registration or be required to pay taxes in a state where it is docked or even where its owner lives. A 42 is certainly big enough to be documented. A documented vessel is a true US flagged vessel and is in many ways a bit of sovereign US territory where ever it may be. Some states do require state registration of documented vessels and some don’t. Some make an owner pay taxes on a documented vessel while in the state’s waters, some don’t. Most do, however, put some time limit that a vessel can stay in their waters without paying taxes.

I’m not defending the guy and he may just be keeping it in IL to avoid MO taxes and is just being a deadbeat about registering it; you can usually get a vessel documented quickly if the title is clear and you can prove it is US built. Usually, it isn’t worth it to document unless you’re using a vessel commercially. It costs a lot more than state registration. Some lenders require documentation for their security should the vessel be taken to another country. And some people document purely to avoid state laws and taxes. But, we need a lot more info than that press release to know what’s really going on.

That said, people do love to hate powerful people with big boats. I know, I’ve taken enough grief over mine and it isn’t nearly as big as his.

Mine isn’t documented because it is a hassle. Alaska doesn’t require registration of documented vessels but unless your boat is really big, the USCG and State Troopers expect to see State registration numbers and tags so you get boarded and have to show your documents all the time and while they’re there, they inspect your boat or with AST your gear and your catch. Had a friend with a documented 28 footer and they drove him nuts so he finally just registered it to avoid the hassle.

No taxes on them here except the registration fee, $25/year IIRC.