MAB V AWB

[Daydream believer]

How old does an AWB have to be before it becomes a MAB?
& what is the defining difference?

 

[Poignard]

You'd better explain what these initials stand for.

(no need to explain 'v')

 

[Bobc]

I would say somewhere between 40-50 years old.

 

[Concerto]

Any AWB can look like a MAB after a few years of no cleaning.

 

[capnsensible]

I hate TLAs.

 

[PhillM]

I’d go with the design. 60s 70s (and older) wine glass hull and long keel v plumb bow and roomy interior. Age is just a number!

 

[geem]

We need to change this a bit. MAB becomes WOB (wonderful old boat) AWB becomes CNB (crappy new boat) a CNB will never become a WOB. It becomes a COB

 

[LittleSister]

To my mind a MAB can be white, but an AWB (which could be blue or black!) is one where you'd be hard pushed (or a complete nerd) to be able to tell whether it's a Dufour, Jeanneau, Beneteau, Bavaria, Zzzzzzzz ...

An AWB never becomes a MAB, it becomes a MAWB!

A MAB will tend to be immediately recognisable as a being from a particular marque (probably now defunct), even if you don't yet know what that marque is. It will tend to be the result of the particular style and market segment the builder was aiming for, and the particular strengths, weaknesses and quirks of the designer.

An AWB is the result of algorithms that have processed the results of endless marketing surveys, focus groups, etc, producing something very satisfactory, ticking boxes in all the crucial departments, and neither offends nor excites anybody.

 

[Tranona]

To my mind a MAB can be white, but an AWB (which could be blue or black!) is one where you'd be hard pushed (or a complete nerd) to be able to tell whether it's a Dufour, Jeanneau, Beneteau, Bavaria, Zzzzzzzz ...

An AWB never becomes a MAB, it becomes a MAWB!

A MAB will tend to be immediately recognisable as a being from a particular marque (probably now defunct), even if you don't yet know what that marque is. It will tend to be the result of the particular style and market segment the builder was aiming for, and the particular strengths, weaknesses and quirks of the designer.

An AWB is the result of algorithms that have processed the results of endless marketing surveys, focus groups, etc, producing something very satisfactory, ticking boxes in all the crucial departments, and neither offends nor excites anybody.

Bit like cars then! MK 2 Jaguar/Contessa 32 and Bavaria 34/VW Golf

 

[geem]

To my mind a MAB can be white, but an AWB (which could be blue or black!) is one where you'd be hard pushed (or a complete nerd) to be able to tell whether it's a Dufour, Jeanneau, Beneteau, Bavaria, Zzzzzzzz ...

An AWB never becomes a MAB, it becomes a MAWB!

A MAB will tend to be immediately recognisable as a being from a particular marque (probably now defunct), even if you don't yet know what that marque is. It will tend to be the result of the particular style and market segment the builder was aiming for, and the particular strengths, weaknesses and quirks of the designer.

An AWB is the result of algorithms that have processed the results of endless marketing surveys, focus groups, etc, producing something very satisfactory, ticking boxes in all the crucial departments, and neither offends nor excites anybody.

So where do you put the Contessa 32, Sigma 33, S&S 34 Swan 65? Even the Laser sailing dinghy?

 

[Tranona]

So where do you put the Contessa 32, Sigma 33, S&S 34 Swan 65? Even the Laser sailing dinghy?

The first 2 remain popular because there are sufficient numbers in existence to support one design racing which was their primary purpose. The second 2 because there are still opportunities for meaningful racing. Same for all the long lived dinghy and keel boat classes.

Cruising boats in general do not have this binding force and generally survive/prosper depending on how useful they are to individual owners.

 

[geem]

The first 2 remain popular because there are sufficient numbers in existence to support one design racing which was their primary purpose. The second 2 because there are still opportunities for meaningful racing. Same for all the long lived dinghy and keel boat classes.

Cruising boats in general do not have this binding force and generally survive/prosper depending on how useful they are to individual owners.

They are all classic boats, maybe not the Laser, that's just a great boat. The point is, throughout time, some boats become classic. What out of the modern offering will ever become a classic with a cult following like a Contessa 32?
The Fastnet report highlighted inadequacies in design but did we really learn much 40 odd years later? We now have glued in windows that fail. Brass seacocks on new boats, lightweight deck gear to save money, high volume hulls and relatively little ballast. This is the AWB. Perfect for marina hopping because that's what people want

 

[tillergirl]

Little Sister's statement is entirely accurate.

