Legal framework
Governing: Division 240 (definitions of location and chef de bord); mer.gouv.fr guidance on commercial pleasure vessels (NUC). Builds on: L2.1.
You are the chef de bord
Division 240 defines the chef de bord as the person responsible for the conduct of the boat, compliance with regulations and the safety of the people aboard. On a bareboat hire, that is you. Not the company, not the friend who knows the bay. The declaration you signed (L2.1) says so on its first line.
What "location" means
Division 240 defines location as a contract under which the owner or operator entrusts the use of a boat to a hirer for a period, in return for a price. The company provides the boat; you provide the skipper. That is the bareboat model, and it is what most beach and harbour rental bases do.
Insurance
In the primary texts we read we found no general statutory rule requiring a particular insurance for a hired pleasure boat. Cover is set by the contract. Before you sign, ask:
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Is third-party liability included? | Injury to a swimmer or damage to another boat is the expensive case |
| What is the excess (franchise)? | Often equal to the deposit |
| Is the hull covered, and the engine and props? | Grounding damage is the commonest claim |
| What voids the cover? | Unlisted driver, alcohol, leaving the permitted area, night use |
Deposits
The deposit (caution) is usually a card pre-authorisation and is purely contractual. What protects you is evidence:
- photographs at pick-up and return (L2.1);
- the permitted area written into the contract;
- the fuel level noted at both ends.
Skippered hire: the part people get wrong
If you want someone else to drive, there are two very different set-ups.
A crewed charter. The boat is operated commercially with a professional skipper. Under mer.gouv.fr guidance, carrying paying passengers requires a vessel approved for commercial use, a navire à utilisation commerciale (NUC), or a Division 242 commercial yacht, crewed by seafarers holding professional titles. The passenger caps published are 12 under motor and 30 under sail. The skipper holds, for example, a BACPN or BACPNV for small boats, or a capitaine 200 title. Doing this with a non-NUC boat or an uncertificated skipper is illegal and can also be treated as undeclared work.
A bareboat hire plus a separately engaged skipper (location avec skipper). We found no primary text that settles this arrangement. Ask who employs the skipper, what title they hold, and who is legally chef de bord. If the answer is vague, so is your cover.
WARNING — the friend with a permis A permis plaisance never allows paid work. Someone with a permis côtier who takes money to drive your group is not a skipper in the legal sense, whatever the website says.
Sailing yachts
For a sailing yacht no licence is required (L1.1). The charter company will still judge whether you are competent, and may insist on a skipper. That is contract, not law, but it is the company's boat.
TIP — keep the paper Keep the contract, the declaration and the inspection report together in a dry bag aboard. Inspectors ask for the declaration; your insurer will ask for the rest.