Towing abroad

[SeacretSailor]

Looking for advice, from those with experience, for towing a boat from uk to France measuring:

LOA: 8,99 m (29ft 6in)
Beam: 2,85 m (9ft 4in)

The boat will be towed on a triple axle trailer and will be under 3500kg combined.

What do I need to be legal in France? Any helpful websites?

thanks

 

[DavidJ]

I think there is a whole export/import Brexit thing to get around.
I can‘t imagine that caravaners are getting carnets from the Birmingham Board of Trade before they go touring in the EU but I guess it’s fairly obvious that they are going to bring there caravans home. Not quite so obvious with a boat.
At a minimum make sure you photo your boat going onto the ferry so when you come back you can show you are not importing.
Await others real life experiences.
You are quite entitled to do it UK VAT on Yachts – Changes to Returned Goods Relief have become UK Law | CA you just need to be able to prove it.

I‘m aware that your question wasn’t aimed at this aspect but I though it might be useful to highlight it.

 

[Pinnacle]

This may be helpful. Driving in France Advice | What Are The Laws? | RAC Drive

 

[Bigplumbs]

Looking for advice, from those with experience, for towing a boat from uk to France measuring:

LOA: 8,99 m (29ft 6in)
Beam: 2,85 m (9ft 4in)

The boat will be towed on a triple axle trailer and will be under 3500kg combined.

What do I need to be legal in France? Any helpful websites?

thanks

29 Footer under 3.5 Ton all up...................................... Are you sure. Most 25 footers are pushing this 3.5 ton limit

 

[SeacretSailor]

29 Footer under 3.5 Ton all up...................................... Are you sure. Most 25 footers are pushing this 3.5 ton limit

Yes, mk1 Axopar 28, single outboard. No fluids. Under 3500kg all in

 

[SeacretSailor]

This may be helpful. Driving in France Advice | What Are The Laws? | RAC Drive

??

 

[stelican]

Yes, mk1 Axopar 28, single outboard. No fluids. Under 3500kg all in

You also have to take the weight of the trailer into consideration probably 600kg +

 

[stelican]

You also have to take the weight of the trailer into consideration probably 600kg +

Sorry I missed that you had allowed for trailer.

 

[dpb]

Up until 2019 we towed every year to south of france with boats up to 7.5m, overall trailer length about 9m.
Boat and trailer were just under 3500kg.
We tried to keep on top of regs at the time and found that in general if you were legal here you were ok there.
So if your driving licence was ok here for the trailer then it was ok there.
You need to be aware that whilst it never happened to us, they do check vehicle weights road side and use the information on the vehicle and trailer plates to do this.
Big trouble if no plate or your rig is over weight.
Your length and weight are ok (trailer max = 12m, car and trailer max =18m) but i understand that the max width of the boat is 2.55m so looks like you will have a problem with that.
I am guessing you have a rib so deflating the tubes might get you round this?
Over 2.1m width you are supposed to have running lights to show width of load. We did not worry about that one as we never intended to drive at night.
Otherwise you need a permit for oversize vehicle and I have no idea how you would get that.

NOTE THIS!!!!
Since we last did this some laws have changed in France and I am very happy that I dont do this anymore!!!!!
The speed limits for trailers has dropped:
90kmh on motorway
80kmh on main roads
50kmh in urban areas
Obviously all the above subject to any lower limits being posted.

But it gets worse, if I have understood correctly:
If your trailer and load is between 1 and 1.33 times the weight of the car, speed limit is 65kmh
If it is over 1.33 times weight of car the limit is 45kmh (this would have applied to us!)

Out of interest I have just been googling to seek clarity of this and found french sites that do refer to this but it is not always easy to see the date of the advise.
I did find several references to an absolute limit of trailer weight of 1.3 x tow car GVW.

When we were travelling through France last year I noticed that there were not as many of the 'big' rigs that you used to see in previous years.

Sorry I can't be absolutley clear on current situation.

 

[SeacretSailor]

Very interesting.

I would definitely need clarity on this as our tow vehicle is 2200kg empty but it’s max weight - which it probably would be with a family of 4, full fuel, luggage and a nose weight of 125kg from the trailer - would be 2900kg. So if the latter, it would be ok to tow at 65km/h? Surely driving at 40mph on an autoroute would be dangerous?!

Also, would they go off the boat manufacturers specs for weight? If so, the boat bare is down as 1620kg plus engine. Plus trailer - ‘on paper’ could be as low as 2500kg. Obviously it isn’t in real life, but it might be how they perceive the rules ??.

Do you have any reference websites you could direct me to that u have used in the past? Would be good to be able to email someone to get a direct answer.

If you have a recommendations for where you took your boat - always good to hear.

 

[dpb]

They have 'portable' weighbridges, basically big scales that go under each wheel so not interested in 'on paper'.
We had to take stuff off ours, and make sure fuel and water were near empty to keep in the limits.

Location recommendations would be a different thread!!!

 

[dunedin]

The speed limit restrictions for trailers, and particularly if exceed car weight, are shown if scroll down the RAC page linked to earlier - Driving in France Advice | What Are The Laws? | RAC Drive

In terms of weights used, I suspect the manufacturers quoted weights for the boat are irrelevant. There are probably two key sets of weights
- what the trailer plate has listed as maximum weight - generally this applies for all the rules, even if there was a much lighter load on the trailer. This is the first place and police / gendarme will start.
- weighbridge check - if the weight of the trailer plus actual load is suspected of exceeding the trailer’s plated weight.

