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| If a yacht is built/brought into the EU for the first time after 1998 then it must be certified for compliance with the Recreational Craft Directive otherwise import will be impossible. |
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| A buyer may wish to import an American built boat for instance or may even be importing a European built boat that was first exported to the US. |
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| There are many companies which offer the service of certifying the boat for the RCD. It is not something cheap to do. Some brokers may offer the complete service of importing the secondhand boat already certified. |
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| The RCD is seperated into Design Categories as follows : |
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A. OCEAN: Designed for extended voyages where conditions may exceed wind force 8 (Beaufort scale) and significant wave heights of 4 m and above, and vessels largely self-sufficient.
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| B. OFFSHORE: Designed for offshore voyages where conditions up to, and including, wind force 8 and significant wave heights up to, and including, 4 m may be experienced. |
| C. INSHORE: Designed for voyages in coastal waters, large bays, estuaries, lakes and rivers where conditions up to, and including, wind force 6 and significant wave heights up to, and including, 2 m may be experienced. |
| D. SHELTERED WATERS: Designed for voyages on small lakes, rivers, and canals where conditions up to, and including, wind force 4 and significant wave heights up to, and including, 0,5 m may be experienced. |
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| For Categories A and B a Stability Booklet is required to be made. This requires measurements of the hull to be taken and an inclining experiment to be made. The yacht must be surveyed both in and out of the water for this. Then the data is analysed with software. |
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| This adds significantly to the cost of the RCD compliance certification, therefore an owner may choose to only certify the boat for category C or D. |
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| In effect this is unlikely to affect the usage of the boat. The coastguard is likely to not restrict the boat sailing according to it's category. Insurers are likely to do the same and not avoid paying out if the boat was lost in seas beyond it's category. |
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| However if the boat is later placed on the market it may or may not affect the resale price or market for the boat if there are other models on the market certified for higher categories. |
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| There are some brokers/importers of secondhand boats that import the boat for the client confirming that it will be certified for the RCD but when the boat is received it has been certified as per the cheaper option of Category C or D and not the more expensive option of Category A or B which may be the boats real category. |
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| Buyers should be aware of being possibly cheated in this manner or if they did choose this on purpose then to be aware of the possibility of affecting resale value. |
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