding platforms, rubbing strips and fenders, other than where such functional arrangements are designed to replace any part of the hull that has been removed."

Marinas, however, beg to differ...

 

[Bouba]

Marinas, however, beg to differ...

Absolutely. If you maximize your boat length the marina will maximize its profit