CLAUDIA´S
MANGUSTA 92 Claudia’s is a fine example of the famous Mangusta 92 series and is the penultimate yacht built of this series. Claudia’s is a 28.27m Mediterranean sport
THE EYB COUNTRY GUIDES · France
Review ownership, registration, the current tax year and the arrangements needed before taking a yacht home.
Buying a boat France involves matching the yacht to your intended use and checking the evidence behind the sale. The boat's condition deserves a survey discussion, but its ownership, registration and tax position need separate attention. Buyers should establish the paperwork and berth plan before completion; sellers should know how the ownership declaration will be finalised. This guide connects the official French administrative rules with practical recommendations for an orderly purchase and handover.
The guide concerns recreational boats navigating at sea and distinguishes eligible private transfers from cases needing direct contact with the maritime service. It covers the current annual-tax framework, a separately identified future change and insurance questions. Obtain locally qualified advice on the actual transaction and use operator-confirmed quotations for its costs. For anything this guide does not cover, email us at info@europeanyachtbrokers.com for the latest information.
Key facts at a glance
That July 2026 guidance states that the registration certificate is compulsory aboard the vessel.
French Maritime Ministry, buying and registering sea-going boats ·Maritime Ministry guidance updated 17 July 2026 says the seller initiates the eligible online private-sale declaration, uploads the sale deed and gives the generated transfer code to the buyer to finalise acquisition.
French Maritime Ministry, buying and registering sea-going boats ·That September 2026 guidance applies through 31 December 2026: recreational hulls from 7 metres, and hulls under 7 metres with motorisation of at least 22 administrative horsepower, meet the stated boat-tax criteria.
French Maritime Ministry, annual personal vessel tax ·Service Public guidance verified 6 February 2025 says recreational insurance is generally optional, compulsory for gross tonnage at least 300, and may be required by a port or marina for a berth.
Service Public, pleasure boat insurance ·That July 2026 guidance gives 1 month from sale for ownership-change formalities and warns that an unrecorded transfer leaves the seller the administrative owner and annual-tax debtor until the change is recorded.
French Maritime Ministry, buying and registering sea-going boats ·Section 1
Before comparing yachts, decide how and where you intend to use the boat and then inspect its administrative file. The Maritime Ministry says French recreational boats navigating at sea must be registered with the relevant DDTM/DML service, with its guidance identifying compulsory registration for recreational boats from 2.5 metres and personal watercraft. As practical advice, ask the seller for the existing certificate and compare the yacht's identifying details with the actual vessel before arranging a purchase-dependent trip or making the document file an assumption.
The registration certificate (certificat d'enregistrement) is required aboard. The Ministry explains that registration and the former francisation procedure merged, and that the older circulation card and francisation document remain valid. As a practical recommendation, ask the maritime service to confirm the relevance of an older document rather than dismissing it because the title is different. Equally, possession of a certificate should prompt a review of the boat and owner details, not a decision to skip the separate checks on the proposed sale and the vessel's condition.
The Ministry recommends investigating the yacht's mortgage position with the competent commercial court before buying. As practical advice, have a locally qualified adviser identify the relevant records and compare the proposed seller's authority with the ownership documents. Agree the survey and trial scope separately so that documentary and physical questions receive their own answers. This guide does not infer clear title from a yacht's location in a marina, or treat a broker's description as evidence that no security interest or other legal issue affects the sale.
Broker tip: Practical recommendation: request the complete identity and ownership file before committing. Ask a locally qualified adviser to check the mortgage position and seller's authority, and agree a separate survey and trial scope for the physical yacht. Readers often go on to our guide on whether you need a boat survey in France.
Hands on the helm of a motor yacht during a sea trial.
Sea going registration
Section 2
For an eligible private sale using the online portal, the seller starts the declaration, uploads the sale document and receives a transfer code to give the buyer. The buyer then uses that code to complete the acquisition declaration. As practical advice, agree in advance who will perform each step and retain the completion record. Treat the portal procedure as part of the handover plan rather than leaving it until after the buyer has departed with the yacht and the parties have stopped checking the transaction documents together.
