Testimonial: Registering a Swedish boat in France

They wanted French registration for a Swedish vessel

In search of a cruising sailboat to sail across Europe, Victor and Guilhem found the boat of their dreams in Sweden. At the beginning of 2023, before ferrying their boat to France, they trusted the teams at Bateau-immatriculation.com to handle the various administrative formalities for the vessel.

A cruising sailboat purchased in Sweden

“We had been looking for a cruising boat for some time, and Guilhem and I became interested in Sweden,” Victor recounts.

“Like Norway, Sweden is a territory renowned for the second-hand market for 25 to 31-foot boats, generally very well-maintained and much cheaper than in France. We saw several vessels, notably on social media, and we ‘stumbled’ upon one boat in particular that we really liked. Given the superb state of preservation it was in, and all the equipment available on board, it was a very good deal.”

In January 2023, the two friends from Paris traveled to Sweden, to the town of Smögen, to inspect the vessel. Convinced, they acquired the sailboat, a Compis 28, for the sum of €4,000.

“In France, we would probably have had to pay €10,000 to €12,000 for a second-hand vessel like this, which surely wouldn’t have been as well-maintained,” Victor explains.

A specific administrative situation for Swedish boats

When buying the sailboat, Victor and Guilhem learned about Swedish regulations regarding boat registration: in that territory, for a hull length under 10 meters, a sailing vessel is not required to be registered.

Its owner is not required to have specific equipment on board either. And their Compis 28, named La vilaine fée, fits these specifics well.

“For us, obtaining French registration for the vessel was absolutely essential. We necessarily had to obtain the French flag to be able to moor our boat year-round at the port of Le Havre. It would have been a ‘no-go’ for us not to be able to register the vessel in France.”

List of home port initials: BR / NI / AJ / TL / NA

Administrative formalities handled easily

Wishing to offload a rather substantial administrative file, Victor and Guilhem decided to call upon our professional boat administrative services:

“We decided to contact the agents at Bateau-immatriculation.com and, in the end, completing all the formalities only took two weeks. They took care of everything, from A to Z: we simply bought the boat and then provided the bill of sale, the vessel’s model, some technical specifications, and a copy of the seller’s ID card.

The Bateau-immatriculation.com team got in touch with all the administrative bodies and managed the process of obtaining the French boat registration, as well as the new official papers. Payment of the tax receipt (Quitus fiscal) and the TAEMUP (tax on maritime equipment) was handled through them, and we didn't have any particular problems during the import.”

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Time to set off on an adventure

With the formalities completed by our team of experts, Victor and Guilhem began their great voyage.

Having returned to France in the meantime, they joined La vilaine fée in Smögen in May 2023. They then undertook the ferrying of the boat from Sweden to France, with the port of Le Havre as their final destination:

“We had a tight schedule, with only 15 days to cover the route across the Baltic Sea, the Limfjord Canal in Denmark, the North Sea, and the English Channel.

In the end, it took us 13 days, sailing on average 17 hours a day, the two of us.”

The ferry trip summary

Victor confides:

“As La vilaine fée had always been very well-maintained, we didn't experience any mechanical problems.

But if we had to do it again, we would plan for at least a month, and we would equip ourselves better. It would have been more comfortable to have an autopilot on board, and an AIS receiver. Especially in front of the very large Dutch ports of Rotterdam and Bruges, where boat traffic is very significant!”

He explains that the sailing conditions were sometimes very difficult:

“One of the most memorable moments will remain the descent from Denmark, in a North Sea with short, breaking swells. We had chosen to skirt the Danish coast in one go but, halfway through, we lost all communication with land.

As for the weather, it turned out to be much stronger than expected: instead of 25 knots of wind, we sailed in 38 knots, with an offshore wind pushing us out to sea toward a wind farm.

The whole thing lasted 2 nights and 1 day, during which we wondered whether the mast or the rudder would give out first. We congratulated ourselves several times for having bought a ‘Viking boat’ capable of withstanding these conditions!”

Victor and Guilhem also, fortunately, had some exceptional moments. During their crossing from the German archipelago of Heligoland to the islands of the Netherlands, for example, they tell of enjoying an incredible night where they were able to sail with only 10 knots of wind on a flat sea:

“The stars were reflected in the water and the boat, thanks to the plankton, left a photoluminescent wake behind us...”

In the end, arriving in Le Havre under the French flag was easy, with no administrative problems for the sailboat's crew. Since then, La vilaine fée has been afloat near their home, and they enjoy pleasant sails as often as possible.

Like Victor and Guilhem, do you wish to be assisted in carrying out one or more administrative procedures for your boat?

Contact the Bateau-immatriculation.com crew without further delay!