MCA asks owners how the pleasure vessel definition works in practice
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has opened a twelve week call for evidence on the definition of a pleasure vessel. Owners, operators, clubs and charities can respond until 1 February 2027.
Law NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH
On 10 November 2026 the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) opened a call for evidence on the term "pleasure vessel". It asks how and when the definition is applied in practice, whether it is clear and suitable for the way boats are used today, and what perceptions or misunderstandings surround it. The call runs for twelve weeks and closes at 11:59pm on 1 February 2027.
It was prompted by a report from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB). On 1 October 2022 a crew member fell overboard from a Sonar class keelboat during a race off Cowes, Isle of Wight, and died despite wearing a correctly fitting lifejacket. The MAIB found that the crew were insufficiently trained and practised in recovering a person from the water. The boat was operated by a charity that takes sailors with disabilities afloat, and the MAIB recommended that the MCA review the definition so that vessels operated by organisations and charities carrying vulnerable people no longer fall within it.
Nothing changes yet. The MCA is gathering evidence and has not published draft regulations. Responses go in on a form by email to codes@mcga.gov.uk, and the agency wants to hear from a wide range of groups: owners, operators, clubs, sailing schools and charities that take guests on the water.
What this means for owners
Whether a voyage counts as private use or something closer to commercial use matters to insurers as well as to regulators. If you lend your keelboat, yacht or motorboat to a club or charity, take paying guests, or share costs with crew, ask your insurer in writing before you do it whether that use is within your agreed terms, and keep the answer with your boat papers. Clubs and charities running boats with changing crews should also look at the MAIB findings and make sure recovering a person from the water is practised, not just planned. Anyone with experience of where the line is drawn can still respond to the MCA until 1 February 2027.
Our view as NAMMERT, not part of the news. Your own policy wording decides.
Where this comes from
- Source: Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Call for evidence: Use and perceptions of the definition of 'pleasure vessel' (10.11.2026)
- Source: Marine Accident Investigation Branch, Person overboard from keelboat with loss of 1 life, Cowes (Untersuchungsbericht)
- Source: Marine Industry News, Maritime and Coastguard Agency seeks feedback on definition of pleasure vessel after fatal accident (12.11.2026)
The text is our own; the sources supplied the facts and figures, not the wording.
