Ok ... I would have to take the Swiss Flag - the guys from the register are just around the corner here in Basel ... Switzerland is not an "Ocean Country". The Swiss Flag is easy to request, costs quite some fee and has many restrictions for private use.
I struggle to believe CH costs for you will be higher than SM costs.
Swiss pleasure crafts is only for private use: no possibility for coding, and no way for any commercal use:
Registration of pleasure craft whether private or commercial has nothing to do with EU law. Coding is determined by flag state and licensing requirements for charter are determined largely by state law. The Swiss registration does not seem to restrict you for private use - that is what it is for. If you want to register elsewhere with the intention of coding then I suggest you look at one of the "Red Flag" registries such as UK Part 1 or the Channel Islands (Guernsey or Jersey). These registers are commonly used by "proper" charter yachts as well as by private individuals who do not want to use their home state registers.
My understanding is with the CH thing there’s a quite onerous set of qualifications needed , the skipper thing .Pretty boring and expensive doing it on a lake , which in practice terms has very little relevance to actual Med sea states at the end of the day .
I don't see any advantages in any of that, though I see plenty of disadvantages. Pretty much every flag state will offer the same, for what very little it's worth. Only difference with SM is that they shout about it on their website, perhaps trying to give an impression that these things are special when they're not, and all it really shows is the naivety of their website drafting team. .
Ok fair enough CH registration might be inconvenient. In which case go somewhere else like a red ensign sate, but not San Marino!
Oh yes - good investigation ... I will start next year with my fist own boat based in Italy: I am making some sound planning and I hope to sail off around April or May.
I see the point - sry ... what is "red ensign state" ?
I can give you some information - but has nothing to do with CH flag / registration.
... and beside this ... the last 4 years I was around Italy, Croatia and the Netherlands and this summer also travelling with a motoryacht from Belgium over to GB Dover and all way long to London. I did around 2500 sm offshore.
Sorry Potofino ... you have no knowledge about the Swiss licences. The Swiss ICC for Ocean Yachting equals +/- a RYA Yacht Master.
See post#10
There is no ICC Ocean. The ICC is very basic and of course you can get one with an advanced qualification. However you can also get one after a morning assessment by an authorised examiner as I did. All the ICC does is certify that you can demonstrate knowledge of basic rules and can handle your boat at a basic level. It is a certificate of competence, not a qualification.