Freestyle WA state! Rickter Hull registration advice!

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Pnwrider2323

Location
Washington
Hey guys! I’ve seen a few old posts on this topic but none fully answered my question. I’m wondering if anyone from Washington state has an experience registering a Rickter hull. The ski in question has the manufacture “HIN” or serial number epoxied inside the hull FYI. Wanting to go the “legit” route instead of getting a old standup title and pulling a switcharoo. Any help, guidance, or stories are appreciated.

Thanks!
 
JKMike

JKMike

Location
Annapolis, Maryland
Im not from WA but i did spend six months and went all the way to the Director of the MD DNR to get my Rickter registered and a Hull Identification Number (HIN) assigned to it. First off, the only way to obtain a legit HIN is to register the ski as a home built vessel and in order to do that it must be a complete vessel. Hull manufacturers are unable to provide a HIN for bare hulls because technically they dont know what will be installed in the hull. At least officially HIN's are also tied to stuff like a vessels motor, HP, seating capacity and other random things. Which is why bare hulls dont come with a HIN. So unless the ski was built by one of the major builders who have the ability to obtain a HIN for a complete build or it was already registered by a previous owner, I'm pretty sure the serial number you references is not a HIN. It might be some serial number from Ricketer but not a HIN.

Couple questions: Are you the first owner and did you build it or have it built?

Assuming you are you need to go to your states DNR website and look into registering a home built vessel. I know when I did mine I had to provide a bill of materials for the vessel, I'm not sure if that's a requirement for your state or not. One thing I will recomend is that you do not tell them that you specifically used a Yamaha Superjet for most of the parts. I did and that only confused them more and resulted in my Rickter XFR being registered as a "Home Built" Yamaha Superjet. Haha I was so frustrated by that point I just let it go and called it a win. I got my Home Built HIN and that's all I cared about. Fyi: I believe that a potion of the HIN they assign you will be common to all home built vessels in your state and thus can be distinguished from non home built vessel HIN's.
 
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Pnwrider2323

Location
Washington
JKMike said:
Im not from WA but i did spend six months and went all the way to the Director of the MD DNR to get my Rickter registered and a Hull Identification Number (HIN) assigned to it. First off, the only way to obtain a legit HIN is to register the ski as a home built vessel and in order to do that it must be a complete vessel. Hull manufacturers are unable to provide a HIN for bare hulls because technically they dont know what will be installed in the hull. At least officially HIN's are also tied to stuff like a vessels motor, HP, seating capacity and other random things. Which is why bare hulls dont come with a HIN. So unless the ski was built by one of the major builders who have the ability to obtain a HIN for a complete build or it was already registered by a previous owner, I'm pretty sure the serial number you references is not a HIN. It might be some serial number from Ricketer but not a HIN.

Couple questions: Are you the first owner and did you build it or have it built?

Assuming you are you need to go to your states DNR website and look into registering a home built vessel. I know when I did mine I had to provide a bill of materials for the vessel, I'm not sure if that's a requirement for your state or not. One thing I will recomend is that you do not tell them that you specifically used a Yamaha Superjet for most of the parts. I did and that only confused them more and resulted in my Rickter XFR being registered as a "Home Built" Yamaha Superjet. Haha I was so frustrated by that point I just let it go and called it a win. I got my Home Built HIN and that's all I cared about. Fyi: I believe that a potion of the HIN they assign you will be common to all home built vessels in your state and thus can be distinguished from non home built vessel HIN's.
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Thanks so much for the insight, to answer your question of ownership, I’d be purchasing from someone already finished. However it has never been registered by the gentleman because of the Leniency where he rides. I was told by him that he also purchased it from someone before him so the probability of any receipts for the initial build will likely be impossible to obtain. I’ve read on one of the forums that people have just gone right to their DOL and given them the Rickter serial number I mentioned above and they accepted that an the “vin” or “HIN” tomorrow I’ll be talking to my local listen I guess agency, I was just preemptively looking for insight.

Here’s my thought, potentially try and register it as a custom PWC and go the route of bill of sale from previous owner and maybe the serial numbering and see if they will just take down the information and title it. Explain that it’s never had a title because it’s a custom vessel pieced together ect. Thoughts?

Edit: May also be able to use a affidavit in lieu of title and a Washington state vessel title application. Have both notarized and just submit it to the DOL office as previously registered in another state and the title being lost which my circumvent the whole home built BS and allow them to just put down the information you fill out as the make/model ect.
 
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JKMike

JKMike

Location
Annapolis, Maryland
Pnwrider2323 said:
Thanks so much for the insight, to answer your question of ownership, I’d be purchasing from someone already finished. However it has never been registered by the gentleman because of the Leniency where he rides. I was told by him that he also purchased it from someone before him so the probability of any receipts for the initial build will likely be impossible to obtain. I’ve read on one of the forums that people have just gone right to their DOL and given them the Rickter serial number I mentioned above and they accepted that an the “vin” or “HIN” tomorrow I’ll be talking to my local listen I guess agency, I was just preemptively looking for insight.

Here’s my thought, potentially try and register it as a custom PWC and go the route of bill of sale from previous owner and maybe the serial numbering and see if they will just take down the information and title it. Explain that it’s never had a title because it’s a custom vessel pieced together ect. Thoughts?

Edit: May also be able to use a affidavit in lieu of title and a Washington state vessel title application. Have both notarized and just submit it to the DOL office as previously registered in another state and the title being lost which my circumvent the whole home built BS and allow them to just put down the information you fill out as the make/model ect.
Click to expand...

I think it is at least worth trying the bill of sale option and seeing if they will accept that. I have read so many different stories about people trying to register these. Sometimes just trying different locations or speaking with someone else at the same agency has been enough. Ultimately you just have to find someone who is knowledgeable enough about our custom vessels like these and you will be fine. In my case I had to educate them. Lol One thought on the bill of sale you could try itemizing it as a list of parts you purchased all at once.

The only issue I see with the last option is I would assume you need to have a HIN already on the vessel to do the lost title thing.
 
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Pnwrider2323

Location
Washington
For anyone following that this may help. I talked to the WA dol clerk, they said that I am able to use an “itemized bill of sale” for the parts I bought from the seller. I made sure to word it to the like I bought a pile of parts from someone and assembled the jetski myself. The bill of sale doesn’t need to be notarized, you just pay tax, title, and registration fees in the office same day and they issue you an HIN AND WN number and give you your registration and Tabs.

Here’s the kicker to go into more detail. The clerk said the title comes in 3 years. I asked about selling the ski within the 3 years and here was the answer. They said essentially the person you sell it to will use your bill of sale and a affidavit of release of interest as the “title” and the clock on the 3 years keeps ticking. Let’s say that person then sells it same thing. Affidavit and bill of sale allowing them to get current tabs and registration to ride legally. At the point of the 3 year mark, the current owner till take in their registration ect and be issued a title.

Hope this helps.
 
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