When does a boat become a "classic boat"?

Just_sayin' said:
Oh, wet you mean. You should have said.
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Decent sailing boats tend to be ' wet ', otherwise one gets a floating caravan - the difference between an E-Type and an Autosleeper.

The Autosleeper / Bavaria may be more practical to accountant types, but it will never make one's heart sing, or engender personal attacks from bitter people aware of their and their boat's definincies...:)
 
Seajet said:
The Autosleeper / Bavaria may be more practical to accountant types, but it will never make one's heart sing, or engender personal attacks from bitter people aware of their and their boat's definincies...:)
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As an owner of a Bavaria it makes my heart sing and it is quite capable of engendering personal attacks from bitter people aware of their and their boat's definincies:D
 
I wrote the following for a website:
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The definition of a “classic yacht” is a fairly elastic one. Few would argue that a J-class from the 1920s is a classic yacht. What about a James Silver “gentlemans motor yacht” from the late 1940s, or Laurent Giles’ beautiful Nicholson-built “Lutine” from 1952?

Is however a Rustler 36 (which could have been built in 2016) a classic yacht? It certainly derives it’s pedigree and hull form from the 1942 Folkboat, which general hull form Kim Holman enlarged, refined, and progressively reworked into the Stella, Twister and then the Rustler 31 and 36 designs.

So if a 2015 Rustler 36 can be a classic yacht, can a 1971 Contessa 32? Some would say no, as this has a separate keel and skeg/rudder, instead of a traditional long keel. Yet separate keels and rudders were already well known well over a hundred years ago, Herreshoff having started to build such designs in the early 1890s. And if a 1971 Contessa 32 can be a classic design, why not also a shiny new-built one from Jeremy Rogers?

There are also yachts that started life as working boats, whether pilot cutters, fishing boats or the Colin Archer sailing lifeboats? Many such boats are still sailing at over 100 years old, though now used purely as yachts. Others were built as yachts by the same yards that built working versions, such as the Miller Fifers, or the various modern builds of traditional pilot cutters.

Finally, there are the modern yachts which are consciously “retro” - the Spirits, Morris’ and other beautiful yachts in modern materials. The new Rustler 33 is very much in this mould.

We believe in a fairly flexible definition of the term classic yacht, in much the same way that some quite modern cars, and cars that were quite commonplace in their day, can now be called classic cars. We are happy for a classic yacht to be built of any material, as long as she is beautiful in her own way, and suited to her purpose, be it cruising or racing.
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There is no dogmatic formula about keel profile or anything else.

The Centaur is a classic because of it's huge success, getting a lot of people safely on the water; and is jolly capable in experienced hands - the Leisure 17 a smaller but very good introduction.

Anyone who doubts the Contessa 32 as a classic must have been asleep for the last few decades - there's a reason they command premium prices among sailors, even if they don't have fat arses and aft cabins...

Another such real classic is the She 36, I'd rather have one of those than the whole Sunsail fleet.

In Redcliffe Yacht Club there is a painting of the She 36 ' Lorelei ' ( a member's boat ) rescuing people in the '79 Fastnet with the inscription ' I knew she would never let me down ' - now that's a classic boat !
 
A "Classic" is something that people will pay actual money for, not merely something that time has diluted just how awful or average they were.
Any desirability probably reflects the sheer numbers produced and the number of people who could not afford one at the time who want one now.
The apparently much sort after RS 2000 was a slothfull ill handling family saloon with largest sticky back plastic decal that Ford could decently get away with.
Cars of the period,from small outfits such a Gilbern,Lotus,TVR and Reliant would have provided a much better performance and a much more rewarding drive.
Perhaps they should have put more decals and stickers on the cars.
 
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