New Boat lengths

[Norman_E]

A few years ago manufacturers built boats with a greater LOA than their names suggested, A Bavaria 36 was over 37 feet and my old Jeanneau 45.2 is 46ft 5in LOA. In the latest issue of Yachting Monthly, page 102 shows three new boats. The Sun Odyssey 379 is not a 37 footer as you might expect but 36ft 1in LOA, the Sun Odyssey 44DS is a mere 42ft 7in and the Hanse 385, instead of being the 38 footer you might expect is a mere 35ft 9inches. Why the change? Do builders now want to give customers the impression that the boats are bigger than they really are?

 

[trapezeartist]

I believe it's called "marketing".

If the difference is sufficient to be significant then I think overstating deceptive, verging on dishonest. However manufacturers in all fields will push it as far as they can get away with. The yacht tendency to go the other way is an oddity.

 

[Cardo]

This seems to go up and down.
My Southerly 105 is 10.8m LoA. Though I think they didn't count the transom hung rudder in the name length...

 

[LadyInBed]

Austerity measure. If it is hard to up the price then decrease the amount of material used.

 

[Tranona]

Overall length is a very misleading measure of "volume". Waterline length is a much better indicator.

My old style Bavaria 37 has a LOA of 11.1m and a LWL of 8.9m - includes a big sugar scoop and a pointy bow. Latest Bavaria 36 has a LOD of 10.9m and a LWL of 9.9m. No sugar scoop and an almost vertical bow. So the size of "boat" ie available for accommodation and cockpit is much greater on the newer boat - in fact not too different from the "40" of the same vintage as mine.

Use of length in feet for model names is just a continuation of an outdated reference point, but one that customers recognise, so why change it? - even if the builder have never worked in the Imperial world. Just another example of the lingering power of the Anglo Saxon world in boating.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Austerity measure. If it is hard to up the price then decrease the amount of material used.

Yep. Same philosophy with Mars Bars. Apparently they've got smaller, but the price has remained the same. Of course, an astute marketeer would have positioned it as the Mars Bar Lite, the slimmer's version.

 

[sarabande]

it's collusion between the makers and the marinas:


"So, you say 37 ft overall, Sir ?"

" 'Sright, thass what I pay at Octograb Marine."

"But she's a Plastimobo 395, Sir, that''ll be another £26, please."

 

[jamesjermain]

This has been going on for years - since the mid-eighties at least and probably longer. I've known extreme cases of boats being over 2ft shorter than the eponymous length. The builder's let-out clause was always 'Well, it's just the name; the facts are in the spec sheet'.

When I was boat testing at YM the quoted LOA was always LOD excluding bowsprits, prodders, bumkins, transom hung rudders etc unless stated otherwise.

Actually, I can't guarrantee this in every case as builders were quite canny about what they quoted and also what they were prepared to divulge. It's quite difficult to measure LOD in reality with just a tape measure.

 

[DanTribe]

it's collusion between the makers and the marinas:


"So, you say 37 ft overall, Sir ?"

" 'Sright, thass what I pay at Octograb Marine."

"But she's a Plastimobo 395, Sir, that''ll be another £26, please."

I've tried that.
" So, this is a 34 foot boat sir?
Yes, that's right.
So why does it say Dockrell 37 on the bow?"

 

[flipper]

My Itchen Ferry 25 is almost 28' with the daft bowsprit (but don't tell the yard)

 

[doug748]

Another interesting example is the old Bavaria 32 which is almost 34 feet oa. They must have had a reason?

 

[Daedelus]

At one of the earliest theory courses I attended the instructor said "the purpose of a bowsprit and the sole purpose is to allow marinas to charge extra"

 

[Tranona]

Another interesting example is the old Bavaria 32 which is almost 34 feet oa. They must have had a reason?

They had various incarnations of 30/31/32 were were all essentially the same boat, or rather were in the same market sector. The different designation mainly indicated that they were slightly different from eachother. Could just as easily called them Mk1,2 etc. Over time however the minor changes become pretty major, so the later 37 is a very different boat from mine, but in between there was a 36 which was closer to mine, but actually a slightly scaled up 34 which was itself 36ft overall!

All very confusing, but using model names can be just as confusing - try sorting out the various Westerlys where a basic hull could spawn 4 or 5 different named models, each aimed at a narrow subset of the market.

 

[Anchorite]

How long?

Presumably there is now an official European standard for determining a boat's length, stating what is included or (unlikely) excluded (the CQR on the bow roller). My insurance
declined the official length and required the LOA including transom hung rudder and mooring platform.
Has anyone come across the approved method.

 

[Colvic Watson]

Colvic Watson 34 and ahem 36' 6" overall
Even better on her part one registration they measure to the rudder post and that makes her 33' 7" - officially.

 

[sarabande]

that sounds rather like someone making an anchor in one kind of steel, and claiming it's another ?

 

[Colvic Watson]

that sounds rather like someone making an anchor in one kind of steel, and claiming it's another ?

I guess your time as a Rocna employee has ended if you're making that sort of post; next you'll be criticising RocnaOne for his devious tactics on the forum? Very schizophrenic.

 

[Bav34]

34 which was itself 36ft overall!

Shhhhsssssshhhhhhh!

Having 34 on the side of my boat saves me a fortune

 

[Tranona]

Presumably there is now an official European standard for determining a boat's length, stating what is included or (unlikely) excluded (the CQR on the bow roller). My insurance
declined the official length and required the LOA including transom hung rudder and mooring platform.
Has anyone come across the approved method.

Why should the EU bother with such an unimportant matter? - far more important things to deal with.

There are already "standard" measurement mechanisms such as those used for registration or licencing purposes in different countries, none of which rely solely on LOA. There is little benefit from having a "standard" and the downside is that you will get designs constrained by the dimension. You only have to look at the distortions that have followed some rating standards to see that this is not a "good thing".

 

[Tranona]

Shhhhsssssshhhhhhh!

Having 34 on the side of my boat saves me a fortune

You could transfer 50% of your "savings" to me as I am one of the "losers" with a hull length one foot less than the model name!

Justice must be seen to be done.