Define a yacht

[sailbadthesinner]

after having our arse well and truly kicked from Plymouth to Falmouth a few of us sat round dsicussing boats. The British Steel boats are indestructable in as much as the crew will normally break before the boat does.
But what does constitute a YACHT
general consensus was that below 30-32 ft it was not a yacht. Ideally a yacht will be above 35 ft. Someone jumping on board causing the whole thing to sway like a flat pack wardrobe, is this what we expect from a yacht? Or is a yacht more the sum of the owner's expectations and abilities and not just feet and inches.
What is the forums view. Is a 30ft yacht really a big dinghy?

Maybe, just once, someone will call me 'Sir' without adding, 'you're making a scene'.

 

[steve_cronin]

No.

ANY pleasure vessel capable of making a passage in tidal waters and is capable of giving sustainance and shelter to its crew is a yacht.

In the 70's the standard size was 26-27ft. It has grown bigger as new recruits have come along who with their sig otrs demand more and more space & comfort and the earned/inherited spending potential has increased hugely.

Wait till the next crash comes, the demand for Vertue sized "Yachts" will return and all the big stuff will be owned corporately.

Steve Cronin

 

[davel]

Not what you were after I know but:


(from Cambridge International Dictionary of English)

<font color=red>yacht</font color=red>
noun [C]
a boat with sails and sometimes an engine, used for either racing or travelling on for pleasure


I've noticed a number of references to "motor yachts" which have been applied to describe huge motorboats without a sail in sight.

Dave L.

 

[Guest]

Post deleted by danfoley

 

[Gunfleet]

If you're right I own a 4 ton dinghy with a 5ft draft and a 10hp motor. SInce plenty of similar dinghys have been sailed across the Atlantic it should do fine for my antics in the channel and North Sea.

 

[Twister_Ken]

According to the ads

That which glistens; sails only in sunshine, blue skies and turquoise seas; is crewed by four gorgeous people at least two of whom are wearing bikinis; is equipped with a cockpit table on which there are crystal glasses and a bottle of fine wine; below has designer bed linen, flowers and at least one babe with a come hither look.

 

[jimi]

According to Nicho

Although according to Nicho if it got a big engine babes are redundant ... I wonder what happened to his thread .. maybe he'll come back if we resurrect it!

 

[robp]

Re: According to the ads

You bin reading my mail?

 

[ccscott49]

Red rag to numerous bulls this one!! You really know how to stir up a nest of hornets!!

 

[steve_cronin]

Don\'t remember inviting you this weekend.....nm

..

 

[sailbadthesinner]

I think you have to remember that we had just been on 65 ft in a force 9.

We all felt that a short boat would have been swamped. NOw i know noone intentinally sets out in a force 9 but the windf came in earlier than anticipated. PLymouth to falmouth is 30 miles and with the tide a perfectly praticable trip. but having seen what can happen we felt 30ft would have been interesting to say the least

Maybe, just once, someone will call me 'Sir' without adding, 'you're making a scene'.

 

[alex_rogers]

I think the qualities you admire in the steel Challenge Yachts were more embodied by turn of the century working boats like Bristol Channel pilot cutters or Colin Archer sailing lifeboats. The word 'yacht' has always indicated pretty lines and recreation over any sea keeping qualities. Hence the need for phrases like 'ocean going yacht' or 'blue water yacht'.

 

[jimi]

I asked my wife...

She said that size is irrelevant (thank god for that) but its what it does (oh dear)!

 

[Guest]

What's a yacht?

It's a moderate sized vessel designed for sailing for recreation - from the related term 'yachting'.

A dinghy is not a yacht. A Bristol Channel pilot cutter is not either, really, it's a working boat.

Dayboats are more difficult. Is a Dragon, a Victory or a Redwing a yacht? Tricky.

So:

* Designed for 'yachting', recreational
* Of moderate size (not a dinghy)
* Some kind of accommodation possibly required also.

The aspirational side of the term also feels quite strong to me... form, function, performance, style, all that marketing stuff. So a knackered old 70s GRP tub or cheap as chips AWB (no offence to either) gets less yachty points than a new Swan 45!

Personally, I suspect that everything I sail on will always be a 'boat' and the things I aspire to sail on are likely to be 'yachts' for this very reason.

Mike

PS Teak Decks... a marketing marvel designed to boost GRP boats 'yachtiness' if ever I saw one!

 

[webcraft]

How many times must we repeat that myth that underendowed men cling to:

It's not the length, it's how you use it . . .

Plenty of yachts 30ft overall length or less have survived winds well in excess of Force 9, often for extended periods of time - while plenty of bigger vessels have come to grief in lesser conditions. (Think Lyn & Larry Pardey, then think Team Phillips . . .)

I don't think shorter boats are more prone to being 'swamped' than longer boats. What is 'swamped' anyway? If you're talking about downflooding, then it all depends on openings, not length. The only thing a shorter yacht is more prone to as far as I know is being knocked down or rolled right over by a breaking sea on the beam.

(Not sure about the dangers of pitchpoling as related to length though - perhaps someone could enlighten us).

<font color=blue>Nick</font color=blue> -

BlueMoment.Com
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bluemoment.com/>http://www.bluemoment.com/</A>

 

[halcyon]

Agree, our Halcyon 27 has two transatlantis, and if the previous owners had not bought a 43 foot steel ketch, would be on her third now.

It's not the size of the boat, it's the yachts abillity to cope.

Talking to the previous owner's, it's not fridges, generators and all the other items discussed under steve101 thread, it's being able to hove to in a F7 mid atlantic to cook dinner and put your feet up.

Brian

 

[Mirelle]

A hole in the water, surrounded by wood...........

into which the owner pours money

(a Victorian joke, quoted in "Sixty Years of Yachts" - allegedly a High Court judge asked the plaintiff to define "a Yacht")

Size is not material - a Vertue, at 25ft, is a yacht, as might well be a Hillyard 2 1/2 tonner at 18ft, but some average white boats of 30ft are big dinghies.

 

[jimi]

Re: A hole in the water, surrounded by wood...........

And in reality some of the large 60 footers are really just dinghies as well. e.g. The Americas Cup dinghies wo'nt go ou when the wind exceeds 20 knots is it? Just about a nice windspeed for a proper dinghy!

 

[nicho]

Re: According to Nicho

I've been away, I'm back, and I won't! - OK?

 

[Ohdrat]

Re: Anti Pitchpoling Length

Apparently (and I think I posted this on another thread of similar ilk) there is a (according to this particular theory) shorter boats are LESS likely to pitchpole as they will not be longer than the height of a wave generated in a storm.. in other words boats over 30 feet are pitchpole material!