Is it a Boat or a Yacht?

[Jimbo485]

Get out in the isolated Pacific islands, where the locals will paddle over to your boat in their dugout canoes, rap their knuckles on your hull and then exclaim "Plasteeek".

If those guys who invented the best boats in the world (> 1 hull) say it is PLASTEEK, I believe them!

[minaret]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

Why the aversion to the correct term, fiberglass?

The box I keep the wench handle in, is plastic. The bottle my laundry soap comes in is plastic. My credit cards and drivers licence are plastic.

Funny thing about becoming an adult, one gains the ability to discern between similar objects.

Plastic items are seldom built up but are usually injecton molded from small plastic beads that are melted and the liquid is forced into molds under high pressure. When the plastic cools, the mold is opened and the process starts over again.

Fiberglass and a close cousin, carbon fiber, are manufactured into desired shapes by building up of material, layer upon layer.

To Confuse plastic with fiberglass is like confusing wood with press wood.

Is your boat made out of press wood? How is that treating you so far?

The correct term would not be fiberglass, but Fiber Reinforced Plastic. Polyester resin is a plastic. Just because it has been reinforced with glass fibers doesn't mean it's not a plastic, it is. And there's nothing wrong with that. Your attitude is what dsmastern was alluding too.

And for gods sake, it's a winch, not a wench. Can't count the times I've seen a novice who doesn't actually read make that mistake...

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by minaret

The correct term would not be fiberglass, but Fiber Reinforced Plastic. Polyester resin is a plastic. Just because it has been reinforced with glass fibers doesn't mean it's not a plastic, it is. And there's nothing wrong with that. Your attitude is what dsmastern was alluding too.

And for gods sake, it's a winch, not a wench. Can't count the times I've seen a novice who doesn't actually read make that mistake...

Minaret, dont be so harsh, they may in fact have a plastic wench requiring a handle !!

[GaryMayo]

My iPhone has a pretty aggressive automatic spell check and I do not tend to argue with the choices it makes as much as I should. Sucks to have to spell check the spell check. I did not type "wench" or "press wood".

Must be some cheap presswood in my iPhone. Lol

Forgive me if I am wrong, but does this thread have any reference to plastic in the original post?

Why are you so hung up on calling a fiberglass sailboat plastic? True plastic is easy to recycle. Take a chunk of fiberglass boat material to a recycling center and offer it to them as plastic and see if they are interested. I have two dollars that says they would not be interested.

I am one that can appreciate a sailboat with little or no wood products on it. Several MacGregor's are built that way. My 35 year old sailboat has lots of wood and that is where it shows it's age and requires Maintance. The fiberglass still looks new.

[GaryMayo]

Hey! Maybe boats are plastic (or presswood) and yachts are fiberglass! Lol

[Privleoplag]

On a lighter note... A buddy of mine says that if your boat has a boat.. It's not a boat.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

My iPhone has a pretty aggressive automatic spell check and I do not tend to argue with the choices it makes as much as I should. Sucks to have to spell check the spell check. I did not type "wench" or "press wood".

Must be some cheap presswood in my iPhone. Lol

Forgive me if I am wrong, but does this thread have any reference to plastic in the original post?

Why are you so hung up on calling a fiberglass sailboat plastic? True plastic is easy to recycle. Take a chunk of fiberglass boat material to a recycling center and offer it to them as plastic and see if they are interested. I have two dollars that says they would not be interested.

I am one that can appreciate a sailboat with little or no wood products on it. Several MacGregor's are built that way. My 35 year old sailboat has lots of wood and that is where it shows it's age and requires Maintance. The fiberglass still looks new.

You would lose your two dollars. A recently invented method for extracting all the plastic resin from a laminate has made it possible to recycle plastic boats. It will soon be big business.

American Fiber Green Products, Inc. Secures Boat Recycling Site - MarketWatch

I'm hung up on calling a fiberglass boat plastic, because that's what it is. And that is not a bad thing.

[minaret]

I was always taught the old definition a la Eric Hiscock, which has any boat over 16 feet in length which is equipped with interior accomodations defined as a yacht. The coast guard defines anything over 26 ft. with interior accomodations and for pleasure use as a yacht.


Twenty years ago a 75-foot vessel was considered large and a 100-foot vessel was rare. Today 100-footers are common and some private vessels are mammoths-- Microsoft founder Paul Allen’s Octopus is 410 feet and Platinum, a new (2005) vessel owned by an Arab sheikh is the world’s largest yacht at 520 feet.

There has never been agreement on what constitutes a “yacht.” The California Department of Motor Vehicles, responsible for registering boats, defines a yacht as a vessel of 16 feet or more in length designed to be propelled by sail or power. The U.S. Coast Guard, a more authoritative source, defines a yacht as a vessel over 26 feet in length. Today, many would think these definitions ludicrous, especially in light of the recent increases in vessel size.

Perhaps the most useful definition has nothing to do with size. Rather, it focuses on function:

A yacht is a sail or power-driven vessel, usually private though state vessels might be included, that is used
for pleasure and is designed for overnight or long-distance use. As such, it typically has sleeping space (berths or
staterooms), cooking space (a galley), and "necessary" space (heads).

This definition allows a vessel of almost any size to be called a yacht. But because we yearn for a more finely graded definition, we have a proliferation of yachtness terms: one hears of “pocket yachts,” “yachts,” “super yachts,” “mega yachts,” and even “mega-mega yachts.”

Research suggests that the primary division is between yachts and super yachts: A super yacht is generally defined as a yacht with overall length exceeding 24 meters (79 feet). The terms mega yacht and super yacht are synonymous--once the vessel reaches 80 feet there are no further formal gradations of yachtness. According to this taxonomy, Myeerah, at 90 feet, is a small super yacht. Octopus and Platinum are extremely large superyachts.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by dsmastern

And why is it that Americans (USA) have a hard time calling their boat/yacht "Plastic" when that's what the P in GRP or FRP is?

They always have to call it Fiberglass or Composite instead of Plastic.

The rest of the world seems fine with the term Plastic, why not the US?

Not macho enough? Does it sound too much like a toy? Fake?

Just curious.

Could it be that the Brits like "plastic" because they invented the nasty stuff?

Fiberglass, conversely, has been around a lot longer. Invented by the ancient Phoenicians.

Could it be that Americans just enjoy being historically accurate?

[Canibul]

So.....if a couple of Americans (us) who live in a British Overseas Territory bought a UK built catamaran from another American, in Florida, and it's presently documented with the USCG......but located in another country....it started life as a yacht by definition, and is now only a boat owned by Americans. Uh wait a minute. Not Americans, as that term is also non-specific, but what do you call someone who was born in the United States of America? ( No, no...."yankee" is totally wrong. Forget that. Those are fighting words to a lot of us. My ancestors shot yankees.)

I guess we'll keep calling the boat our 'rag top Catalac'.

[capttman]

I like to call Gaitweigh a little sailboat;

[forsailbyowner]

I most definately have a workboat. I run a business out of it. Its all function with no cosmetic frills. Maybe it comes down to finishes?I'm all white paint below with shop flooring, worktables, sewing tables everything as cheap and functional as possible. I'm out to impress nobody except my customers with the quality of my work.

[GaryMayo]

The ones I can barely afford are boats, the ones I cannot afford are yachts.

[twistedtree]

We were on one of the Nat Geo boats and someone asked the boson what the distinction was between a boat and a ship. He went into a monologue about differences in length, etc. and followed with "then there is the difference between a boat and a yacht". His explanation was "well, if you need to ask..."

[carstenb]

My yacht is my castle.