Definitive list of different types of boats

demonboy

demonboy

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Hi

I'm compiling a definitive list of boat categories for a questionnaire and wondered if any of you could provide me with one? The questionnaire is for both commercial and private boat owners and I want to know what they own or skipper. The list should contain no more than 20 or so options so the list at this link:

http://www.everyboat.com/c/categories.htm

is MORE than enough. The commercial section of this list is perfect but there's far too many sail boat options, for example.

Any help greatly appreciated!
 
Hmm...surely you can see that the "definitive" list of boats depends on why you're choosing to group them.

e.g. for an insurance company it might be (I dunno):
River-going boats
Day sea boats
Offshore craft
Ocean going

but for a paint company it might be:
Steel boats
GRP boats
Wooden boats

For an engine manufacturer it could be:
Dinghys
Ribs
Small sailing yachts
Large sailing yachts
Displacement motor craft
Planing motor craft

so, to be a bit nosey, what is the list for?
 
It's for a comprehensive quesionnaire on piracy. I'm looking to gain an understanding of the types of vessels that are attacked. For analysis purposes I need to categorise the vessels into commercial and private, then sail and motor. I can break down the commercial and private sail (the sail would be sloop, yawl, ketch, cat and tri) but can't think how to break down private motor vessels..........
 
I can't see that the sail or hull configuration would have any bearing whatsoever on the incidence of piracy on sailboats. Why not just stick to size?

Same for powerboats for that matter.
 
Depends how big your sail boat is. There may be a higher incidence of attack on smaller sail boats under, say, 48ft. A super yacht travelling at 15 knots with a crew of 20 may be less likely to be attacked. With regards to the powerboat the maximum speed could be crucial to attack-avoidance.

I am asking about boat size but as we have seen from recent events even cruise liners get attacked!
 
your reference is pretty rubbish really . 13 different types of "**** Sailboat", whereas there is only catamaran or multihull (which could also be a catamaran).
 
Agreed the reference is pretty rubbish, Talbot, but as I said I've got the sailboats sussed: sloop, yawl, ketch, cat and tri. I don't think I need to be any more specific than that, but if you can think of any other sail boat type then please let me know.
 
Why are you trying to correlate size and type with piracy?

Surely
"ones which come close to pirate boats"
"ones on their own"
"ones that seem like an easy touch"
"ones that seem vulnerable"

Would just about cover it?
 
That's exactly my point!!!!!!
I can see that pirates might attack a boat which is say 40 foot long, in the belief that it's an easy target. They might ignore a 30 footer (they may think it's not likely to have much on board) They may ignore a bigger boat in the belief that there will be too much resistance.

However, I don't think that they are likely to attack a boat because it is ketch rigged rather than bermudan!

Speed may be more relevant with the powerboats, but as sure as eggs is eggs no self respecting pirate is going to be selecting his target on the technicalities of hull or sail configuration. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
I would say that some of these options are too vague for a quantitative research as they could be misconstrued. How do you quantify 'vulnerable'? It's a rather subjective adjective. I could have a thousand hand grenades, rocket launchers and 20 SAS soldiers on board but appear vulnerable....until they attacked.

Secondly I know of one vessel who was too close to a pirate boat for a number of days but still avoided an actual attack.

Thirdly, would you call a 300+ passenger cruise liner an 'easy touch'?

Can I emphasize that size and type of boat is merely one small section of the survey but it's important to ask the question as there MAY be a correlation that's only obvious after the question as been asked.

I'll be publishing a test version of the survey for you to browse/complete before this goes live so please feel free to critique/rip it apart then!
 
I agree. For meaningful analysis on piracy then lumping together a 30 foot ketch being singlehanded on a budget with a 120ft superyacht ketch doesn't really work. The groups surely have to reflect the motivation behind the piracy

So that's probably cruising area, cost of boat, size of crew and whether charter, liveaboard or weekend owner cruiser.

This is sounding as well informed as some market research done for a motor insurance company I worked for where people had been split into by the research company into non-drivers, drivers with insurance, and drivers without insurance. The company suggested a campaign based on "Get insurance!", targeting the large minority who drove without it. Just the sort of customer base we were looking for.
 
The IMO website is FULL of useful info which I am starting to trawl through. If you have any other suggestions then please feel free to comment or PM me.

Thanks
 
[ QUOTE ]
.
Thirdly, would you call a 300+ passenger cruise liner an 'easy touch'?

[/ QUOTE ]

With a few RPG's, half a dozen machine guns, a crew of thugs and a boat that's big enough to take your haul away, a 300+ liner would be an easy touch......and very lucrative.

Methinks you are just a bit "too close" to this one. Stand back a bit, apply some good old-fashioned common sense and it will all fall into place quite easily.

Incidentally, you'll find that Lake Sailer was gently teasing you!
 
Yeah, yeah, I'm aware of this forum's propensity for sarcasm and gentle piss-taking, don't worry!

Look, I really don't want to get hung up on this list. Don't think I'm getting too bothered about it because it really only counts for a small part of the survey. The list is relevant, however, when asking what type of vessel the attackers use.
 
Sorting by types of boat is doomed to failure. You don't get many trailer-sailers, J24s, bow riders and RIBs off the Horn of Africa or the Mallacca Strait.

You'll find cutters. ketches, bulk carriers and VLCCs.

Sorry to p*ss on your parade.
 
Didn't I just explain this? Apologies if you are not understanding me correctly but:

When someone stops you in the street and asks you when you last bought a tube of toothpaste they will invariably finish off the questionnaire with some personal information about yourself. This may not seem relevant to you but it helps the researcher go about his/her business in evaluating whatever it is they are trying to find out. In the same way my demographic analysis is made up from a number of different criteria. I will not just be 'sorting by types of boat'. I've already hinted that I will be asking a whole load of questions pertaining to the boat, the crew and the incident, so boat type is only a small part of it.

In response to your comments: you have made the assumption that there are not many RIBs off the Horn of Africa. Do you know this for a fact? Can you quantify this? Exactly how many RIBs are there off the Horn of Africa? I may well agree with you but unless I ask the question it could be there are a thousand RIBs all over the Horn of Africa we don't know about!

You may not think it's relevant but someone, somewhere may well ask that very question.
 
If I see a pollster heading my way on the street, I do my best to sell them the dummy and avoid daft questions, the purile political opinions, free month's supply of male contraception pills etc. etc.

Statistics can say anything you like. I bet there are more Kalashnikovs than RIBs in the Horn of Africa.

How are you going to prove any of the data you acquire? I'm sure you'll get a lot of heresay. How do you propose to weed it out?

When I get round to doing my circumnavigation (2 year's time) it will probably be via South Africa. I'd rather take my chances with the Agullas Current than the warlords of Somalia.
 
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