Co-ownership needs particular attention. The Ministry states that all co-owners must confirm agreement online for the transfer to be finalised. Its document list includes an invoice or sale deed signed by all parties, identifying the yacht and the parties, plus the existing certificate, identity and domicile evidence. As a practical recommendation, establish who must sign and confirm before setting a completion appointment. Do not treat the person attending the viewing as automatically authorised to dispose of every owner's interest, and ask the adviser to review the actual ownership arrangement.
The procedure can also be handled with a recreational boating service at the counter, by post or by email. The Ministry's file requirements distinguish the buyer's identity and domicile evidence, including an elected-domicile attestation for the stated European residents spending less than 6 months in France. As practical advice, ask the receiving service to confirm the appropriate route for your residence and ownership structure before assuming that a seller's previous online experience applies. Keep the signed documents and the administrative confirmation with the sale record.
Broker tip: Practical recommendation: arrange the signatures, co-owner confirmations and transfer-code exchange before handover. Have the receiving service confirm the route for the buyer's residence, and keep evidence that the ownership declaration was completed. Our guide on whether you pay VAT on a boat in France covers a related point.
Boat keys and documents handed over on a chart table.
Seller starts transfer
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Section 3
The Ministry describes the relevant online registration and ownership procedures as free. That does not price the survey, berth, insurance or an adviser's work, so request those amounts separately as a practical budgeting step. The annual personal vessel tax (taxe annuelle sur les engins maritimes à usage personnel, TAEMUP) has its own rules. For the tax year, the Ministry identifies the liable person at 1 January. As practical advice, have an adviser explain the public liability and separately record any allocation of costs agreed between buyer and seller.
The Ministry's current tax page distinguishes the rules applicable through the end of 2026 from a published future reform. For ordinary recreational boats in 2026, taxation includes hulls from 7 metres, and shorter boats with motorisation of at least 22 administrative horsepower. That administrative power is not simply the engine's advertised output. As a practical recommendation, use the boat's documented characteristics and the official calculator for the applicable year rather than estimating liability from the asking price or from a boat of similar apparent size.
From 1 January 2027, the published rule for a boat shorter than 7 metres changes to a motorisation threshold of 120 kW, while the Ministry sets out a different calculation framework. That is a future rule at this guide's checking date. As practical advice, ask for both the current-year treatment and the future ownership budget if the purchase spans the change. Do not apply the future figures to a current liability, and obtain current berth and maintenance quotations instead of adding an invented national ownership-cost percentage. No individual yacht's ownership, encumbrances, tax position or physical condition is established by this general guide. No typical survey fee, berth cost, maintenance percentage, market discount or actual registration-processing delay was verified. For these, email us at info@europeanyachtbrokers.com for the latest information.
Broker tip: Practical recommendation: request an ownership budget using documented boat characteristics and the appropriate tax year. Keep public liabilities separate from the parties' written cost allocation and obtain actual survey, berth, insurance and maintenance quotations. A related question is answered in our guide on how to register a boat in France.
Yacht broker and buyer inspecting a sailing yacht on deck.
Free online procedures
Maritime Ministry guidance updated 17 July 2026 states that its described online registration and ownership-change procedures are free.
Source: French Maritime Ministry, buying and registering sea-going boatsThe Ministry's tax guidance updated 22 September 2026 states that TAEMUP is due by the liable person identified at 1 January of the tax year.
Source: French Maritime Ministry, annual personal vessel taxThat September 2026 guidance applies through 31 December 2026: recreational hulls from 7 metres, and hulls under 7 metres with motorisation of at least 22 administrative horsepower, meet the stated boat-tax criteria.
Source: French Maritime Ministry, annual personal vessel taxThat September 2026 guidance separately states that from 1 January 2027 the motorisation threshold for recreational hulls under 7 metres becomes 120 kW; it is not the current 2026 rule.
Source: French Maritime Ministry, annual personal vessel taxSection 4
Service Public states that recreational boat insurance is generally optional, while vessels with gross tonnage at least 300 are subject to compulsory insurance. It also notes that a port or marina can require insurance evidence for a berth. As practical advice, send the proposed berth and trial arrangements to the insurer and operator and ask for written confirmation of cover. General national rules and a berth-contract condition are different questions, so neither should be assumed from the fact that the seller already keeps the yacht at a marina.
