Organisations & laws

Below we have collected some links to sailing or maritime organisations and laws related to the use of a boat:

Basic Rules

1. Right-of-way rules / Wegerechte  (english)
   

2. Navigational Rules (Navigation Centre of Excellence, US Dept.) (english)
   incl. detailed graphs / pics
   

3. Lights and shapes - Diederik Willemsen’s interactive guide (english)
   
   

Governmental bodies
Find some information directly from the regulatory bodies about rules, licences, navigation marks or up-to-date information on wracks etc.

1. The British Waterways (rivers and channels) (english-general)  (english-leisure)
   

2. Broads Authority (Norfolk & Suffolk Broads) (english) (incl. byelaws)
   

3. Bundesamt fuer Seeschiffahrt und Hydrography (german)
   

4. Environment Agency (Thames, Medway, rivers in East Anglia) (english) (incl. byelaws)
   

5. ELWIS - Elektronischer Wasserstrassen-Informationsservice (german)
   Nachrichten fuer die Binnenschiffahrt (ELWIS) (german)
   Bekanntmachungen fuer Seefahrer (ELWIS) (german)
   

6. International Maritime Organization (IMO) - a UN body (english) or (direct)
   Internationale Seeschifffahrtsorganisation (german)
   

7. Norwegian Maritime Authority (sjofartsdirectorat) (norwegian) (english)
   

8. Schiffsmeldedienst - private company providing information on Deutsche Bucht, rivers Elbe und Weser, Nordostseekanal and numerous harbours (german)
   

9. Wasser- und Schifffahrtsverwaltung des Bundes (german)
   

Yachting or sailing organisations
National and international organizations promote sailing sports

1. Dansk Sejlunion (Danish Sailing Association) (danish)
   

2. Deutscher Motoryachtverband e.V. (German Powerboat Federation) (DMYV)
   

3. Deutscher Segler Verband e.V. (German Sailing Federation) (DSV)
   

4. Disabled Sailing Organisation British Columbia (links to international disabled sailing organisations)
   

5. Estonian Sailing Organisation (estonian) (english)
   

6. Finish Sailing Organisation (suomi/swedish)
   

7. International Sailing Federation (ISAF)
   

8. Norwegian Sailing Federation (Norge Seilforbund) (norwegian)
   

9. Royal Yachting Association UK (RYA)
   

10. RYA Scotland (english)
    

11. Scottish Sailing Institue (Largs) (english)
    

12. Sail Training Association Netherlands (STAN) (dutch)
    

13. Swedish Sailing Federation (Svenska Seglerfoerbundet) (english)
    

14. Swiss Sailing Organisation (german/english)
    
    

Laws
Find information about the right-of-way, the lighting of different ship types, floating marks and lights, binding marine laws/byelaws etc.

1. International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 (COLREGS) (english)
   Kollisionsverhuetungsregeln (KVR) (german)
   

2. Official German by-law for the licences / Fuehrerscheinverordnung (ELWIS)
   

3. Binnenschifffahrtsstrassenordnung (BinSchStraO)(german, pdf) (incl. lighting, signals, signage etc.)
   

4. Donauschifffahrtspolizeiverordnung (DonauSchPVO) (german) (pdf)
   

5. Moselschifffahrtspolizeiverordnung (MoselSchPVO) (german) (pdf)
   

6. Seeschifffahrtsstrassenordnung (SeeSchStraO)(german, pdf) (incl. lighting, signals, signage etc.)
   

7. Schiffahrtsordnung Emsmuendung (EmsSchO) (german) (pdf)
   (applicable for the estuary of the rivers Ems & Leda)
   

8. Rheinschifffahrtspolizeiverordnung (RheinSchPVO) (german) (pdf)
   

9. Further German laws and by-laws on ELWIS (german)
   

10. Admirality and law guide (comprehensive collection of links to law resources worldwide) (english)
    

11. British Maritime Law Association (english)
    

Certain sail boat categories

1. Ueberblick / Overview (boot.de) (german)
   
   

2. 470.org (english)
   

3. Deutsche 470er Klassenvereinigung (470er.de)
   

4. 49er class (english)
   

5. International Finn Association (english)
   

6. International Topper Class Association (ITCA)
   

7. Laser Class (features some infos on the history/rigging tips) (english)
   Laser International (english)
   Laserklasse (german)
   International Laser Class Association - North America Region (english)
   Laser Class - UK (english)
   New Zealand Laser Class (english)
   Australian Laser Class (english)
   

8. International Optimist Dinghy Association (english) and more members worldwide (english)
   

9. National Solo Class (english)
   

10. O-Jolle (Olympic Class) (german) (history)
    O-Jolle NL (dutch), AUT (german), CH (german)
    

11. RS Class German Association (german)
    International RS Class Association (english)
    

12. World Matching Tour (english)
    

13. Zugvogel (schwertzugvogel.de)(german)
    

Some selected yachting clubs

1. Royal Norwegian Yacht Club (english/norwegian)
   

2. Scottish Yacht Clubs (list of clubs) (english)
   

Traditional ships

1. Traditional Sailing Ship Association in Finland (english)
   

1. Getting a licence & sailing courses
   

2. Seamanship / Seemanschaft
   

3. Navigation & maps
   

4. Organisations & laws
   

5. Technical information
   

6. Other links resources