The skipper-owner of a nudist charter yacht has been fined 4,500 (pounds sterling) plus costs for running his boat without the correct certification.

Francois Haussauer, 52, had been chartering his home built 45ft yacht Scintilla in the South of France for the niche naturist market.

He promoted the charter via the Internet, but at Horse Ferry Road Magistrates he was found guilty of not having a certificate of competence, and not having a load line certificate. The court heard he tried to pass off customers as ‘friends’.