Guide · United Kingdom · last verified 10 Oct 2026

CG66 and SafeTrx have both gone. What replaced them?

Last verified: 10 October 2026

Short answer: nothing official. HM Coastguard’s CG66 Voluntary Safety Identification Scheme stopped taking registrations on 11 July 2018, when RYA SafeTrx took over. RYA SafeTrx then closed on 31 December 2025. As of 10 October 2026, HM Coastguard has announced no new scheme for registering your boat or logging a trip. Its advice now is to tell someone ashore where you’re going and when you’ll be back, so they can call 999 and ask for the Coastguard if you’re late.

THE SHORT VERSION

CG66: closed to new registrations on 11 July 2018. HM Coastguard kept access to the old CG66 database until the end of March 2020, and no CG66 data was moved to SafeTrx.

RYA SafeTrx (UK): closed on 31 December 2025. The closure was announced on 1 December 2025. Owner and vessel details went to an HM Coastguard database, and the trip tracking and overdue alerts ended.

Now: there’s no official replacement. Tell someone ashore your plan and return time, and carry a way to call for help: a VHF/DSC radio, a PLB, or a phone in a waterproof pouch. In an emergency, call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard, or send a MAYDAY on VHF channel 16.

What happened to CG66

CG66 was HM Coastguard’s free, voluntary safety identification scheme: a form with details of you, your boat and your shore contacts, which the Coastguard could look up in an emergency. Many club pages, training notes and boating checklists still tell you to “fill in a CG66” or “join the CG66 scheme”. That advice is out of date twice over.

Timeline, checked 10 October 2026. Sources are linked in each row.
Date	What happened
4 July 2018	HM Coastguard adopts RYA SafeTrx as its new safety identification scheme: the free app and website “now supersedes the HM Coastguard CG66 scheme” (GOV.UK).
11 July 2018	HM Coastguard stops taking CG66 registrations; GOV.UK’s CG66 page starts sending people to SafeTrx (GOV.UK; RYA).
End of March 2020	HM Coastguard’s access to the old CG66 database ends. “The data from CG66 has not been migrated to the RYA SafeTrx database” (RYA, archived).
1 December 2025	The RYA and HM Coastguard announce that RYA SafeTrx will be discontinued from 31 December (GOV.UK; RYA).
31 December 2025	“The RYA SafeTrx service ceased operation on 31 December 2025.” Personal and vessel details were transferred to HM Coastguard systems (MCA privacy notice).
13 August 2026	The old GOV.UK page for registering your boat with the Coastguard’s safety scheme was last changed; it now redirects to the HM Coastguard homepage (GOV.UK address).

What happened to SafeTrx, and why

The official reason: the decision to close RYA SafeTrx “has been made by the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), in discussion with HM Coastguard, due to advances in technology since the app’s inception” (GOV.UK). Practical Boat Owner quoted the RYA’s letter to users: “Earlier this year SafeTrx was sold”, and the RYA chose not to become the UK licensee under the new owner (PBO).

Assistant Chief Coastguard Matt Leat said the change “will not affect HM Coastguard’s ability to respond to emergencies and rescue those in distress”. The closure applies only to the UK: “SafeTRX will continue to operate and is still being used in many other countries”, for example as Irish Sailing SafeTrx in Ireland.

What SafeTrx did, and what to do instead for each feature, is on our SafeTrx alternative page.

YOUR OLD SAFETRX DATA

Unless you deleted your account before 31 December 2025, your owner and vessel details are held by HM Coastguard and can be referenced in an emergency. To update or remove them, email safetrxdata@mcga.gov.uk. The MCA says the data is used only for maritime safety, emergency response and search and rescue, and isn’t shared with commercial organisations.

What HM Coastguard advises now

Tell someone else where you’re going and when you’ll be back. If you are late returning, they can raise the alarm by calling 999 and asking for the Coastguard.
HM Coastguard, onboard safety advice · hmcoastguard.uk

The closure notice adds the rest: have “a reliable means of communication onboard, such as a VHF / DSC radio, a personal locator beacon, or mobile phone in a waterproof pouch”, and “always wear a personal floatation device like a lifejacket” (GOV.UK). The RYA published the same advice (RYA). HM Coastguard’s boating campaign with the RNLI and RYA puts it as “Let others know your plans, where you’re going and when you’ll be back” (HM Coastguard).

The RNLI says: “Make sure someone ashore knows where you are going and who to call if you don’t return on time.” It also notes that “Trackers can provide up-to-the-minute information on where you are to friends, family and emergency services” (RNLI).

