Boatmark
Boatmark has been the industry's recognised craft marking and identification scheme since its launch in 1985, and is the national scheme, operated by HPI on behalf of the British Marine Federation. Over 6,000 boats have been visibly marked and recorded on the database - but because the marking system is both retrospective and voluntary, many boat owners have yet to take advantage of it. It's also hard to make visible markings sufficiently tamper-proof to defeat the determined boat thief. Boatmark overcomes both difficulties by programming the boat's identification number into a read-only memory chip, incorporated into the boat's structure during build - so the original identity of the craft can always be determined. This makes Boatmark more effective, both as a deterrent, and as a tool for returning recovered boats to their rightful owners.
The Boatmark service includes registration of both boat and keeper on the Boatmark database, and a Boatmark document similar in concept to those used by DVLA for road registered vehicles. This is helpful to owners wherever they need to prove their keepership of a particular boat. Recognising the unique requirements of boat owners, the database can accommodate more than one keeper. Boatmark protection doesn't stop at the boat itself. The serial numbers of equipment fitted to registered craft can also be security marked and added to the database. Should a valuable piece of ancillary equipment be stolen, the police then have the ability to trace it back to the craft from which it was taken.
Before buying a boat, contact Boatmark to check whether the boat is free from finance and that the person selling the boat has the right to do so. Enquiries can be directed to Boatmark on 01722 413346.