Funding for trailed day boats, bowriders and small launches used for coastal fishing, watersports and unhurried afternoons out on the water with the family.
Whole-of-market — 60+ lenders searched, including
Yes. Day boats are funded as marine assets, generally on hire purchase or an unsecured marine loan depending on the size of the craft, and most are bought with the engine and trailer as one package. Used boats are readily fundable and dominate the small boat market. What surprises buyers is how thin the paperwork is at this end: private sales often come with nothing more than a handwritten receipt, and a funder needs a proper bill of sale, the hull identification number and the outboard serial number before it can identify what it is lending against.
Used kit: Yes — second-hand is the norm and hulls of fifteen years or more are commonly funded where the outboard is serviceable and properly identified.
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Business asset finance is quoted on a flat rate, so that is what this shows — with the equivalent APR underneath, because the two are not the same number. A quick guide only; your actual rate depends on the asset, term, deposit and lender.
Representative example: on Hire Purchase, borrowing £25,000 over 48 months at a 6.0% flat rate (equivalent to 11.5% APR representative), you would repay around £646 a month; total amount repayable approximately £31,000, of which £6,000 is the cost of finance. This calculator is for illustration only — it is not a quote or an offer of finance, and the rate and repayments you are offered will depend on the asset, term, deposit and your circumstances. CW Asset Finance is a credit broker, not a lender, and may receive a commission from the lender that funds your agreement. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval. CW Asset Finance is an Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 630701).
Small craft are a volume business for a handful of marine funders and are invisible to everyone else, so the placement question is which of those few has appetite for the size and age in front of us. Below a certain value a full survey may not be demanded, but the funder will still want the hull identification number, engine serial and trailer details recorded, because outboards are stolen and reappear at this end of the market more than anywhere else in boating. Nearly every purchase is a private individual buying for leisure, so the agreement is likely to be regulated. A launching slot, club membership or dry stack space is a separate contract and cannot be funded as part of the boat.
Examples of the machines we are asked to fund. This is not an exhaustive list — if what you are buying is not here, it does not mean we cannot fund it. Your supplier quote is what the agreement is written against.
| Machine | What it is |
|---|---|
| Orkney Longliner 16 | Traditional GRP day fishing boat |
| Orkney Pilot House 20 | Cabin day boat for coastal use |
| Quicksilver Activ 555 Open | Open sports day boat |
| Warrior 165 | British-built sea angling day boat |
| Warrior 175 | Fast fishing and day boat |
| Bayliner VR5 bowrider | Family bowrider day boat |
| Jeanneau Cap Camarat 6.5 | Outboard powered day cruiser |
| Honda Marine BF100 outboard | Four-stroke outboard for day boats |
| Mercury F115 outboard | Outboard engine and controls package |
| Indespension roller trailer | Braked road trailer for launching |
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Typically a family buying a first boat to tow to Whitby, Anglesey or the West Coast, or a keen sea angler moving up from a dinghy to something with a cuddy and a chart plotter. The trigger is often a summer spent hiring, or a second-hand boat coming up locally at the end of a season. Buyers are usually funding the whole package at once and want the boat, engine and trailer covered on a single agreement.
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Bought on hire purchase, business plant and machinery normally qualifies for capital allowances on the full cost even though you pay for it monthly, which is a large part of why hire purchase is the common structure. On a finance lease you generally set the rentals against profit instead. The rules change between budgets and your position depends on how you trade, so treat this as the direction of travel and get your accountant to confirm the detail before you commit.
In practice there is a floor, though it is set by value rather than length. Very small craft can fall below what a marine funder will write an agreement on, in which case a different funding route is usually the answer. Tell us the boat, engine and trailer together and we will know quickly.
It slows things down but is usually workable. We prepare a proper bill of sale, record the hull identification number and engine serial, and check the seller genuinely owns the boat. A handwritten receipt on its own does not give a funder enough to take security against.
Yes, that is a common request. The engine is often worth more than the boat at this end, so it can be funded in its own right and matched to the hull on the agreement. We record both so the package is properly documented from the start.
Not legally for private use on most waters, but a Small Ships Register entry is inexpensive and gives the funder a reference point. Some inland navigations require their own licence, and that is separate from both the finance and any registration. Check with the club or harbour authority before you buy rather than after.
Only with the right coding and the right agreement. Taking paying passengers moves the boat into commercial use, which needs MCA coding and changes the underwrite to a trading income assessment. Tell us upfront, because retro-fitting commercial use onto a leisure agreement causes problems. Coding also brings survey and equipment requirements the boat may not currently meet.
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Not an offer of finance. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
Tell us what you’re looking to fund and Conor will come back to you personally — usually the same day.
Prefer to talk? Call 07581 364281 · serving Leeds, York, Harrogate, Wakefield, Selby, Tadcaster & across North & West Yorkshire.