New Zealand or Aussie off shore yacht registration

[ski69sail]

Hi There
I would like to hear from anybody who has an off shore registered yacht in New Zealand or Australia. The compliance costs and inconvenience of having to comply with CAT1 is a pain. The regulations are expensive and make blue water cruising a real hassle.
I would love to be able to head off to Aussie or Fiji for a long weekend when I feel like it

Thanks for any interest or comments

[monte]

No hassles for our Australian registered yacht. I'm not sure what compliance you are concerned about? Mandatory EPIRB maybe?

[JPA Cate]

Ski69Sail,

Well, you'd need a seriously long weekend for either of those contemplated passages!

If your boat is NZ registered, you have to have your Cat 1 clearance to leave NZ, You'll probably have to bite the bullet, unless your Ganley's already registered somewhere else. If it is registered in another country, then you are exempt from the Cat 1 requirements, since the triumvirate set Jenny Shipley straight, some years back now.

Ann

[dana-tenacity]

You are not alone. I am currently registered in Vanuatu, may change that to Langkawi. But O would prefer to keep a low profile while in NZ

Yacht registration - CruiseTalk - Invision Power Board

[Bob_a_p]

I would certainly try and avoid registering a yacht under the Australian flag.
While I was in Europe I registered two yachts through AMSA, their website is inaccurate, they are incredibly bureaucratic and not very efficient.
I had to return my registration papers to them because they described the yacht as a cargo vessel, they also sent the registration papers to the wrong boat in a different country- I could just go on with the mistakes that were made.
It seems to take about six weeks to register a vessel and they treat every vessel as if it is a super tanker.

Having said all the above, they do seem to have a good reputation for rescuing people, although I have yet to experience that. And I am sure registration would be quite straight forward if the boat was already based in Australia.

[PMorby]

I am Australian Registered, but based in Florida undertaking a major refit - your question gave me pause for thought - do I have to comply with Special Regs of Yachting Australia? I have read the document:
http://www.yachting.org.au/wp-conten...-Keelboats.pdf

My interpretation is that the Regs are mandatory for Offshore Racing and are a recommendation for Cruising Boats.

Most of it is just good common sense stuff, but I noted covered lifelines are a no no, and I need 4 x cockpit drains (only have 2)

I plan to use it as a guide for the remaining fit-out - thanks.

[spiv]

I registered my cat in Australia, from France, when she was brand new, 5y ago.
Never had any trouble with AMSA, I actually found them very helpful.
Never had to pay a cent, except registration fees of about $2000 (by memory).

Been cruising ever since, but never gone to Oz or Stamp Duty + GST are payable immediately......

BTW, I am Australian, I believe you need to be Oz or have a Company in Oz to be able to register a vessel there, but check, I might be mistaken.

[sandpalm]

Has anyone Jersey, Channel Islands registration? My British in Hong Kong registry has expired or British Hong Kong has. Although duty and sales tax paid in Australia, I would rather keep a British flag for ease of clearance overseas and personal reasons like staying outside the box. Jersey seem an answer. I would welcome suggestions as I am about to embark on a registraion process.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by PMorby

I am Australian Registered, but based in Florida undertaking a major refit - your question gave me pause for thought - do I have to comply with Special Regs of Yachting Australia? I have read the document:
http://www.yachting.org.au/wp-conten...-Keelboats.pdf

My interpretation is that the Regs are mandatory for Offshore Racing and are a recommendation for Cruising Boats.

Most of it is just good common sense stuff, but I noted covered lifelines are a no no, and I need 4 x cockpit drains (only have 2)

I plan to use it as a guide for the remaining fit-out - thanks.

While they are a useful guide to safety considerations, RYA Regs have no direct effect on boats other than those entered into an RYA sanctioned race. Many of the requirements are totally irrelevant to the vast majority of cruising boats.

[monte]

Originally Posted by spiv

I registered my cat in Australia, from France, when she was brand new, 5y ago.
Never had any trouble with AMSA, I actually found them very helpful.
Never had to pay a cent, except registration fees of about $2000 (by memory).

Been cruising ever since, but never gone to Oz or Stamp Duty + GST are payable immediately......

