LETTER FROM MICHAEL JONES, 13 March 2003

You may recall my letter, printed in Flying Fish 2001/1, regarding the problems I encountered in re-registering my 11.1m yacht Mowgli. I learned then that, as a British national resident in France, I could not renew my Small Ships Registry but would have to transfer to Part 1 of the full UK Register at a cost of £115 – plus the expense of a full measurement survey. The total cost for the whole exercise, including the required ‘engraved plate’, correspondence and phone calls came to approximately £700.

Recently I wrote to Peter Heath, Business Manager at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency who administer both Registers, reminding him that he had said that changes were being considered for owners of small yachts compelled to join Part 1 of the Register, particularly regarding the ‘prohibitive costs’. Mowgli’s certificate expires in 2005 and I certainly cannot afford to spend another £700 to renew it!

He has now replied that he is hoping ‘to put forward options for changing registration regulations later this year’ and that his proposals will be put out for consultation. I hope the OCC will be on his mailing list! He also gave me the good news that I will only be required to pay around £65 to renew, not £700, which came as a very considerable relief. I hope his proposals will include changes to the size of the actual certificate, since the present one – a plastic laminated A4 sheet – is totally impractical and requires a briefcase to transport it!

Finally, members who are considering buying an EPIRB might like to know that the KANNAD 406 XS, which is available to French yachtsmen at a reasonable price, is currently not acceptable to the MCA if the yacht is British flagged.