When Is a Sailboat a Yacht ?

[TEE]

Originally Posted by BlueSeas

I think that sums it up. It is the term used on the boat just big enough to make you go broke.

Amen . . . Brother. That means any boat as big as a Chevrolet.

[Liam Wald]

Hey Gord,
My favorite question for a thread was...

"I am going to buy a shorepower cord, how long of one should I get?"

[smallyachts]

Excerpts from "A Yacht" found in the Sailor's Sketch Book by Bruce Bingham.

"A yacht is, indeed a boat, but a boat is not necessarily a yacht...."

"I have known many yachts no larger than eighteen feet capable of far outshining boats of much greater sizes...."

"It is the owner who makes a yacht from a boat or, conversely, who makes a boat out of yacht...."

"A yacht announces to those who view her that her owner is proud of her, caters to her appearance and attends to her health."

A yacht, however large or small... old or new, tells who and what we are:
caring owners and loving friends, She is the profound expression and extension of ourselves. You'll know her when you see her."

You may refer to your vessel as a yacht, but if she is neglected or mistreated she is a boat.

You may refer to your vessel as a boat, but if she is well tended for, maintained and cared for she is a yacht.

[Troubadour52993]

It is still too small to enter in the St Barth Bucket, so it must be a yacht, and not a megayacht. I wonder if the owner of the Maltese Falcon calls it his sailboat...

[speciald@ocens.]

A yacht is a boat bigger than mine. By the way there is a multi-page spread in this month's Show Boat Magazine of Isabel - it doesn't mention who the owner is and it is the smallest boat featured in the magazine so maybe it is not a yacht. Give hima break guys - wouln't you use any legal manner to reduce the cost of "yacht" ownership" if you were in his situation. Almost every megayacht is listed for charter, they are everywhere in the Caribbean in the winter. With maintenance costs in the tens of thousands a month - even the very rich - Kerry not included in that club - try to cut costs. They have been hurting the last couple of years as tax policy and the world economy have eliminated the charter market; seems that the people willing to pay $250k for a week charter have disappeared.

[sandy daugherty]

Among those who consider great wealth and ostentatious display offensive, the word yacht is a perjorative. To someone who refers to their vessel as such, yacht means anything they are quite proud to own. So the word really has nothing to do with the boat, and everything to do with the owner!

[osirissail]

The word "yacht" is used when translating the idea of a sailboat/power boat into many none-English languages and the word "sailing boat/sailboat" is avoided as it has some funny connotations/translations into something you absolutely did not intend. "Yacht" translates cleanly into most foreign languages to mean what we know as a sailboat or powerboat.

[wolfenzee]

I had allays though the difference between a "yacht" and a sailboat of the same size was a combination of cosmetics and appointments. Something that looks pleasing to the eye, is well equipped and is comfortable to sail on compared to a plastic production boat. By definition "yacht" usually applies to fancy/pleasure boats

[IdoraKeeper]

I get it now. I have a few bad spots in my bright work, I can't seem to get all of it done at once. I am demoted to boatness and aspire to yachtness. My wife is ten years younger than me. Does that help?

Todd

[rover88]

"Yacht" is how you describe your boat to someone who has never seen it.

And never will.

[Marinheiro]

Sail Boat is a North Americanism, rarely used anywhere else. Probably came about because power boat salesmen co-opted the word yacht.
English language traditionally uses Yacht for vessel utilising sails as primary means of propulsion, powered vessels are (formally) Motor Yachts, alternatively Motor or Power Boats, or in Australia, NZ and other places Launches.
Even that flashy magazine for the really big ones is called "Boat International".
For me when everything is running well mine is referred to as a Yacht, when a major problem or expense rears its head, tends to be demoted to "%*?@ boat"

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by IdoraKeeper

I get it now. I have a few bad spots in my bright work, I can't seem to get all of it done at once. I am demoted to boatness and aspire to yachtness. My wife is ten years younger than me. Does that help?

Todd

Depends... does she have a few bad spots on her 'brightwork'...

[wolfenzee]

In some parts of the world the term "yachtie" is a derogatory term referring to someone who owns a pleasure boat and doesn't have a clue what they are doing.

[hummingway]

Reading this thread I realise that I have no negative connatation for the word and will look at a pleasing vessel and say what a lovely yacht but ... my Honeysuckle is a boat to me because I feel a warmth towards her that yacht doesn't imply for me. She is almost animate in my mind and boat is a word that can manage that sort of feeling... and that's all you'll get from me without a Rorschach test.

[Stillraining]

A yacht is for relaxing on, not working on.

My floating real estate has required to much blood , sweat and tears to be called a Yacht.

Its a work boat plain and simple...