Watch out for the total gross train weight of the vehicle and trailer. Not sure what the limits are, in UK or France, but again often based upon the plated gross (fully loaded) weights of car and trailer.

Finally, need to check what restrictions may apply due to the 2.85m width, which is wider than some limits.

 

[SeacretSailor]

They have 'portable' weighbridges, basically big scales that go under each wheel so not interested in 'on paper'.
We had to take stuff off ours, and make sure fuel and water were near empty to keep in the limits.

Location recommendations would be a different thread!!!

So - do they weigh car at same time as trailer/boat. They must do if applying the 1.3x rule otherwise they would be referring to ‘on paper’ weights?!

 

[SeacretSailor]

The speed limit restrictions for trailers, and particularly if exceed car weight, are shown if scroll down the RAC page linked to earlier - Driving in France Advice | What Are The Laws? | RAC Drive

In terms of weights used, I suspect the manufacturers quoted weights for the boat are irrelevant. There are probably two key sets of weights
- what the trailer plate has listed as maximum weight - generally this applies for all the rules, even if there was a much lighter load on the trailer. This is the first place and police / gendarme will start.
- weighbridge check - if the weight of the trailer plus actual load is suspected of exceeding the trailer’s plated weight.

Watch out for the total gross train weight of the vehicle and trailer. Not sure what the limits are, in UK or France, but again often based upon the plated gross (fully loaded) weights of car and trailer.

Finally, need to check what restrictions may apply due to the 2.85m width, which is wider than some limits.

So may be better to have a twin axle as opposed to a triple to keep load allowances higher (due to lighter trailer as 1 less axle).

Width is trickier to find out about as the trailer width will be 2.55m. Can’t seem to find over hang allowances for France, like we have in uk (30cm from memory)

Also - not sure whether relevant - but the RAC and other websites only state ‘caravan’ and not trailer. Not sure whether this makes a difference in terms of weight, width etc

 

[Bigplumbs]

I looked into this a lot a few years ago and came to the conclusion that towing a 'big' boat in the EU is fraught with issues and not worth doing. The same is true in the UK to be honest........ The rules and laws are one thing but the stress is quite another

 

[SeacretSailor]

It’s the rules that I want to get right.
The stress will sort itself out after a ? ?

 

[Bigplumbs]

It’s the rules that I want to get right.
The stress will sort itself out after a ? ?

When you get a definitive list of the rules and understand them. Write a little pamphlet. Cos I don't think anyone else ever fully get them. PS the only way to know the weight of your rig is to take it to a weigh bridge

 

[TSB240]

I looked into this a lot a few years ago and came to the conclusion that towing a 'big' boat in the EU is fraught with issues and not worth doing. The same is true in the UK to be honest........ The rules and laws are one thing but the stress is quite another

I towed a 26 foot 2.8m trailable yacht with a 35 foot mast to Brittany for three summer holidays on a 4 wheel trailer with no stress!

Stress was considerably reduced using a good tow vehicle. I had a SWB Mitsi Shogun. Bought for £1K!

I weighed my complete load and trailer at a local scrap yard before going any where and kept the ticket for inspection.
It was never needed.......

The maximum beam of a load (boat) you can tow is 2.9 m without an escort!

The maximum legal trailer width is 2,55m

The maximum overhang of your trailer is 305mm . Yeah go figure above max width it even confuses plod!
It is unlikely your boat will be longer than a glider but there is a maximum train length before you have to display a long vehicle sign on the back. Can't remember from memory.

Launching and recovery was totally stressles with a telescopic extendable draw bar and a front tow bar. Dont dream using ropes fir recovery or launching. Crane is best.

Trailer Side reflectirs and front and rear marker lights on the load extremities are critical and often overlooked.

A tail board must be fixed at a reasonable height at or close the rear of the load..

Keep the load in the trailer light and balanced. Don't exceed the nose weight for your tow vehicle as this will result in prosecution. Empty fuel, water and provisions out of the boat. Put some heavy gear like chain anchors, outboards in the tow vehicle. Don't trust the builders dry weight or displacement figures!

Use commercial high pressure tyres (more plys) on the trailer to give greater stability and load carrying capacity with less side wall flexing.

Make sure you have a good rear view as with a beam of 2.8 m you won't be able to see to pull out without extended rear view side mirrors. Your vehicles standard fitting will not be sufficient or legal.

We happily towed at 60mph. Never got pulled.

Don't let them put you in the queue for the ferry with the caravans and trailers. Make sure you are with the commercials. The caravans have to drive through a width guage that is set to 2.6m. Guess how I know that!

Oh carry spare wheels, bearings and grease and a good bottle jack.

Strip and repack all bearings after any immersion.

 

[penfold]

Finally, need to check what restrictions may apply due to the 2.85m width, which is wider than some limits.

The 2.55m limit, in the UK at least, refers to the trailer; the load can be wider. I've towed Impalas a fair distance and they're 2.8m wide.

 

[Seastoke]

We towed to Antibes , with a brand new trailer i jacked up the trailer and took off 2 wheels on one side and put them in the boot of the Landy . when we came back after 3 weeks cruising , the trailer was there less the the ratchet and the rear cradle .