One official document hasn’t caught up yet. MGN 599 (M) Amendment 1, the MCA’s guidance for pleasure vessels (December 2024), still says “The MCA recommends joining the Coastguard Voluntary Safety Identification Scheme by registering on RYA SafeTrx” (GOV.UK). The part that still applies is its “Information Ashore” point: “make sure that someone ashore knows your plans and knows what to do should they become concerned for your wellbeing.” Passage planning, including leaving information ashore, applies to every boat under SOLAS chapter V (the UK rules).

Your options today

1. Tell someone ashore, with a written passage plan (free, official advice)

This is what HM Coastguard asks for. Give one reliable person the details they would need on a 999 call. Our free passage plan template puts them on one page you can print or send:

the boat: name, type, length, hull colour, sail number or MMSI, and how many people are on board;
where you’re leaving from, your route and destination, and any stops;
your expected return time, and the time at which they should call 999 and ask for the Coastguard if they can’t reach you;
how you can be reached: mobile number, VHF call sign, whether you carry a PLB or EPIRB.

Tell them when your plans change and when you’re back, so nobody calls a lifeboat out for a crew that’s already in the pub. The limitation: the person ashore only knows your plan, not where you actually are.

2. The RNLI: advice, not a tracking service

The RNLI gives safety advice; we found no RNLI scheme for logging a trip or tracking a boat. Its lifeboats are tasked by HM Coastguard, so in an emergency you call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard rather than the RNLI (how to call the Coastguard). Its safety pages are a good checklist before you go.

3. VesselSOS (our app)

Disclosure: we make it. It isn’t an official replacement, isn’t endorsed by HM Coastguard and isn’t connected to the Coastguard.

The SOS screen is free and needs no account: in UK waters “Yes, a life is in danger” dials 999 and shows your position in words, the HM Coastguard area and a word-for-word script. Pro (£2.99 a month or £17.99 a year, 14-day free trial) adds a live link for your people ashore, and a return time: if you don’t answer the phone’s “Are you OK?”, it texts your own Emergency and Live contacts automatically, with the link. It never alerts the Coastguard; your contacts decide whether to call 999. It’s one app across borders: it picks the responsible rescue centre by position in 118 countries (Europe, North and Central America, the Caribbean, Asia, the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and Africa), and the app is in 25 languages. iPhone only, invite-only TestFlight beta, not in the App Store yet.

4. SailTies

A sailing logbook and “sailing CV” app with live tracking, built by two UK sailors. Free on iPhone and Android; SailTies Plus is £34.99 a year or £199 lifetime on the UK App Store. You can share a live broadcast with “all of SailTies, just your groups or to friends and family with a link”, and its listing says friends get notified when you go sailing (SailTies).

Its own blog presents it as the way to replace SafeTrx. We found no overdue or return-time alert, SOS call or link to the Coastguard in its site, App Store or Google Play listings (checked 10 October 2026). Its strengths are the logbook, crew records and sailing CV, which VesselSOS doesn’t do.

5. Others we looked at

Irish Sailing SafeTrx: run by Irish Sailing, not affected by the UK closure. If your emergency contact calls the Irish Coast Guard about an overdue trip, “the Irish Coast Guard will have access to your location and SafeTrx Trip data” (Irish Sailing). It’s an Irish service for Irish waters.
savvy navvy: a navigation app (charts, tides, routes, AIS). Its App Store listing describes GPS tracking for you, not a link for the people ashore or an overdue alert.
A registered PLB or EPIRB: not a trip plan, but a distress beacon that works without phone signal. Since 15 April 2026, 406 MHz beacons carried on UK boats must be registered (free) with the UK Beacon Registry (the rules).

Comparison: VesselSOS, SailTies, or just telling someone

Checked 10 October 2026 against each app’s own website and UK store listings (sources below). “Not found” means we didn’t find it in those sources on that date.
	VesselSOS	SailTies	Tell someone ashore
Price	SOS screen free, no account. Pro £2.99/month or £17.99/year, 14-day free trial	Free. SailTies Plus £34.99/year or £199 lifetime	Free
Phones	iPhone only, invite-only TestFlight beta. Not in the App Store yet, no Android	iPhone and Android, in both stores	Any phone, or none
Live position for people ashore	Pro: a link that opens in any browser, no app needed. You send it by text yourself	Yes: live broadcast by link, to your groups or to all SailTies users	No: they only know your plan
Alert if you’re overdue	Pro: the phone asks “Are you OK?” after your return time; no answer, and your contacts get an automatic text with the link	Not found	Only if your contact notices and acts
Alerts the Coastguard	No, never automatically. Your contacts decide whether to call 999	Not found	Your contact calls 999 and asks for the Coastguard
One-tap 999 call with a script	Yes, free: dials 999, shows your position in words and what to say, plus a MAYDAY text for your VHF	Not found	No
Works in other countries	Yes, the same app: the rescue centre is picked by position in 118 countries (Europe, North and Central America, the Caribbean, Asia, the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and Africa). App in 25 languages	Yes: logs voyages anywhere (it says sailors in 185 countries). App Store languages: English, French, Italian	Yes, if your contact knows who to call there
Local rescue number abroad	Yes, in the 118 countries covered: shows and dials the responsible centre for your position	Not found	Look it up before you go
Friends can follow	Pro: friends see your position while you’re at sea (if you turn it on), and get a notification when you set off and come back	Yes: friends are notified when you go sailing, and can follow a live broadcast	No
Mark & share hazards	Pro: report a hazard on the map; anyone opening the hazard map sees it. Reports aren’t checked	Not found	No
Logbook and sailing CV	Trip history kept 12 months. No sailing CV	Yes: its main feature, with a PDF sailing CV and qualifications wallet	No
Your details on record with HM Coastguard	No	No	No. Only old SafeTrx records, held by HM Coastguard

