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Lock Up your Passarelles
Boats have been stolen for tens of thousands of years: to escape pursuers, for warfare, to catch fish to eat, for crossing a water obstacle, to elope (with the right nautical woman!) or just for fun. But this philosophy does not console an owner whose "toy" has gone missing. And yachts certainly are a potential target, though they need expert criminals with knowledge of engineering, electronics and navigation to achieve this, especially the bigger ones with professional crews who have a duty-man on alert most of the time and closed-circuit TV with alarms.
Yacht thefts reported in the news recently concentrate on motor-yachts, usually in the 60-70ft range. It’s unreasonable to steal such a boat: with full tanks, it could only get to a maximum 300 miles before it would have to refuel. From the Riviera this would mean Tunisia or southern Italy; these are countries which co-operate well with Interpol's searches for stolen yachts. Sailing yachts, which motor only if they cannot sail, are better targets and could get away non-stop to the Straits of Gibraltar (towards the West Indies) or the Dardanelles (for Russia or Romania). They lack speed though and thieves could get nervous and just plunder the boat and sink it - a good heavy keel will take a mono-hull sailboat down once water is admitted. Maybe that was the fate of the classic 10-metre double-ender belonging to a well-known megayacht captain, stolen from Antibes 10 years ago. Never found since.
This year, some five modern motor-yachts have been stolen, notably from Bonifacio, Corsica. First fuel stop might be Cagliari, then either Malta and the Black Sea, or south to Tunisia where yachting is becoming popular and more boats are needed. But an Atlantic crossing would be out of the question. The French Police believe that these thefts are helped by insiders employed in the gardiennage industry (which looks after yachts in the absence of their owners). These people would ensure the yacht was fully fuelled up and ready to move, with duplicate keys prepared for the thieves, along with knowledge on the owner's movements.
Insurers report far fewer boats being stolen now than in the 1980s; and most are in fact small units, easily run up a nearby slipway and whisked away to be given a new appearance and identity. Although most new boats now have a “DNA-system” of Hull Identification Numbers (some only visible under ultraviolet light) and motor serial numbers, thieves can find a ready second-hand market. These craft are easy to pack into containers for shipping to another continent under false documentation. Insurers’ worry now about fraudulent “theft”where a heavily-insured yacht is “stolen”by accomplices and sold on or sunk.
A good way of ensuring security here is to keep the boat in the “onshore marina” of Port Inland at Mandelieu (see contacts page 30) where 750 craft up to 11-metres are stowed on racks four high. Any thief wanting to joyride would need a very special forklift engine to get the boat down from the rack and into the River Siagne, thence out to sea. Of course only small boats (not sailboats because of their masts and keels) are eligible but they are large enough for a family to cruise our beautiful Coast.
As a yacht-owner, I naturally worry a bit about this; but in fact never lock the boat and indeed leave the "ignition" keys in place, on the basis nobody would want to steal such an odd craft. Rather like my ancient scooter - why steal that, when there are thousands much more glossy for the taking? M.H.
From Riviera Reporter issue 118, Dec 2006/Jan 2007
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Yachting and Boating 
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