Here is the deal.

I bought a custom made hull with the understanding that it would not have a USCG plate...

the boat has been inspected and registered not a big deal but when I was down in UT picking up the boat I was stopped and was told if I plan to run the boat in UT I had to have a USCG plate...

now back in Idaho I have been running the hull for 3 months no problems... got stopped for a boat check at the lake and was given a saftey boat inspection sticker for my hull... but when they wanted to see my plate for the motor HP size and head count for the hull I told them I didn't have a plate since it was a Commercial hull... They explained to me that I still needed a plate since all boats have to have a USCG plate and showed me in a thick book... they gave me a link to a pdf for backyard boat builders that goes over all this and tells me how to make a plate... but still passed my boat since they did some math and said I could have up to 7 people and could see the boat was made well and could handle more than 35hp...

I was checked last week agian and told the Warden It was a Commercial hull so then he asked me what I was doing in the boat that was Commercial...lol... He told me to get a plate for the boat or he would give me a ticket since I didn't have one...

so I know Gator Trax sells these Commercial hull and it seems most of the great boat builders on here do also...

so how are you guys getting around the loop hole since all boats under 23ft have to have a USCG plate...

funny thing is Idaho doesn't say I have to follow what the Plate has stamped on it... its just a guide... but they are telling me now since its a USCG law to have a plate I have to have one...

any help here would be great...

Here is some info from the USCG on another forum. This pertains to a recreational hull but as you can read the plate has no real requirement and is nothing more than recommended cautionary safety info. per the USCG themselves. I will say that I have ran several commercial hulls and my last Weldbuilt commercial hull had a sticker that said "commercial use only" and no plate. Just get yourself a piece of aluminum scrap and a letter punch kit and make your own. Bet they would not question it.

There is no Federal requirement for the owner of a boat to have a capacity plate. Federal regulations require the manufacturer of a recreational boat that is less than 20 feet in length to place a capacity label on the boat when it leaves the factory. This manufacturer requirement is in place for informational purposes for the purchaser of the boat. There is no Federal regulation requiring the owner to retain or maintain the capacity label nor to comply with the information on the label. With all that said, however, some states have passed a state law requiring boat owners to have a capacity label on their boat and to strictly comply with the information on the label. Alabama is one of the states that has such a law but, unfortunately, in enacting the law, they offered no avenue for boat owners who do not have a capacity label to get one. Since it appears that you have the information that should be on the label, I suggest that you place this information on a 3X5 card, laminate it, and glue it inside the boat. Since your boat is a Correct Craft I assume it is an inboard or sterndrive less than 20 feet in length. If so, the label should read:
U.S. Coast Maximum Capacities
6 Persons or 850 Pounds
1100 Pounds, persons, gear

However, if your boat is an outboard the label should read:
U.S. Coast Maximum Capacities
6 Persons or 850 Pounds
1100 Pounds, persons, motor, gear
240 Horsepower

Phil Cappel
Chief, Recreational Boating Product Assurance Branch (CG-54223)
Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety, United States Coast Guard
Phone: (202) 372-1076 Fax: (202) 372-1933
E-mail: Philip.J.Cappel@uscg.mil
Web: http://www.uscgboating.org

When I got mine done in tx I asked about this. They said that I didn't need to put it as a commercial hull and that I could just do it as a pleasure craft. I asked about uscg cert and flotation an it didn't matter.

Mine has no plate and is registered as a "pleasure craft" also.

Different States have different rules....

LA don't care if you drown your dumb azz self....

Texas requires you to sign a form swearing it's for commercial use at purchase - if purchased
in Texas - but currently will Title and register such a hull to any individual who brings it in
from LA or another state without such a signed form - and then don't care if you drown your
dumb azz self - after you pay your State Sales Tax....

Thats how they do it !

interesting!

Is it possible that you are creating a problem for yourself by presenting it as a "commercial hull" as opposed to a Homebuilt or Homemade hull?

Not sure where you got your boat or who built it, but if it wasn't Prodrive, Gatortail, or one of the manufacturers then I would suspect that technically it is not a "Commercial Hull" but rather a Homebuilt or Homemade Hull.

I registered mine as a Homebuilt Hull and the GW (I think in most states that is the process) even has to come out and put a sticker (HIN sticker) on it to be able to register it.

No problem at all.......

Surely it is not illegal in your state for a man to build his own boat.....

As stated earlier, the USCG plate is required of boat mfg not the owner of the boat. You can technically remove it, ignore it, whatever you want to do once you own the boat. A mfg just can't mfg one and not place it on there. The GW can't even ticket you for overpowering, overloading it, or ignoring it. Not saying they won't, just that technically they can't. In fact, there are some GW who would ticket you or use the all purpose "operating the vessel in a unsafe manner" ticket. Just saying that they aren't supposed to and the law does not technically back them up. But you will never win arguing with a GW...

You might have an issue up there because some Boat Mfg's (can't imagine who) might have gotten with the State Leg and passed a law that is complicating the issue for you in an effort to keep the custom builders out of their markets. Maybe a state law trumps the federal law, but then that would kind of conflict with them using the "federal" USCG plate as a basis for their law. It would seem if they are using the USCG plate to create a law the law would have to be supported by the very Federal Law that creates the plate in the first place. Maybe Dguidry can answer that one.

Might want to call the Poobah up in UT land and ask them how they been registering all those GatorTrax hulls over the years. Pretty sure they were and may still be a commercial hull.

Thanks for the info guys... I think my problem was calling it a Commercial hull vs a homebuilt... its reg as a homebuilt... the wife called on this today... and was give mixed information... so I have a spec of what a USCG plate should be layed out so I'm just going to make one up and put it on the hull and be done with it...

Sounds like the GW up there don't care where the plate comes from as long as it's there. U can likely get a nice one stamped 4 a reasonable fee that wont look cheesy. We don't have that problem in LA. Interestingly enough, my sealed double bottom boat will float a whole lot better than Gigas POS godevil boat because air is so much lighter than that crappy water soaking foam, even if the foam is NEW.
AND if I knock a hole in my boat I still won't sink because my double bottom is sealed and won't hold enough water to sink me.

the one in my boat was filled out with a ball piont pen. i beleave they are available from tthe cost guard. its the yellow one. all the fields are printed but the numbers are blank. my builder wrote the hp and people on it with a pen and handed it to me. he advised i could stick on if i wanted. i wish i could get back to him and find out where he gets them from, but like i said he had a stack of them and filled them out as he completed the boats.