California Bill Signed to Encourage Superyacht Traffic

A band of yachting businesses made progress with legislation to ease regulatory barriers against superyachts cruising to California, also known as Assembly Bill 2005, championed by California Assemblyman Martin Garrick.

Under current law, non-commercial vessels greater than 300 tons have to comply with onerous and costly reporting requirements prior to entering California waters. Assembly Bill 2005 maintains the reporting requirement but allows vessels an expanded timeframe for compliance.

For the past several months, Todd Roberts, vice president of Marine Group Boat Works and acting on behalf of the San Diego superyacht industry, has made several trips to senate hearings stressing the importance of a bill like this for San Diego’s local economy and the impact superyachts make when they pull into our ports.

Those visits to Sacramento paid off. On September 26, Assembly Bill 2005 was signed by Governor Brown. While increased tourism is good news for the state as a whole, it’s specifically good for the superyachts coming this way for the America’s Cup and/or looking for new destinations to cruise other than the Caribbean-to-Med yacht circuit.