On this I would agree with jaxie - it is patently illegal for a non-citizen of the US to own, or in
any way have a controlling interest, in a US Documented vessel. The laws go on at great length
closing as many loopholes as the lawyers could think of. There is no exemption for recreational
vessels. Vessels in violation certainly lose their documentation, and might be liable for seizure.

I'm not sure how this works if the vessel is not in US waters. However, being a US flagged vessel
means that it can be boarded and searched anywhere in the world by US authorities. Maybe we should
send a cutter to the Adriatic to help close the budget deficit.


--
-jeff

"BrianH" wrote in message ...
JAXAshby wrote:
close, but a couple of points

boats can be "registered" with a state (New York, Alabama,
California, Guam, etc), and usually have to be to kept in use in that
state for some period of time. you do not need to be a US citizen to
register or use a boat in any state. mostly, you just have to pay
your fees. state registration is usually not recognized by national
governments of the world.


There are many US registered yachts in the Adriatic - owned and sailed by Slovenian nationals;
everywhere down the Croatian coast there are Ol' Glory ensigns flying on ships with no one
speaking English on board.

Slovenia, now a EU member state, has high import tarifs for recreational boats (to protect their
own industry, Elan in particular) and many Slovenians register their new imported craft in
Delaware - it's a cottage industry there.

Imagine, the USA, a flag of convenience country.

BrianH.