I'll buy that, but surely Thingy Majig & Raty wouldn't sell a boat 1ft 4.0472441inches short of it's title, would they?
By the way have you paid for this argument?
Maybe the continental Europeans use the Roman foot which is about 29.64cm (as opposed to the British foot which is about 30.48cm)
That would make the Delphia 37 x 29.64 / 30.48 = 35.98 (British) feet so not too far off... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
They certainly do not use the old French foot which was 32.48 cm /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif.
Or maybe they just like the fact that 90% of the world hasn't a clue what a foot represents and are therefore unlikely to pick them up on such discrepencies.
I own a Westwind 43 which is actuallly 52, or 48, or something, depending on which tape measure you use on which day, and whether I'm standing in a bar or a marina office.
Actually, she's 43ft from stem to stern, with an 8ft bowsprit at the front and davits at the back. I'll never get away with trying to claim 43 in a marina, but I do prefer to omit the davits from time to time.
I think Tom Cunliffe wrote a nice piece about this sort of thing in YM a few months back with reference to the rather variable length of an old gaffer.
This seems a good moment to remind readers that in YM LOA equates to LOD. We always delete stemhead fittings, overhanging pulpits etc. Manufacturers usually quote LOA as including every extension which generally brings the length up to a figure close to the model name.
A short while ago I wrote a brief article on this subject pointing out that the effective length of a modern boat for accommodation purposes should be taken as LOA (manufacturers) less bow roller, less pulpit/pushpit, less transom hung rudder, less boarding platform. This often knocks four or more feet of a nominal 34 footer
James, is it just Bavaria who publish LOD and LOA or do others do it. Bavaria used to have very confusingly longer boats than they were selling at least by model name. Pity they didn't keep it up it must have been quite a boon for those paying on document measure.
Most boats shrank about 14 years ago when integrated bathing platforms became the norm, with folk paying an extra 40k+ for 3 feet of plastic stuck out the back that made the boat longer, but much smaller inside.
E.g: Old Broom 37s were 37ft, newer Broom 39kl is really only 36ft (ok more useable internal space due better design, etc). For me the true length of a boat is the distance between the transom and the anchor roller on the bow. That is the only way you can guage how much boat your getting for your money (ie price per foot of useable space). Newer Broom 42CL are smaller boats than the old 39s, and the old Broom Ocean 42s (70s, 80s) were massive compared to todays 42CLs. The bathing platform was the greatest cost reduction fad all manufacturers ever had, build smaller boats with long names /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Imho, boats like the lovely Fairline Phantom 50 are really a 46ft boat.
Reminds me of the time I was selling a Westerley Discus. Based on a 33 foot hull, MDL measrued the boat for berthing charges and came up with 35 feet which was duly stated as LOA.
"33 foot long" said my eventual buyer, "My surveyor tells me that's how long it is. Its worth £2,000 less".
"Fine" I replied, "You want 33 feet. Which bit, front or back, do you want me to cut off?"
He bought the boat, no reduction.
The length of your boat depends on the disposition of the harbourmaster, some of whom are almost human. At one well known south coast marina, off season, we ended up being 8.5 metres long, because they didn't have enough change for 29 feet. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
In recent years I've twice had to argue the point with marina owners who take the supposed real LOA including all fittings based on published data. However I have a non-standard pulpit which brings my LOA down one category. The margin is less than one inch.
MDL have no problem with this. They measure every permanent bertholder and charge actual length with bowsprit or davids if applicable. Its how I found out that a Dufour 38 classic was 39' something!!
On balance I prefer them to be larger than stated to reduce the "visiting" charge.