Posted by ABC (oldbrochan@…>)
The following article appeared in the Winter 2004
issue of the RYA magazine - it contains two useful web
addresses for persons considering importing a boat (
for example a second hand US built Freedom) into the
European Union - in the following article the emphasis
is on the United Kingdom. Bureaucracy is
(regrettably) alive and well on this side of the
Atlantic!
Quote
Agreement on the Recreational Craft Directive
Amendment (RCD) became UK law earlier this year and
will apply to craft first placed on the market from 1
January 2005, with a period of transitional
arrangements.
The original Directive applied to recreational craft
between 2.5 and 24 metres and has been widened in
scope by the Amendment to include:-
Personal Watercraft
Defined as a vessel of less than 4m in length, which
uses an internal combustion engine with a water jet
pump as its primary source of propulsion and which is
designed to be operated by a person or persons
sitting, standing or kneeling.
Noise Emissions
- To apply to recreational craft with inboard
propulsion engines including stern drive engines
without integral exhausts. - To outboard engines and stern drive engines with
integral exhausts intended for installation on
recreational craft. - Excluded will be craft built for own use, provided
they are not subsequently placed on the Community
market during a period of five years.
Exhaust Emissions
- To apply to recreational craft propulsion engines
including PWCs. - A one-year transition period will be allowed with an
additional year for 2-stroke spark ignition engines. - Excluded will be certain original and individual
replicas of historical propulsion engines based on a
pre-1950 design, or engines fitted in craft built for
own use, provided that they are not subsequently
placed on the Community market during a period of five
years.
Post Constructional Assessment
The provision for ‘Post-constructional Assessment’ is
introduced.
Definitions
- Introduced are a number of definitions, including
‘major engine modification’ and ‘major craft
conversion’. If an engine modification could
potentially cause the engine to exceed the emissions
limits or increase the rated power of the engine by
more than 15%, it would be required to show compliance
with the limits.
This would also include the noise emissions if
installed in an existing craft and subsequently placed
on the market within five years.
Definitions
-
Design category A ‘Ocean’ excludes abnormal
conditions. -
Design category D ‘Sheltered Waters’ is defined as
being where significant wave height of up to and
including 0.3m may be experienced with occasional
waves of 0.5m maximum. -
The Hull Identification number is re-named Craft
identification. -
Clarifies that, on the builder’s plate, the
‘manufacturer’s recommended load’ is to exclude the
weight of the contents of the fixed tanks. -
Personal watercraft shall have an automatic engine
cut-off or speed reduction device.
Existing craft, part completed craft, personal
watercraft and components will have a one-year
transitional period in which existing rules apply.
The Amendment also includes a number of smaller
administrative details.
The full text of the amendment may be viewed on the
European Parliament website at:
http://www.europarl.eu.jnt/code/dossier/ 2003/2000-
0262_recreational- craft/default_en.htm
Further details can be found by visiting the RYA
website at www.rya.org.uk/Technical/
Unquote
Hope this helps.
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