At first glance, not much has changed: new information on exhaust fumes and noise emissions from engines, emergency exits for multihulls, some definitions that should be clarified and regulations for holding tanks. Oh yes: Due to a translation error in the legislative process, the view ahead from the helmsman's position no longer only applies to motorboats, but to recreational craft in general, including sailboats. As this can hardly be guaranteed, a steering area for vessels with a mast was defined without further ado. However, in addition to this lapse on the part of the authorities, there are some serious changes to the RCD II, as the CE standard is known in EU parlance.
The big changes are hidden in the small details. In order to increase the lack of monitoring pressure with regard to compliance with the directive, dealers and importers, and no longer just the shipyards, are now also responsible for the conformity of the products. In other words, anyone who sells a ship is also responsible for ensuring that it rightly carries the label.
Perhaps the biggest change is initially quite inconspicuous: the draft categories are now only called A, B, C and D. The references to the sailing area (high seas, distant coastal, near coastal, protected) have been dropped. What at first glance looks like a bureaucratic faux pas is in fact an attempt by the creators of the directive not to allow the design categories to be misused for marketing purposes, but to return them to what they are: simplifying assumptions about the basis for the design of yachts. The focus is therefore on wave height and wind force, not the sailing area.
Some people are now deducing from this that the boat is no longer seaworthy because it no longer says "offshore" on a Category A boat. But is that the case? Has and will the CE now produce better or worse ships? Does Category A really mean unrestricted seaworthiness? Wouldn't other categorisations sometimes have more advantages for the owner?YACHT 10/2016 offers insights into the only superficially dry subject matter of directives and standards and shows where on board theCE standard and how and what the sailor gets out of it every day.
The new magazine is available from27 April at the kiosk.
