To "light up" your boat during navigation, you need navigation lights. In pleasure boating, there are 2 categories of boats: the motor boats and the sailing ships that sail (A sailboat under power is considered a motorboat, even if it has sails.)
The regulation of navigation lights for ships comes from the RIPAM (International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea). Rules 22, 23 and 25.
The navigation lights will change depending on whether the vessel is underway or stationary - at anchor, for example.
For boats under sail
A sailboat must have traffic lights:
- a red one on the front port side
- a green one on the front starboard side
- a white on the back
SPECIAL CASES
Ãeuros on board a sailboat of less than 20 m the three lights can be combined into a single one placed at the top of the mast. This assembly allows to use only one bulb and thus to divide the electric consumption by three.
Sailboats of a length less than 7 m (as well as rowing vessels) may dispense with lights, but must be prepared to immediately display an electric light or a lit white light to prevent a collision.
For boats under power
A motorboat (under 50 m - which corresponds to our pleasure boats) must have traffic lights:
- a red on the front port side
- a green on the starboard side
- a white on the back
and - a fire white masthead on the front
SPECIAL CASES
A motorboat of less than 12 m can be limited to :
- a fire white visible on the whole horizon
- a red on the front port side
- a green on the starboard side
A motorboat of less than 7 m and whose speed does not exceed not 7 knots can be satisfied with :
- a fire white visible on the whole horizon
The range of the lights
For vessels (sail or motor) with a length of between 12 and 50 m :
- masthead light : 5 miles (3 miles for vessels under 20 m)
- side light (red and green) : 2 miles
- stern light (white back) : 2 miles
- anchor light : 2 miles
For vessels (sail or motor) with a length of less than 12 m :
- masthead light : 2 miles
- side light (red and green) : 1 mile
- stern light (white back) : 2 miles
- anchor light : 2 miles
