"As the prime UK Notified Body for the EU RCD, the RYA can now carry out all RCD assessment work and, if appropriate, issue CE certificates enabling new and imported recreational boats to be sold in the EU, " said the RYA's RCD coordinator, Tricia Grady.

Our facility is structured, she says, to ensure that UK boatbuilders and their customers benefit from simple, inexpensive assessment which keeps the additional costs imposed by the RCD to an absolute minimum.

The official notification process has taken six months of hard work, as Grady explained: "To achieve Notified Body status, the RYA has to comply with criteria, set by the DTI, which uses the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) to screen suitability.

UKAS, working with the ISO 17020 quality system, checked internal systems here at RYA Headquarters as well as our work out on boatbuilder sites."

The DTI then "notified" the EU of the appointment and we received our notification, she added. Gaining Notified Body status is a major achievement for the RYA, which enables us to operate in areas of technical competence - arguably at the same level as the approval departments of Lloyds Register and other classification societies.