No app on this list is endorsed by HM Coastguard, and none of them files a passage plan with it. Whatever you use, a phone doesn’t replace a VHF radio with DSC, a PLB or a lifejacket. In a life-threatening emergency, call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard, or use VHF channel 16.

WHAT VESSELSOS DOES HERE

VesselSOS in UK waters

Life in danger? Tap “Yes, a life is in danger” and the app dials 999. The screen shows your GPS position in words, the HM Coastguard area you’re in, and a word-for-word script; when the operator answers, say “Coastguard, I am at sea”.
Radio mode shows a VHF channel 16 MAYDAY text filled with your boat’s name, call sign in the NATO alphabet, MMSI and position, for you to read on your own radio. Sailing abroad, the app picks the responsible rescue centre by position in 118 countries (Europe, North and Central America, the Caribbean, Asia, the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and Africa).
A live link for the people ashore (part of Pro, with a 14-day free trial): your position, speed, course and phone battery in any browser, no app needed on their side. You send it by text yourself.

What it doesn’t do: it isn’t connected to 999, HM Coastguard or the RNLI, and it doesn’t file a passage plan with anyone. If you set a return time and don’t answer its “Are you OK?”, it texts your own Emergency and Live contacts with the live link; it never alerts the Coastguard, so your contacts decide whether to call 999. A phone doesn’t replace a VHF radio with DSC, a PLB or EPIRB, or a lifejacket.

iPhone only, in invite-only TestFlight beta. Not in the App Store yet, no Android.

Quick answers

Is CG66 still running?

No. HM Coastguard stopped taking CG66 registrations on 11 July 2018, when RYA SafeTrx replaced it, and its access to the CG66 database ended in March 2020. Pages that tell you to fill in a CG66 form are out of date.

Can I still register my boat with HM Coastguard?

Not through a voluntary safety scheme, as of 10 October 2026. The old GOV.UK registration page now redirects to the HM Coastguard homepage and no new scheme has been announced. If you carry a 406 MHz EPIRB or PLB, registering it with the UK Beacon Registry is free and, since 15 April 2026, compulsory.

What replaced RYA SafeTrx?

Nothing official. HM Coastguard and the RYA advise telling someone at home where you’re going and when you’ll be back, so they can call 999 and ask for the Coastguard if you’re late, and carrying a VHF/DSC radio, a PLB or a phone in a waterproof pouch.

Does HM Coastguard still have my SafeTrx details?

Yes, unless you deleted your account before 31 December 2025. Owner and vessel data was transferred to HM Coastguard systems. To update or remove it, email safetrxdata@mcga.gov.uk.

Does SafeTrx still work in Ireland?

Yes. Only the UK’s RYA SafeTrx closed. Irish Sailing SafeTrx is a separate service, and the Irish Coast Guard can see your trip data if your emergency contact calls about an overdue trip.

Is SailTies or VesselSOS the official replacement?

No. Neither is endorsed by HM Coastguard or connected to it. SailTies is a free logbook with live tracking. VesselSOS is an SOS and live-tracking app (iPhone beta) whose Pro plan texts your own contacts if you don’t check in after your return time.

Should I still tell someone ashore if I use an app?

Yes. An app can show where you are, but a person who knows your plan and when to call 999 is still HM Coastguard’s main advice. Give them a passage plan and a time to raise the alarm.

Sources

CHECKED OCT 2026

Last verified 10 October 2026: GOV.UK (MCA and HM Coastguard), hmcoastguard.uk, the RYA, the RNLI (archived copy of 22 July 2026), Irish Sailing, and SailTies’ own website and its App Store and Google Play listings. If something has changed, tell us.

This page summarises official guidance for planning; it isn’t legal advice. Where this page and the official text differ, the official text wins. Spotted an error? Email support@vesselsos.com.