Trailing a small boat -Trailer Regs and Speeds

[Deimos]

This winter I am considering buying a boat (a dinghy) and another thread "raised my awareness" about number plates on trailers.

The boat will be small (4.3 m long by 1.42m wide) Light as well (130Kg everything - boat, trolley and trailer) and will be towed behind a French Peugeot 206 (i.e. French Licence places, etc.).I plan on buying the boat when I visit the UK (much cheaper in the UK plus I have many bad experiences with French guarantees). I would be buying new and have been told that the trailer conforms to EU regulations, is CE marked, etc.

Boats is low but would obscure the vehicle's back licence plate. I would be getting a "lighting board" to clip on the back of the boat to brake lights, indicators, etc.

Questions are:

1) What number plates should I have when first returning to France (e.g. those of the car ?)

2) Would such a trailer require its own Carte Gris (or approvals, tests in France, etc.) ?

Also, from what I can find it seems that the trailer (incl. everything) is light enough that I would not be subject to reduced speed limits as is the case in the UK. Have I found this out correctly or would slower speed limits apply when trailing the boat ?

(I had a search but could not find info)

Many thanks

Ian

[Sunday Driver]

As the PTAC of your trailer (all up weight of trailer and boat) will be under 500kg then it does not need to be registered in it's own right.  You will need to take with you a rear number plate showing your car's French registration and fit it to your lighting board when you collect the boat and trailer.  That's all you need to do - the setup is valid for UK and France.

With regard to trailers generally, those with a PTAC over 500kg need a separate carte grise (and will therefore need type approval).  Those over 750kg will additionally need to be braked.  Moreover, the weight of towcar and trailer determine the driving licence category required.

In France, cars towing a trailer are not subject to reduced speed limits, provided the trailer is not a caravan (they are subject to a lower speed limit on certain stretches of road, eg downhill, high winds).  Note, though, that on autoroutes where the traffic flow is fluid and in conditions of clear visibilty, you may not use the left (overtaking) lane if your speed is less than 80kph. 

 

[Deimos]

Many thanks for the response. Very helpful.

One thought; I assume that a UK light board will have the fog/reversing lights the opposite way round to a French light board ? If this is the case, are the fog/reversing lights positions (left/right) important from a regulations perspective (i.e. should I purchase the light board in France or is a UK sourced one OK) ?

Many thanks

Ian

[Sunday Driver]

The rear fog light needs to be on the "offside" - that will make it the opposite side to that of the UK. 

I have a Halfords light bar which I used to use on my motorbike trailer in the UK, but it's not wide enough to reposition the fog light because of the other lights, reflector triangles, etc.  I've bought a new French light board which is actually much better quality than the crap Halfords one....the light's don't flicker because of cheapo bulb holders. [;-)]