Registering boat after converting from outboard to inboard.

[Gilera]

I'm very confused. 

I want to convert a 12ft tinnie to inboard with jet drive as I usually fish in an area with shallow dirty water and many sand banks.  For a several reasons including cost, convenience and availability I would like to use an older small jet ski powerplant. Likely a 567cc 2 stroke Rotax engine which had around 50hp when new. 

I will need to get the boat registered and I live in NSW, however I suspect that what I am about to say relates to equally to other states. 

In an attempt to ensure that I would not be doing anything illegal, I emailed Maritime NSW and asked if there would be an issue with registering a tinnie with an inboard, and whether there is any restriction on engine size. I pointed out that an inboard motor mated to a jet drive is significantly less efficient than an outboard when it comes to power delivery and therefore, I don't believe that any hp ratings related to outboards should apply. After 2 weeks and no response, I rang them and asked the same question. I was told to ring the people that issue boat codes and ask them as it wasn't a maritime issue. 

I rang one such agent and asked the same question. He told me that to issue a HIN number, he must see evidence of ownership, and apart from that the particulars that are recorded against the HIN code only relate to boat dimensions. He said it is not his responsibility to determine whether any engine fitted to the vessel is appropriate or safe. 

I rang Maritime again and told them what the boat code guy had said. They then changed their minds about this and told me that I need to contact the manufacturer of the boat and ask them. I told them that many older boats such as mine have no builders plate and the company that I believe manufactured the boat no longer exists. I also told them that I highly doubt that any manufacturer would accept the liability of providing such information in writing for no benefit to them. They then suggested that the manufacturer could possibly just give a ball park figure! So at this point I realised that I was wasting my time talking to Maritime about it. I asked one specific question - would any such modification interfere with the registration process. They admitted that this is not a consideration for registration. The person then told me that if I was pulled up by a maritime officer on the water, they have some shipwright training and are somewhat qualified to make an assessment of the safety of my vessel and potentially deem it unsafe! I find it hard to believe that this could be legal but I guess it is somewhat similar to a cop giving a defect notice for a car?? The difference being that there seems to be clear cut laws about what you can and can't do when modifying a car. Are there any such laws for boats? The take home message was that I don't believe that they knew whether what I was talking about was legal or not.

I know that conversion to jet propulsion if not that uncommon. I have seen commercial guys use tinnies with a jet to run mullet nets off the ocean beaches up and down the East coast. I have also seen people on several forums who have homemade alloy hulls about 10-14ft long with large (up to 300hp) jet ski transplants and at least some of them seem to have registration. I looked up one such QLD registered vessel by the rego numbers on the QLD govt website and it just stated the length and "inboard jet propulsion" under the engine type with no details on hp.  Also there are hundreds of race/ski boats out there with huge V8 engines in very small hulls and I assume that any such boat using navigable waters must be registered.

 

I have read many threads about the legality of fitting larger outboards than what is recommended by the builder and people often mention things about issues with insurance if something goes wrong. I'm not sure what insurance they are referring to exactly. I cannot see that determining whether a boat is overpowered would be very easy in cases of no builders plate. I would not be insuring my boat against theft or damage as it would not be worth much and I am not worried about damaging other vessels as I rarely encounter other boats where I go. If I do it is another tinnie. Personal liability insurance is not included in boat rego like it is with car rego and although it may be included when getting property insurance cover, I doubt many owners of small inexpensive runabouts have this type of insurance - right or wrong it would mean that it is a moot point in these cases. 

So after all that, does anyone know whether it is a clear cut case of being illegal the law to convert an old boat with no builders plate (but with a HIN number) to an inboard motor/jet unit? If so please help me by providing some info on the specific legislation which I would be breaching. 

[dunc333]

i dont know your answer but i suggest you contact one of those jet boat clubs that race around the home made courses ,im sure they would point you in the right direction ,they have massive power plants in small boats .hope that helps cheers dunc333