Essential Requirements Guide

Four categories set by wind force (Beaufort) and significant wave height: A beyond force 8 and 4 m; B up to 8 and 4 m; C up to 6 and 2 m; D up to 4 and 0.3 m (occasional waves of 0.5 m). The category is a design condition, not a navigation rule, and a craft may carry more than one with its own load and persons for each.

Every watercraft carries an identification number with the manufacturer’s country code, the manufacturer’s unique code assigned by a national authority, a unique serial number, the month and year of production and the model year. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1 governs the code assignment; the harmonised standard sets the format.

A permanently affixed plate, separate from the WIN, with at least: manufacturer’s name, registered trade name or registered trade mark and contact address; the CE marking; the design category; the maximum recommended load excluding full fixed tanks; the recommended number of persons. After a post-construction assessment the notified body’s details and the words “post-construction assessment” are added.

The craft is designed to minimise the risk of falling overboard, and a person in the water must be able to reach or deploy a means of reboarding without help.

Recreational craft: good all-round visibility from the main steering position under normal speed and load.

Every product comes with an owner’s manual covering safe use, set-up, maintenance, operation and risks, in a language the user understands; a paper copy must be available on request.

Materials, their combination and the construction make the craft strong enough in every respect, with attention to the design category and the maximum recommended load.

Sufficient stability and freeboard for the design category and the maximum recommended load.

Buoyancy appropriate to the design category and load. Habitable multihulls that can invert stay afloat inverted; craft under 6 m that can be swamped have flotation in the swamped condition.

Openings do not impair structural or weathertight integrity when closed; windows, portlights, doors and hatches withstand the water pressure and point loads at their position; through-hull fittings below the loaded waterline have a readily accessible shut-off.

Designed to minimise the risk of sinking: self-draining or otherwise protected cockpits and wells, ventilation fittings, and pumps or other means of removing water.

The load (fuel, water, provisions, equipment and people, in kg) is set from the design category, stability and freeboard, and buoyancy; fixed tanks are assumed full and excluded from the plate figure.

Recreational craft of categories A and B, and C and D over 6 m, have one or more readily accessible stowage points for a liferaft large enough for the recommended number of persons. The point asks for a space, not for specific fittings.

Habitable multihulls that can invert have a viable means of escape when inverted that does not weaken structure, stability or buoyancy. Every habitable recreational craft has a viable means of escape in case of fire.

One or more strong points or other means that safely take anchoring, mooring and towing loads, considering the design category and the craft.

Satisfactory handling with the most powerful engine the craft is designed for; the maximum rated engine power is declared in the owner’s manual.

Inboard engines sit in an enclosure separated from living quarters, installed to minimise fire, fumes, heat, noise and vibration; parts needing frequent service are readily accessible; compartment insulation does not sustain combustion.

The engine compartment is ventilated and water ingress through its openings is minimised.

Moving or hot engine parts that could injure are shielded unless the engine has a cover or its own enclosure.

Every outboard has a device preventing a start in gear, except engines under 500 N static thrust or with a throttle limiter to 500 N at start.

A PWC has an automatic engine cut-off, or a device that brings it to a slow circular forward movement, when the driver dismounts or falls off.

Tiller-controlled outboards have an emergency stopping device that can be linked to the helmsman.

Filling, storage, venting and supply arrangements are designed and installed to minimise fire and explosion risk. Portable tanks and their hoses are outside the directive.

Tanks, lines and hoses are secured and kept from significant heat; tank material and construction suit capacity and fuel. Petrol tank spaces are ventilated; petrol tanks are not part of the hull, are protected from ignition sources and separated from living quarters. Diesel tanks may be integral. All tanks are protected against over- and under-pressure.

Designed and installed for proper operation and minimum fire and shock risk; circuits other than engine starting stay safe under overload; electric propulsion circuits do not interfere with other circuits; battery spaces are ventilated and batteries secured and protected from water.

Steering and propulsion controls transmit steering loads under foreseeable operating conditions.

Sailing craft and single-engine non-sailing craft with remote rudder steering have an emergency means of steering at reduced speed (for example an emergency tiller).

Domestic gas systems are vapour-withdrawal type, leak-tight, testable and explosion-safe; each appliance has its own branch and shut-off; cylinders sit in an enclosure separated from living quarters, accessible from outside and draining overboard; every permanently installed system is tested after installation.

Equipment and layout take the fire risk into account (open flames, hot areas, engines, fuel and oil, wiring routes). Recreational craft are supplied with fire-fighting equipment suited to the hazard, or its position and capacity are indicated; petrol engine compartments have a system that avoids opening the compartment; portable extinguishers are accessible, one from the main steering position.

Where fitted, they comply with COLREG 1972 or CEVNI as appropriate.

Constructed to prevent accidental discharge of pollutants. Toilets connect only to a holding tank or treatment system; installed holding tanks have a standard discharge connection; through-hull pipes for human waste have valves that can be secured closed.

Propulsion engines meet the emission limits of Part B (CO, HC, NOx, particulates), measured by the harmonised test cycles; the engine manufacturer is responsible (Art. 21). Electric propulsion has no exhaust requirements.

Recreational craft with inboard or sterndrive engines without integral exhaust, personal watercraft, and outboard and sterndrive engines with integral exhaust meet the noise limits of Part C, by measurement or, for some craft, by the Froude number and power-to-displacement method (Art. 22).