BTW, I am Australian, I believe you need to be Oz or have a Company in Oz to be able to register a vessel there, but check, I might be mistaken.

Same experience with us registering 2 Aussie boats. Super helpful staff at AMSA.

[tim_burley]

I am told a lot of boats in Europe are registering Dutch, seems like they will accept anyone and any boat. Told its easy to do on line. Never dont it myself but worth looking into.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Bob_a_p

I would certainly try and avoid registering a yacht under the Australian flag.
While I was in Europe I registered two yachts through AMSA, their website is inaccurate, they are incredibly bureaucratic and not very efficient.
I had to return my registration papers to them because they described the yacht as a cargo vessel, they also sent the registration papers to the wrong boat in a different country- I could just go on with the mistakes that were made.
It seems to take about six weeks to register a vessel and they treat every vessel as if it is a super tanker.

Having said all the above, they do seem to have a good reputation for rescuing people, although I have yet to experience that. And I am sure registration would be quite straight forward if the boat was already based in Australia.

Certainly was straight forward for us. Simply filled out the forms, sent the money, and within two weeks we had our registration certificate.

Can't see how it could have been simpler.

Cost back then was about $700, although I understand it's gone up since then.

Aus boats don't have to meet cat 1 requirements like NZ boats do.

[Fine Tolerance]

Fully agree with Monte. I registered a through AMSA, changing from USCG registration to Australian registration while in Florida and they could not have been more helpful. There was some paperwork involved but I sent all the paperwork to them first for them to check that everything was OK (on their suggestion) before formally submitting it. And to my knowledge you must be an Australian citizen to have Australian registration. I am originally a kiwi but became an Australian citizen in the '80 solely to be able to register a yacht I made in Australia. In those days sales tax and duty if registering as a NZ vessel was 45%, naturalization was free. In 2012 when I registered a yacht as a Australian vessel I had to provide proof (photocopy of my naturalization certificate) that I was an Australian citizen so would imagine that the law would not have changed since then. My belief is that countries that issue 'flags of convenience' do not require this although, even then, the Cayman Islands which you do not have to be a citizen of to register your vessel still require you to have a company registered there. Also to my knowledge you can obtain NZ registration for your yacht without cat 1 but, the catch is, if you are a NZ registered yacht you cannot depart NZ without it.

And to StuM the Australia Yachting Federation categories' have no bearing on having the yacht registered as an Australian vessel although most of it is sensible stuff and a good guideline as to what to aim for. Even better is the ISAF Cat 0. While some sections have no bearing on cruising sailboats a read through them and to act on some of the regulations makes for a better equipped and safer offshore sailing vessel. Especially for one who maybe thinks a long weekend will get them to Australia or Fiji from NZ.

[El Pinguino]

Back to the OP. To the best of my knowledge importation and registration are two separate issues.....
If you are already 'duty paid' in NZ then if you can find a registry to accept you all will be happiness and light..... the only people who really matter are customs.

Frinstance.... I arrived in Oz on my UK registered boat and had to import her on the instant as I was an Australian resident... there was no ' I'm only passing through...honest'.

However there was absolutely no requirement to register her in Australia once imported and she stayed in Oz for 8 years with no need to meet any state or federal requirements in that time.... that included boat drivers licences etc.

Likewise the tale of two friends in Chile... both arrived some years back in foreign flag yachts and settled ashore with residency etc. At the end of 2 years they had to import their boats. One chose to leave the flag as it was and still sails hither and yon with no drama.... the other reflagged and now has to have a Chilean yachtmaster's licence , radio operator's ticket, annual surveys etc etc .. ( all handled by the Armada de Chile btw... not some mickey mouse yachting organisation...)
I imagine the same would apply in NZ.... imported but under foreign flag would be the way to go.
UK full register has residency requirements ( don't ask me what the details are) and I assume Australia also has.... however I have another friend whose boat is registered in South Africa... neither he nor the boat have ever been near Africa let alone South Africa.. he says it was easy.
All care no responsibility with all of the above......

El Ping.. currently in NZ with a UK flagged yacht

[ski69sail]

Thanks for all the freed back

I am both an Australian and New zealand citizen, some of the feed back has been great.

I should also add my long weekends can be rather long so a trip overseas fits into my daily life.

Ray