 

[Porthandbuoy]

Thanks for clearing that up. I now know I sail an MAB and not an AWB.

 

[LittleSister]

Bit like cars then! MK 2 Jaguar/Contessa 32 and Bavaria 34/VW Golf

Except the original Golf Mk 1 was quite distinctive in its day. Since then other cars have gravitated to become ersatz Golfs, and the Golfs have gradually lost their distinctive Golfness and VWness.

Cars, like boats but even more so, have become much, much less distinct from one another. Marketing philosophy and computer modelling of aerodynamics/hydronamics has resulted in a convergence. Outside of wildly expensive things, it's very hard to tell one from another.

So where do you put the Contessa 32, Sigma 33, S&S 34 Swan 65? Even the Laser sailing dinghy?

Contessa 32 most definitely a (great) MAB.

Sigma 33 & S&S 34 MABs, too, but getting a bit marginal.

Swan 65 and anything of that sort of size is just a moneybag conveyance, and doesn't merit the proud emblem of either MAB or AWB.

Laser is as irrelevant as a refrigerator. AWBs & MABs are yachts.

i think you may be confusing MAB and AWB as having necessarily negative connotations. Rather those names, as I see it, are gentle jibes in the manner of 'Stinkpot' and 'Raggie', based on not entirely unjustified but often exaggerated negative associations. But they've also been reclaimed by their acolytes, in the same way that certain sectors of the population have reclaimed what used to be negative names they were called. (Can't give the obvious examples here for fear of being moderated.)

'Say it loud, I've a Manky Auld Boat and I'm proud!'

(I'm sure there are even AWB owners who have a degree of, er, pride in their choice/inevitability of boat! )

 

[Minerva]

I hate TLAs.

I agree. Ime every time I see a tla I go wtf?! Imo they should be banned but iirc MAB stands for Manky Auld Boat.

 

[LittleSister]

They are all classic boats, maybe not the Laser, that's just a great boat. The point is, throughout time, some boats become classic. What out of the modern offering will ever become a classic with a cult following like a Contessa 32?
The Fastnet report highlighted inadequacies in design but did we really learn much 40 odd years later? We now have glued in windows that fail. Brass seacocks on new boats, lightweight deck gear to save money, high volume hulls and relatively little ballast. This is the AWB. Perfect for marina hopping because that's what people want

There is no contradiction in being both a classic and a MAB. In fact, the latter almost goes with the former's territory.

Hard to see an AWB ever becoming a classic, though. That is pretty much a contradiction in terms.

 

[Daydream believer]

(I'm sure there are even AWB owners who have a degree of, er, pride in their choice/inevitability of boat! )

I have an AWB & people walking along the pontoon, past it, have often stopped, commented on the name, then said what a nice looking boat it is. I certainly think it looks as good as your Twisters & Contessas. It certainly performs better in the conditions that I have encountered. It gives considerably better accommodation, plus the good hand holds, that some consider so important. I bet that it is much easier to sail/handle/manouver as well.

 

[LittleSister]

You realise they're just being polite, don't you?

We MAB owners, being sensitive souls, feel sorry for you AWB owners, take pity on you, and try hard to think of nice things to say about your boat. The boat name is a good failsafe to fall back on, we find, and steers clear of the involuntary chuckle that might escape when we're saying how good looking your boat is.

Yes, your boat will be more comfortable, faster, practical, etc., etc., but that counts for little when you have to suffer the existential angst of having a boat with no soul - AWBs being the marine equivalent of Stepford Wives!

 

[Minerva]

I often find myself looking longingly at MABs or classics. Something like this would be tremendous to look at and own;

Boat Details - Mark Cameron Yachts - Specialist Sail and Motorboat Brokerage

Then you see the forepeak and realise you’d have more comfort in a bothy and the galley is more akin to camping cooking.

If only there were a efficient way to take an old boat like the McGruer, rip out the interior, 3d scan the hull and have an architect/skilled person design a new, liveable interior to be laser cut out of ply and fitted to look proper job!

But such boats will solely be the chattels of dwindling number of blokes who leave their wife’s at home whist they go sailing with other blokes.