Alan de Enfield

The Cat only has small Volvo 3 cylinder, 29hp engines - the Cruiser is the thirsty one - two 6-litre, 6 clyinder engines downrated to 110hp each and uses around 10 litres and hour at 8 knots. The real thirsty one was the Fairline with twin 200hp Volvo 6-cylinder engines - managed to achieve 1.25 miles per gallon at 25 knots.

Don't forget the chain & perch !

Yes I am, but I wonder how many potential new boaters are ? It is always useful to 'show/explain your workings'.

The 0.16 factor is to convert cubic metres to tons (Tuns). I do not see (in the original formula you posted) any reference, or method of getting from cubic metres to tons (tuns)

I do not disagree with you - it is sharp practice as a minumum - however the industry does not have a very good history of 'ethics'. I think this specific manufacturer was not aware of the law regarding VAT and boats as he/they also said VAT is not appliable if the boat is used for residential - this is also incorrect. There are two specific legal criteria for a qualifying ship. The first is that the boat has not been ‘designed or adapted’ for recreation or pleasure. The fact that your boat is designed as a live-aboard and not as a ‘pleasure craft’ means that it fulfills the first condition even if you are not intending to live aboard permanently or at all.

Just to avoid inaccuracies, a qualifying boat is NOT 'VAT Free' it is "Zero Rated". Aparently the sales contract was written such that it stated "in our opinion (the builder) this boat is Zero rated for VAT, however, if this is subsequently found to be incorrect, then the seller assumes all liability for any outstanding VAT" Caveat Emptor !

I think you missed the important 0.16 multiplication factor in your example The HMRC formula for calculating gross tonnage for vessels of less than 24m in length is as follows. L (m) x B (m) x D (m) x 0.16 (see below for definitions of L,B & D) HMRC then go on to specifically define the D measurement for canal boats and this is measured from under the top of what we know as the gunwale to the base plate. As an interesting example, take ‘Panache’ the widebeam boat of a huge 69’ long (L) x 11″ beam (B) with a height of 46” (D). Let’s work out the calculation by first converting the imperial measurements to metric so we have: 21.03m x 3.35m x 1.16m = 81.35 x 0.16 = 13.01 gross tons… Not a qualifying vessel. So here’s the interesting part in order to get a boat even of this size to qualify the standard (D) measurement would need another 190mm adding giving a (D) measurement of 1.35m. See the revised calculation below: (21.03m x 3.35m x 1.35) = 95.10 multiplied by 0.16 = 15.21 gross tons, a qualifying ship. A word of warning… It is vital as a ‘Purchaser’ you read all the contractual documentation regarding the purchase of any vessels and in particular VAT free vessels. There’s been a case highlighted to us where a boat had been sold as ‘VAT free’ unfortunately on incorrect grounds which post sale lead to the HMRC correctly chasing the seller for the VAT which should have been charged. In this particular case the contract of sale placed the responsibility to satisfy any such VAT claim on the purchaser so they had to stump up.

Did you not write .....................

So your statement about 'not being a law' was incorrect ?

Are By-Laws not laws then ?

That is certainly one of the definitions, but is very different to Planning Departments definition, the HMRC definition and C&RTs definition. A houseboat, as defined by the Canal and River Trust, is a boat whose predominant use is for a purpose other than navigation. It must have planning permission for the site where it is moored and can be moved only if navigation does not become its predominant use. A Houseboat Certificate is required for long-term moorings on Canal & River Trust sites, ensuring that the boat is licensed for residential use. Nigel Moore (RIP) 'take' on C&RTs situation regarding 'houseboats' is interesting The whole “houseboat” issue is one which CaRT have very mixed feelings about. On the one hand they would be happy to dispense with them altogether – and have allowed them to be whittled down to 80 or less at last count I know of – because of what they see to be onerous obligations over security of tenure and the legal requirement to pass on the benefits to subsequent owners - yet they find it useful to arbitrarily re-classify any pleasure boat as a houseboat for the purpose of s.8 litigation. However absurd the result, it ties in neatly, for them, with the messy definitions within the 1971 Act, wherein houseboats are classified as [inter alia] anything that is not bona fide used for navigation. Hence, on their argument, once a boat can be said to no longer being so used, it becomes a houseboat – automatically non-compliant with the mandatory T&C’s applying to those. All a bit clever when you stop to analyse it.

And, if you go back a little further the Laws stated that you needed to inform BW/C&RT and, get their approval, if you intended to liveaboard. No vessel on any canal shall without the permission of the Board be used as a club, shop, store, workshop, dwelling or houseboat.

The boat / boater I'm talking about was very limited in his mobility - he even had a 'trailer' for his boat which contained his ride-on buggy, sitting on a remotely controlled hydraulic lift he just pulled up alongside and irrespective of the height (within limits) he could just 'drive' his buggy onto the towpath. Without the modifications he would not have been able to boat, so in this instance the cost is (almost) irrelevant. His boat was well known in Yorkshire and the Midlands - "Victoria Plum"

And, as the offside land is often not owned by C&RT, it makes it even more 'difficult'.

At 61 you will be a 'youngster' on the waterways (and most likely on this forum). What do you mean by "remote control" ? Are you looking at an arrangement of bow and stern thrusters that are radio controlled and can be operated from a 'black-box' when you are at the lock and want to bring the boat in / out of the lock ? (I have seen one such boat that was owned by a single handed disabled guy (solo boater - not a one-armed guy)- once he'd managed to get off the boat at the lock and open the gates the rest was remote-controlled. The problem is that once you leave the boat to go to the lock it will drift about banging into things, if you tie it up then you have to go back from the lock to untie it which rather defeats the object.)