The Ministry says the personal online portal's features are not available to legal persons such as companies and associations. First French registration, technical changes, theft/destruction and removal from the French flag also require contact with the appropriate DDTM/DML in the stated guidance. As a practical recommendation, establish the administrative route before making the purchase timetable depend on an online transfer. A company-owned boat or an imported vessel should not be treated as identical to an already French-registered yacht sold between eligible individuals.
The Ministry gives 1 month from the sale date to complete the ownership-change formalities. It warns that an unrecorded transfer leaves the seller as owner for administrative purposes and liable for the annual tax until the change is recorded, and allows the seller to notify the service. As practical advice, agree responsibility for the declaration and inspect the new confirmation together. The deadline is not a researched estimate of actual processing time, and a signed sale document should not be used as a reason to forget the separate administrative update.
Broker tip: Practical recommendation: confirm the insurer's cover, the operator's berth requirements and the correct transfer route before completion. Agree who files the declaration and check the resulting administrative record together while the parties remain available. See also our guide on what boat insurance you need in France. For specific areas, see our guides on buying a boat in Corsica, buying a boat in Brittany and buying a boat in Côte d’Azur.
Boat registration at a marina office.
Insurance and port conditions
Practical support
Peter Mattey is a yacht broker at European Yacht Brokers with a BA in Law. He is not a French lawyer: for French law and tax we refer you to a locally qualified adviser. What we can do is help you plan the purchase, put the right questions to the other side and spot gaps in the paperwork before you commit.
If you are looking for a boat in France, tell us the type of boat, your budget and the area through the enquiry form on this page and a broker will reply. For anything this guide does not cover, email us at info@europeanyachtbrokers.com for the latest information.
The handover of a boat at the dock.
Your questions
The registration certificate is compulsory aboard, and the Ministry says older circulation cards and francisation documents remain valid after the registration reform. As a practical recommendation, compare the certificate with the yacht's identifying details and ask the maritime service about an older document if necessary. Its presence should support the administrative review, while ownership authority, mortgages and physical condition receive separate checks. (French Maritime Ministry, buying and registering sea-going boats)
For the eligible private-sale process, the seller starts the declaration and provides the generated transfer code to the buyer, who finalises the acquisition declaration. All co-owners must confirm agreement where the yacht is co-owned. As practical advice, arrange those steps before handover and keep the administrative completion record with the signed sale documents rather than leaving the update as an informal promise. (French Maritime Ministry, buying and registering sea-going boats)
The Ministry describes the relevant online registration and ownership-change procedures as free. That does not quote the cost of survey, berth, insurance or professional assistance. As a practical recommendation, obtain those quotations separately and record the buyer's and seller's agreed cost allocation. Keep that contractual arrangement apart from the annual-tax rule identifying the liable person at the start of the tax year. (French Maritime Ministry, buying and registering sea-going boats)
Service Public says it is generally optional, while vessels of gross tonnage at least 300 are subject to compulsory insurance. Ports and marinas may also require insurance evidence for a berth. As practical advice, check the actual yacht, berth contract and proposed trial or delivery with the insurer and operator rather than assuming a general national statement answers every contractual cover requirement. (Service Public, pleasure boat insurance)
No: the Ministry separately identifies the reform effective from 1 January 2027. The current 2026 rules remain applicable through 31 December 2026, including the stated administrative-horsepower threshold for shorter recreational boats. As a practical recommendation, ask the adviser to calculate the appropriate current liability and explain the future budget separately if you expect to own the yacht across the change. (French Maritime Ministry, annual personal vessel tax)
This guide only includes facts checked against official sources. For anything it does not cover, email us at info@europeanyachtbrokers.com for the latest information, and ask a locally qualified adviser to confirm the position for your own boat.
Ready when you are
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Check it yourself
Official guidance updated 17 July 2026: registration, ownership changes, documents and online services.
Official guidance updated 22 September 2026: current 2026 rules and separately identified changes effective 1 January 2027.
Current official guidance on insurance obligations, policy cover and damage to third parties.
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