Yacht Names

gwommit

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Is there a legal requirement for a yacht to have a name or is it acceptable just to identify yourself by the vhf callsign

Thanks
 
How do you communicate with CG and other vessels ?

"Er, this is unnamed vessel, unnamed vessel, unnamed vessel calling Coastguard. 154 persons on board, on passage from Calais to somewhere on the East Coast. Radio check please."
 
How do you communicate with CG and other vessels ?

"Er, this is unnamed vessel, unnamed vessel, unnamed vessel calling Coastguard. 154 persons on board, on passage from Calais to somewhere on the East Coast. Radio check please."

Did you read the whole post, especially the bit about identifying yourself by your vhf callsign
 
:doublesigh:

A VHF callsign is for VHF use.


You need a name to register title, and the myriad other minor legalities associated with lawful and honourable use of a boat, not least communication with other boats.


If you want to be rude, carry on and amuse yourself. It's not shit; it's a forum.
 
:doublesigh:

A VHF callsign is for VHF use.


You need a name to register title, and the myriad other minor legalities associated with lawful and honourable use of a boat, not least communication with other boats.


If you want to be rude, carry on and amuse yourself. It's not shit; it's a forum.

You started it pal
Why could you not have answered that in the first place instead of trying to be smart

END OF
 
No need for a name legal or otherwise AFAIK.


Most boats will have a sail number which could be used to identify it when discussing it Nic 32 No3453, for instance.

...but there's no requirement to have any of this recorded anywhere, AFAIK.

Apart from road Vehicles I can't think of many things that do need to be identified by name or number. I found out this week to my amazement that you don't even need to register property/land with the land registry if you buy it.

How do you communicate with CG and other vessels ?

Sea Kayakers don't have names and frequently carry VHF Radios - I do.
 
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A case was reported this year in which the owner of a traditional wooden boat was fined for not having a displayed name. I think it may have been in Belgium though, which may have a bearing on the story.

My boat's name is displayed at the quarters, where it is visible over a wide range of angles. The stern is divided into sections and the name here would be too small to be useful, so I just have a couple of club initials. I have occasionally been asked why my port of origin is not recorded, to which I reply that, in line with UK law, my boat is not registered (SSR only) and therefore I am not required to show my port. This usually occasions some surprise, and in the case of one Dutchman, a complete loss of sense of humour.
 
For a couple of years I sailed around UK SW with no name displayed and no sail number: I never got round to repainting the name after repainting the topsides. It was around the time Devon Council started charging the same harbour dues for anchoring off Ilfracombe as for Salcombe/Dartmouth etc. - though Ilfracombe had no "facilities" whatsoever. I stopped paying - previously I'd always gone to the office and paid. Nothing they could do - the lack of facilities included not having a harbourmasters launch.

In those days also had no VHF or any other electronics, wasn't registered on SSR or anywhere else. I did have insurance though.....

AFAIK as long as you stay in the UK there is still no legal requirement for names, SSR, or insurance, unless a really large yacht. Many harbours/marinas though ask for insurance for long-term mooring.
 
I'm proud of my boat. She has her name each side of the bow, on the transom, and in great big letters on the dodgers.
So many boats only have their names on the transom, and then hide it with a dinghy. Are they ashamed or something?
I don't know anything about legal requirements, but common sense, and courtesy to others would suggest having and displaying a name.
 
There's nothing worse than trying rescue some one from the wrong boat. OK there's quite a lot of things in life that a worse than this. But it's a shame to have a thing of beauty and to not name it. A call sign identifies it as a vessel but is soulless and a mouthful on the radio. Beside it makes you sound like a delapidated old Soviet trawler
 
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