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European boating associations meet in Hamburg
European boating associations meet twice a year in the European Boating Association, and in early October they gathered in Hamburg to discuss electronic distress signals, kill cords on open boats, GPS jamming in the Baltic and moorings that spare seagrass. A Norwegian was named president.
Associations NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH
The European Boating Association (EBA), which brings together national sailing and motor boating associations across Europe, held its second general assembly of 2026 in Hamburg on 2 and 3 October. The host was the Deutscher Segler-Verband, the German sailing federation; the German motor yacht association DMYV is also a member. Peter Lauritz Larsen, delegate of the Norwegian sailing federation, becomes president for the next four years.
On safety, members discussed electronic visual distress signals (eVDS). The EBA considers them easier and more reliable to use than handheld flares, with no risk of burns. They have no SOLAS approval, however, and in Germany and most other European countries they cannot replace mandatory pyrotechnics, only supplement them. A survey of members, prompted by the DMYV, found that only the Netherlands has binding kill cord rules: anyone driving an open boat capable of 20 km/h or more must wear the cut-off lanyard. The EBA backs awareness campaigns such as the one run by the Royal Yachting Association.
A delegate from Finland reported on GPS jamming and spoofing in the Baltic, which can corrupt navigation and position reports on leisure craft too. The associations again advise keeping compass, chart and bearings as the basis and checking electronics against them. Members also heard how anchors and dragging mooring chains damage seagrass meadows and how mooring systems that keep the chain off the seabed avoid this. Whether the EBA will push for a standard for electronic leisure charts remains open.
What this means for owners
Two of the Hamburg topics matter directly after an incident. If a boat carries only an electronic light instead of the flares required by its flag or home waters, that gap will be examined after a distress call, so for now the light belongs aboard in addition, not instead. And a boat that keeps running after its driver goes overboard can injure swimmers or hit other boats, which becomes a liability question for the owner; wearing the kill cord is the simplest precaution, even where it is not mandatory. It is worth asking your insurer how a missing safety item is treated in a claim. Open motor boats, RIBs and cruising yachts in the Baltic are most affected.
Our view as NAMMERT, not part of the news. Your own policy wording decides.
Where this comes from
- Source: DMYV: EBA tagt in Hamburg, Peter L. Larsen aus Norwegen ist neuer EBA-Präsident
- Source: YACHT: Gipfeltreffen, europäische Seglerverbände debattieren über Sicherheit auf See (06.10.2026)
The text is our own; the sources supplied the facts and figures, not the wording.
