Why is a boat called she?

[paulineb]

When we called our boat Tommy, nearly everyone at the boat club said "you can't called her that, a boat is a she". Why ????

Pauline B

 

[Guest]

It has always been my policy to pacify her in doors ,because of all the attention my boats get and dosh to. So it's better to call it her or she when the evil one /boat hater is about and bitch when she's not .
That's possibly one reason I'm so happily divorced
Mick

 

[Bergman]

Because she is:

Expensive to run
Temperamental
Needs firm but gentle handling
Loves lots of attention
Men are obsessed by the state of her bottom

 

[ccscott49]

Funnily enough as it is, Tugs and tenders are normally refered to as He.

 

[jfm]

Re: You are in the right, Tommy\'s a grand lass

No your boat club bods are mixing up two quite separate things, the name of the boat and the pronoun.

A boat is always referred to as "she" when a pronoun is used. But that doesn't mean they have to have girlie names. Very often abstract or non gender specific names are used (HMS Victory, Sunsail 18, Wet Dream, Calm Voyager) and these are referred to as "she". Also more masculine names can be used (one I know well called "Braveheart", the well-known Feadship "King", the megayachts "Greybeard", "Amadeus") and still these would be "she" when the pronoun is used.

So it's simple. A boat can have a masculine name but retains the pronoun "she". If you were going for a bosh in Tommy you wd say to Mr B "I'm going to Tommy, to take her for a run" and you'd be completely correct.

I appreciate that I haven't explained WHY boats take the feminine pro-noun, I don't know, but that wasn't your question

(And I still have not got over the fact you have a SuperAmerica, what a bute, fab fab fab)

 

[lyc]

Can you post a picture of your boat on the web so we can all have a look?

 

[Guest]

And tugs are called He because they do all the hard work?
Never get properly looked after?
Are reliable?

There that should get Pauline going... ;-)

 

[paulineb]

Tugs are called 'he' because they're always on the pull ;-)

Pauline B

 

[jfm]

Picture SuperAmerica 48

for a (not brill) pic of Riva masterpiece, try

http://www.parisibroker.com/scheda.asp?scheda=594

 

[lyc]

Re: Picture SuperAmerica 48

Thanks for the web addy.
I'm drooling.......what a boat.

 

[ccscott49]

What a wonderful statement!

 

[ArthurWood]

Nice boat, Pauline and the picture of you is nice, too!
We have a house in Kemp Town and when we visit, we often wander down to the marina, but have never noticed your boat, or perhaps I mistook it for something else, since we can't get close. Where do you cruise to from B-ton apart from across to France?

 

[paulineb]

Sometimes just pop to Eastbourne for a trip out and some lunch, otherwise it's Chichester, Solent, IOW or just go out of the marina for a blast around and a little playtime.

Pauline B