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Converting PS to kW, licence requirement and insurance cover
One kilowatt is 1,36 PS. Above 15 PS you need the inland licence, the SBF Binnen, on inland waters and the sea licence, the SBF See, on maritime waters.
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The threshold is 15 PS, just under eleven kilowatts. Below it you may take the helm in Germany without a licence, though there are exceptions: the Berlin waterways, the Rhine and several federal states with rules of their own. Above it you need the Sportbootführerschein for the waters you are on.
For your insurance cover this is anything but a minor detail. Practically every policy wording makes cover conditional on the person at the helm holding the officially prescribed licence. If it is missing, there is no cover, in liability cover and in hull cover alike, and that is precisely when things get expensive.
The same applies to guests at the helm. If you lend your boat out, check that the person is entitled to steer it; our policy wording insures everyone authorised to operate the boat, but that authorisation depends on holding the licence required. If the boat is hired out privately for up to thirty days a year, cover applies only where there is a written hire agreement between owner and hirer.
Frequently asked questions
What happens without the prescribed licence?
There is no cover, neither in liability cover nor in hull cover. Holding the licence is a condition of cover.
May I lend my boat to someone else?
Privately, for up to thirty days in the policy year, with a written hire agreement. Whoever takes the helm needs the licence prescribed for those waters.
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