Buying a used boat: the checklist before you sign

This list is a common-sense guide for a first viewing and a sea trial. It does not replace a marine survey: for a boat worth more than a few tens of thousands of euros, or as soon as something worries you, have an independent surveyor look at it before you sign — their report also carries weight in the negotiation.

1. Before the viewing: the papers and the history

Half the work is done remotely. Before you travel, ask the seller for:

• The registration document (in France, the carte de circulation or acte de francisation) in the seller’s name. If the registered holder is a leasing company, the sale goes through it.
• The hull identification number (HIN / CIN) engraved on the hull, to compare with the papers. An illegible or different HIN is a warning sign.
• The maintenance history: boatyard invoices, haul-outs and antifouling, engine services, replacement of the standing rigging, batteries and sails. A seller who keeps a Hullteam log can send you their sale file: each job carries a level of proof (declared, documented, confirmed by the professional), and the entries are sealed and timestamped by a third party — you can verify a fingerprint yourself.
• The current insurance certificate, and the absence of any declared claim (ask the insurer for the claims history statement).
• The CE declaration of conformity (boats built after 1998) and the design category (A, B, C, D).
• The engine hours and the date of the last reading; the age of the batteries; the age of the sails and standing rigging (to be replaced at around 10–15 years depending on use).
• The situation at the marina: berth contract, any outstanding debts, winter storage.

2. Hull and structure

• Underwater hull: osmosis blisters (small bubbles under the gelcoat), visible repairs, condition of the antifouling and date of the last haul-out.
• Impacts and repairs on the stem, chines and transom; consistency with the history.
• Keel: hull-to-keel joint (cracks, rust streaks), keel bolts from inside, play when sounded.
• Rudder and rudder stock: play, water ingress, cracks.
• Through-hulls and seacocks: number, material, operation, corrosion; anodes worn or new.
• Deck: softness underfoot (delamination of the sandwich), cracks at the stanchion bases and at the mast foot, seals of portlights and hatches, signs of damp inside.
• Bilges: dry? Traces of fresh water (a leak) or salt water (water ingress)? A smell of diesel or damp.

3. Engine and propulsion

• Engine compartment clean and dry, with no traces of oil, diesel or coolant leaks.
• Cold start: how easily it starts, smoke (blue = oil, white = water or injection, black = overload), noise at idle.
• Cooling circuit: impeller, heat exchanger, water flow at the exhaust, temperature under load.
• Shaft drive or saildrive: play, stern gland, gaiters, saildrive oil (milky = water ingress), propeller and anodes.
• History: oil changes, filters, belts, dates; hours consistent with age and use. A 20-year-old engine with 300 hours may have been used very little — or maintained very little.
• Engine mounts, flexible mounts, alignment.

4. Rigging and sails (sailing boats)

• Standing rigging: date of replacement, swages, turnbuckles, chainplates (rust, cracks). Some insurers require replacement every ten years.
• Mast and boom: corrosion at the foot, cracks, blocks, sheaves, gooseneck.
• Sails: wear at chafe points, stitching, UV damage to the genoa’s UV strip, shape (a sail that bellies out has had its day).
• Furler, winches (recently serviced?), running rigging.

5. Electrics and electronics

• Battery bank: age, technology, resting voltage, shore charger, alternator, any solar panel.
• Switch panel: tidiness, circuit breakers, no makeshift “bodges” or terminal blocks; corrosion on the lugs.
• Navigation lights, automatic bilge pump, windlass.
• Electronics: switch everything on — depth sounder, log, GPS, autopilot, VHF (DSC test call), AIS. Check the ship radio licence and the MMSI.

6. Plumbing, gas, tanks

• Water and diesel tanks: condition, gauges, smells; black water tank and its valve.
• Pumps, marine toilet, water heater.
• Gas installation: regulator, dated hoses, shut-off valve, detector.

7. Safety equipment

The mandatory safety equipment depends on the sailing area (in France, the Division 240 rules). Above all, check what expires:

• Hand flares and rockets: the date on each one (three years in general).
• Fire extinguishers: inspection date; liferaft: service date and capacity.
• Inflatable lifejackets: firing heads and cylinders serviced; EPIRB: battery and registration.
• First-aid kit in date, lifebuoy, harnesses and jacklines.

A Hullteam sale file shows the safety inventory declared by the seller, with the dates — useful to cost what will need replacing.

8. The sea trial

• Manoeuvres in the marina: going astern, bow thruster, holding revs.
• Engine under load for at least twenty minutes: temperature, vibration, smoke, speed at cruising revs.
• Under sail: balanced helm, autopilot holding its course, suspicious noises, watertight openings.
• After the trial: bilges again, engine compartment, smells.

9. Before you sign

• A written bill of sale, with the boat’s full identity (name, registration, HIN), price, date, condition report and the list of inventory included.
• Change-of-ownership formalities with the authorities, within the month.
• Transfer of the maintenance log: if the seller uses Hullteam, they transfer the complete log to you and a transfer certificate is frozen for you both.
• Insurance active from the moment you get the keys.

The questions that get a seller talking

• “What would you have done if you were keeping her another year?”
• “Which boatyard knows the boat? Can I call them?”
• “When was she last out of the water, and what did they find?”
• “Has she had any knocks, any water ingress, a dismasting?”

A seller who answers with invoices and dates is worth more than a seller who answers with adjectives.