Who designed the best looking yachts?

ghostlymoron said:
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The OP seems to assume that old is best, I believe that modern yacht designers have learned from their predecessors.
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For contempovary boat porn you can’t beat the Wally’s imho, hulls drawn by the likes of Reichel Pugh et al, design by Luca Bassani. Price off the scale, but they are gorgeous.
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mucklestone said:
What looks good also depends on the users experience and knowledge of the subject.

About 20 years ago I got into sailing on a macgregor 26x power sailer. When moored in busy locations and public jetties, it got a lot of attention and compliments for the way it looked. Experienced sailors saw a tippy, lightweight boat that struggled when the wind picks up, but to the layman, they saw a super modern looking sleek sailboat. It was the one everyone wanted a photo with! It's not my cup of tea, but was certainly complimented at the time....
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I've had a similar experience. When we got our tubby Moody (Primrose era) all my non sailing friends swooned and told me that she was a beauty. None of them showed any interest in the previous boat, an S&S design which I think is pretty stunning. Don't really understand it myself.
 
It is interesting how many boats have been mentioned that look drop-dead gorgeous from the outside, but are like caves inside.

I did some (all? Not sunk yet :0) ) of the caulking on this beauty when she was being restored from a hulk in the 80's. She was then rigged as a schooner which IMHO suited her far better than the original and the current rig!

Name Valerie | National Historic Ships

I have fond memories of us diving off the main (aft) mast spreaders while sailing on one of her first outings after being restored.

I believe that my gallon-in-a-quart pot MAB beats her for accommodation hands down, but...
 
jdc said:
+1, but I own one of his,so am biassed!

I agree with Kim Holman and Olin Stevens, and would add Chuck Paine, who this side of the Atlantic designed the Rival 34 amongst many.
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Chuck Paine designed the Bowman range, which are great boats. They are distinctly reminiscent of the Rival range, but the Rivals are older and definitely designed by Peter Brett. Rival and Bowman merged into Rival Bowman Yachts, but after Peter Brett died, no more Rivals were designed. His last was the Rival 36, which bears the closest resemblance to the Bowman 40

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Stemar said:
I wouldn't argue about many of those illustrated, but I'm no fan of the fat bottomed girls that are fashionable today. They may sail the socks off a long keeler from the 60s and 70s, but the older boats have an elegance that a modern boat just can't match
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It's like comparing a modern day "sports car" with one of the 50/60s.
(I used to drool over Rileys, TF's, TR3s and Healeys but had to put up with an A40:cry:}

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Zing said:
I think they are the same. It was featured in the film Dead Calm. A cool yacht, especially with Nicole Kidman in it.
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Yes, I've had another look at the history and there was only one Stormvogel (but designed by three architects?)
Is this the movie you are talking about?

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No mention of working boats which where in many cases the model for yachts,personally I quite like traditional Scottish fishing boats and of course the pilot cutters
 
westhinder said:
Chuck Paine designed the Bowman range, which are great boats. They are distinctly reminiscent of the Rival range, but the Rivals are older and definitely designed by Peter Brett. Rival and Bowman merged into Rival Bowman Yachts, but after Peter Brett died, no more Rivals were designed. His last was the Rival 36, which bears the closest resemblance to the Bowman 40

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Well I stand corrected, thank you. I must add Peter Brett to my list of greats!
 
jdc said:
Well I stand corrected, thank you. I must add Peter Brett to my list of greats!
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Rivals are indeed very nice boats. Having owned a 34 for 11 years may mean I’m ever so slightly biased, but they are well thought out, built very strongly, have an easy motion. With today’s standards they are undercanvassed, initially tender but stiffen up when they are at 20 degrees. When a gust hits, they lean over a bit and accelerate, no rounding up or losing grip. I never lost control in circumstances where I saw more modern boats around me in all sorts of trouble. The 36 is the fastest of the range, the 34 the most elegant, as I may have mentioned elsewhere ?
 
mucklestone said:
What looks good also depends on the users experience and knowledge of the subject.

About 20 years ago I got into sailing on a macgregor 26x power sailer. When moored in busy locations and public jetties, it got a lot of attention and compliments for the way it looked. Experienced sailors saw a tippy, lightweight boat that struggled when the wind picks up, but to the layman, they saw a super modern looking sleek sailboat. It was the one everyone wanted a photo with! It's not my cup of tea, but was certainly complimented at the time....
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I was tempted to start a 'counter-thread' of the most ugly designs ever built. I was going to kick it off by nominating the Macgregor 26.....
 
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