14 without a title

I found a 14 that I would like to buy on Craigslist. The person selling it has no title. In SC, any sailboat must be titled to be registered. The person selling the boat is someone I know and trust, so I am not afraid I am being scammed, but I also want to do this right.

The SC DNR titling process is long and expensive. Anyone have a better idea on how to do something more quickly? What are the odds of getting fined/ticketed? And then what happens?

Are you sure that a 14' needs a title? In Wisconsin we only need titles on 16' sailboats and over. But 14' or over just needs a registration tag and numbers.
I've never seen a police boat try to stop a sailboat yet. The only time a cop boat came near me was on my 1st pitchpole with a 14, over 20 years ago.
I've been waiting almost 2 months for registration and title for a 16 now.

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JKK
83 yellow/ white decks Hobie 14 Corando turbo
82 yellow hulls Hobie 16 Cat Fever
84 yellow hulls hobie 16 Yellow Nationals
plus a few extras that I'm restoring

Did a 15 second google search and in south Carolina boats 14' and under do not require a title unless it has a motor

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2001 H18 w/SX wings & spinnaker #16740 (purchased new)
1989 H18 w/SX wings #14565 (purchased new, sold 2000)
Would buy another if Hobie would build it.

I live in Ohio and have a 14 ft. Catamaran. Our law states that a boat under 14 ft doesn't need a title, and a Hobie 14 isn't technically 14 ft. When given the same hassle, I took in the specs. After some surprise on their part (not many are boating people), my boat was licensed without any further argument. They also "tagged" the boat on-line so there wouldn't any any questions in the future. Check your state regs, and best of luck to you. It might also be worth your while to go in on a low volume day/time ( not lunch, not Saturday) when the employees aren't under a time constraint.

In Wisconsin... Non motorized boats are optional on registration...(voluntary) this would cover canoes, kayaks and row boats under 16'
But if it's a sailboat over 12' it requires registration only
All boats over 16' must have titles just to register...

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JKK
83 yellow/ white decks Hobie 14 Corando turbo
82 yellow hulls Hobie 16 Cat Fever
84 yellow hulls hobie 16 Yellow Nationals
plus a few extras that I'm restoring

I have a H16 in SC and titled/registered it with DNR. Any boat under 16 feet, without a motor, does not require a title or registration. The process you are talking about involves advertising the boat for a period of time, and some other steps, and is only required when one is trying to recover from a no-title situation. Did you call DNR and ask them about the length exemption? They might tell you that this process is not required for boats under 16 feet. If so, the titling did not seem to be much work to me.

A "Bil of Sale" from PA will get the job done, we don't have titles for wind powered boats. An inventive person could come up with one of those easily.

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Buxton
18' T16 Silent Lightning (16' T2 Hybrid)
11' H16 White Lightning
79' H16 Green Lightning

I also think you are okay with the 14 -- did a little bit of Google research myself for SC specifically. It looks like anything that doesn't have a motor is ok. If you ever get checked, just show them the gov site: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/boating/faqs.html#eleven

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Tina
'94 Hobie 14 SE
My Blog: Mattress Reviews

Pretty sure you don't need a title! Agreed with above

I have no idea of it, but I think it is a risk.

Here on the boarder of SC/NC and have been told a title for my Wave is not necessary. In GA, where I bought her only had a bill of sale and the title to the trailer. Is that maybe what the title is for? Had the boat registered in GA had received the sticker each year without ever being asked for a title on the boat. Good luck and good winds.