Registering a yacht

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mick

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Gov.uk website tells me I have to register a small boat to use it at sea. Does that mean I have been sailing illegally all these years? I am currently selling my HR29 and questions of registry have suddenly appeared in my reading material.
 
That's news to me and the rest of the sailing community.

You will need to register if you are going overseas, you will need a Ships Radio Licence to install radio equipment.
 
mick said:
Gov.uk website tells me I have to register a small boat to use it at sea. Does that mean I have been sailing illegally all these years? I am currently selling my HR29 and questions of registry have suddenly appeared in my reading material.
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There's no requirement for a privately-owned yacht to be registered in the UK. As long as you can prove ownership (Bill of Sale, etc) you'll have no difficulty selling it.
 
mick said:
Gov.uk website tells me I have to register a small boat to use it at sea. Does that mean I have been sailing illegally all these years? I am currently selling my HR29 and questions of registry have suddenly appeared in my reading material.
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IF it says that, it's wrong. You need to be registered to sail abroad, but not to go to sea in UK waters.
As Caladh suggests, could you post the link?
 
Within UK waters there is no legal requirement to register a small pleasure yacht - ie one under about 80 ft long. If you take it outside UK coastal waters it is an international legal requirement to be registered. Foreigners often have difficulty believing that you can buy a 60-70 ft boat here and use it without any registration, licensing or certification - most other countries have complex and compulsory requirements.
 
Wow:
The UK Ship Register

You need to register your boat with the UK Ship Register to use it at sea
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You're dead right it does say that.

But it's wrong.

I've filled in the feedback form on the site. It wouldn't hurt for one or two others to do the same.
 
I agree that, like much government communication it is not clear.
The initial statement asserts that you need to register to use a boat at sea. The section on SSR states that this allows you prove the boat "nationality" - rather a strange concept!

Most countries do require all boats to be registered and officials may demand to see this document when you are outside the UK. Hence the introduction of the light-weight SSR which does little other than pacify overseas officials.

I do not believe there is any need to register on SSR unless you take the boat overseas, and certainly not to sell it. It does not prove ownership. In fact I could register your boat on SSR in my name as the only thing you need to do so is a UK address!
 
The website is wrong. You do not need to ".... register your boat with the UK Ship Register to use it at sea" if it is a small boat and it never leaves UK coastal waters.
 
Ningaloo said:
In fact I could register your boat on SSR in my name as the only thing you need to do so is a UK address!
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That’s exactly what we did with a boat we were interested in buying in Croatia. I asked the vendor for the HIN alongside a lot of other information before we flew out to view it and arrived with an SSR in a new name and all the printed vinyl lettering for the name and SSR to speed things up. Fortunately we liked the boat and it surveyed fine.
 
Registration of ships come under the UN law of the sea convention.

This required all vessels in international waters to be linked to a country.

If you only ail in the Territorial waters of the UK, UK do not require any official registration or other license.

What ever happens inside the Territorial waters of any country depends on that countries laws. What happens in international water cones under the UN law of the sea convention.
 
I really wouldn't bother with these people unless you have to, and then, don't expect them to do anything.

When I bought my yacht over 3 years ago she was Part 1 registered and I kept it that way as I'm not resident in the UK but as a UK citizen entitled to Part 1.

I made the mistake of not making a copy of the bill of sale before sending the original off as part of the documentation to change ownership on the register.

The change of ownership worked and I have the part 1 certificate but wanted a copy of the bill of sale for obvious reasons.
I contacted them and paid the £15 fee for the copy and then the waiting began.
Here we are 2+ years later and I still don't have a copy of the bill of sale despite a promise every few months from various people at the UKSR that I have contacted. They always reply promptly to my enquiry and apologise for the lack of action, promising to fix it...........

Late last year when I first found this new website I decided to claim my yacht. Unfortunately you need to submit a copy of your bill of sale. Which I can't do until they send me a copy of my bill of sale.

It's the bill of sale paradox.

I'm past caring, but If I'm ever challenged to prove ownership beyond the Registration document, I can't. But given I have on several occasions ask ed the UKSR to either provide me with a copy or refund my fee and have all the communication recorded I'm quite relaxed.
 
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