Is it a Boat or a Yacht?

[Mr B]

A yacht has sails,
A boat has oars or a motor,

Mines only a cheapy, But it does allow me to park beside the really big expensive ones,

[Celestialsailor]

When you're showing it off...it's a Yacht
When it comes to the IRS...it's a boat.

[Tingum]

If it is a pleaaure craft,(not commercial) it is a yacht.

[mangomuffins]

CORRECT!!

Yacht is dutch for pleasure craft. If it is for fun, it is a yacht.

from wiki:

A yacht /ˈjɒt/ is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries. After its selection by Charles II of England as the vessel of choice to return to Britain from Holland for his restoration, it came to be used to mean a vessel used to convey important persons.
In modern use the term designates two rather different classes of watercraft, sailing and power boats. Yachts are different from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose, and it was not until the rise of the steamboat and other types of powerboat that sailing vessels in general came to be perceived as luxury, or recreational vessels. Later the term came to encompass motor boats for primarily private pleasure purposes as well.
Yacht lengths generally range from 8 metres (26 ft) up to dozens of metres (hundreds of feet). A luxury craft smaller than 12 metres (39 ft) is more commonly called a cabin cruiser or simply "cruisers." A mega yacht generally refers to any yacht (sail or power) above 30 m (98 ft) and a super yacht generally refers to any yacht over 60 metres (197 ft). This size is small in relation to typical cruise liners and oil tankers.


mm

[keyspc]

you never would hear my boat referd to as a yacht, though i do know of some phony pretensioness people refer to boats smaleer or same size as yachts.

[Hearts Content]

Very interesting, the definition of Yacht seems to be very relative in the same manner as wealth.

Anyone perceived to have more than you is clearly, from your perspective, "wealthy" and would own a "Yacht". While you yourself are "non-wealthy" and own a "boat".

Perspective and rationalization!

[Dockhead]

There are also regional differences in usage of the word "yacht". In the UK, it is the most common word for a sailboat, a word they don't use. Harbormasters will often ask you, when you request a berth, "are you a yacht, or a motorboat?". They do say "motor yacht", but plain "yacht" implies sails.

In the US, the word "yacht" sometimes and in some circles sounds a bit high-falutin. I am careful about the way I use the word "yacht" in the U.S., not at all in the UK.

This problem doesn't exist in German-speaking countries -- it can only be a boat, actually, "Segelboot". Nor in Russia -- "yakhta" -- there is no other word for a sailboat.

[mangomuffins]

"you never would hear my boat referd to as a yacht, though i do know of some phony pretensioness people refer to boats smaleer or same size as yachts."


My Vega is a yacht... it is old, not in bristol condition and only 27'
I am a yachtsman... I'm not wealthy or pretentious.

I favor tradition in sailing as a means to preserve sailing culture/history. This tradition includes terminology and nomenclature.


cheers,

mm

[markpierce]

Yachts are recreational boats having interior door(s) between compartments (heads don't count), other recreational boats don't.

Chapman doesn't attempt to define a "yacht." It does define "boat" and "ship," however. Doesn't that tell you something?

[JoeDiver]

My C25 is my Yacht...and I have the Yachting Ensign flying from the stern rail to prove it. My marina is my Yacht Club....and I don't go sailing, I go Yachting.



Really....seriously....

[captainKJ]

let me ask everybody a question.,,,,,,,,,,, how come yacht clubs have many cheap sailboats,,,,,,,,,, but a yacht is kept in a marina???

love to hear the answer on this one

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by captainKJ

let me ask everybody a question.,,,,,,,,,,, how come yacht clubs have many cheap sailboats,,,,,,,,,, but a yacht is kept in a marina???

love to hear the answer on this one

Calling one's boating club a yacht club raises its image of prestige, exclusivity, etcetera.

[rhr1956]

A yacht has leather interior.

[J_m]

When folks call my boat a Yacht I reply that if I owned a Yacht I would be paying folks to maintain it for me and not doing it myself.

[s/v Jedi]

Take it from A Dutchman who invented it... a yacht I mean. Yacht means to hunt. Yachts were used to hunt down the rif raf that tried to sneak into the country for whatever shady business (Brits usually )

So... that means that a Hunter is a yacht, and a Beneteau is a boat.


Nick.