Flaring the boot top at the bow?

Tim Good

Tim Good

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Some boats slightly flare the boot top at the bow. Do you think it looks nice or a bit naff? I appreciate the stripe is normally thicker at the bow anyhow due to the angle of the hull but I mean going even further to make it clearly flaring.

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Completely traditional to raise the boottop at both bow and stern, highest at bow, lowest at midpoint, stern only slightly raised. On older boats it looks good, not so IMHO on most modern boats.
 
The rise in the sheer line at the bow is due to a perspective effect. Viewed from the beam the bow is slightly further away from the viewer than the side. If the sheer were drawn level then it would appear to drop off, a reverse sheer effect. For that reason the architect applies an expansion to raise the sheer forward and to a lesser extent aft. There are rules of thumb for this. The boot top would suffer in the same way and is raised fore and aft to compensate.
 
Interesting... ok yes I see how little sheer on a modern boat would tend to lead to a boot top being almost flat and equal to the waterline.

Here is my boat before I added the boot top.

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And here after the boot top is added. Perhaps I can get away with rising the boot top slightly to match the sheer.

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The working rule is that a boat with a good sheer, with shorter ends, should have the boot top wider at the ends, more forward than aft, and a boat with a flat sheer and longer overhangs should not.

This boot top was drawn by the designer and scribed in by the builder, so it’s from 1937:

 
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As usual, it's a case of what looks right. To my eyes, the first example looks a bit overdone, while the one just above looks good, but this might be different on the water.
 
Minn said:
The working rule is that a boat with a good sheer, with shorter ends, should have the boot top wider at the ends, more forward than aft, and a boat with a flat sheer and longer overhangs should not.

This boot top was drawn by the designer and scribed in by the builder, so it’s from 1937:

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Looks lovely. I was considering a red antifoul this year but was unsure what it would be like with a blue boot top and white hull. I think this confirms it looks nice!
 
If you are on a mooring, another reason for flaring the boot top at the bow, is it keeps it above the "splash zone" otherwise you may find weed on the paint above the boot top and it tends to cause pitting of the paint. Not such a problem in marinas or probably for GRP hulls.
 
northcave said:
To be fair you could paint your boat pink and it would still look nice.
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Mirelle is no longer my boat: she’s been James’ boat for the past five years, she spent 29 years with me and 33 years with Francis before that. On each occasion she was handed over with the phrase “this is like interviewing a prospective son in law; can you keep her in the style to which she is accustomed?”
 
This is what I meant for a modern boat, a traditional boot top raised at bow and stern would look silly. Boat's mine, always trims slightly bow down, probably more anchor chain than the computer-aided design envisaged.
 

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jwilson said:
This is what I meant for a modern boat, a traditional boot top raised at bow and stern would look silly. Boat's mine, always trims slightly bow down, probably more anchor chain than the computer-aided design envisaged.
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You're quite right. It looks smart as it is. My boat is sort of in-between, as a '90s design. The flare in the boot-top is fairly subtle but indispensible.

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People have been mentioning sheer curve, long overhangs, etc.
This is my boat, a Centurion 32, with a long overhang at the bows and the characteristic Kim Holman sheer. I added the flare to the 'boot top' I think that it goes well with the boat. What do you people think?

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Yeah looks good. I have a gold stripe also but inset within a blue band. I’m considering a small blue stripe with onset gold above the boot top. I’ll post a photo if I decide to try and you can judge.
 
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