Is it Bad Luck to Change Names of Used Boats?

[s/v Beth]

I think you have to be sensitive to the boat's feelings. i always wait till a major overhaul, when I am giving her a new paint job and have redone interior/exterior and electronics. She then understands- its kinda like adopting a new child. They need your love, then they will respond when you call them an new name.
Besides- I am not hailing anyone with "Transcendental Medication".

[Roaring Girl]

We changed Roaring Girl's name (as she was previously named after a Bahamian brothel!) There was a sequence of bad luck - a grounding, plastic round the prop .... So we had a big party and a ritual, adapted from John Vigor's with Pacific deities added, and things got less hairy for most of the following five years (except for the prop falling off in the middle of Biscay).

Enjoy the booze-up - it's like a launching for people who are never going to buy new.

[speakeasy]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

I think you have to be sensitive to the boat's feelings. i always wait till a major overhaul, when I am giving her a new paint job and have redone interior/exterior and electronics. She then understands- its kinda like adopting a new child. They need your love, then they will respond when you call them an new name.
Besides- I am not hailing anyone with "Transcendental Medication".

That's an hysterical name. I'd change it too. I've always figured that the taboo about name changing only applied to wooden boats. With a woodie, I think your overhaul idea and a denaming ceremoney with a real shaman and a christening ceremoney would all be necessary to avoid disaster.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Trebek1

Exactly Boatman, give the poor man bad advice is usual.. (hehehe). When his boat sinks he can blame YOU! All kidding aside, my superior sailing skills (never used a motor until i bought the aforementioned boat, did save her from smashing into the rocks, and wrecking in the harbor while screaming in under sail alone.

And did my bad decisions cause a tropical storm? Nope, I'm positive it was the name change.

Hahahaa..... Well I changed from Panasea to Moondance with my Hunter37.... 1st Departure NC.. had engine failure due to dirty Beaufort fuel clogging filters every 5 mins 3 miles off Lookout Point...
2nd Departure... picked up sunken mooring in Tayors Creek when leaving anchorage... bent prop shaft and had to sail back up the ICW to Oriental for haulout and new shaft..
3rd Departure.. got hit by 3 gales in 3 days, the final one throwing up seas that punched out Fwd bulkhead and broke new autohelm..
4th Departure... repaired autohelm failed again so had to solo wheel steer the remaining 1000 miles to Azores... Beaufort fuel clogged filters again.
I refuse to believe it was down to a name change... as 5 previous name changes were totally uneventful... In fact all were great sailboats...
Total boats owned to date 14...

[Solitude]

Hav'nt done it and wont.....

[Prerequisite]

I had a friend a long time ago that had a beautiful 38' yawl. This boat was the man's pride and joy. I saw him changing the name in the boat yard a couple weeks before the spring launch and I asked him if he was going to do a renaming ceremony. He said no- he didn't believe in that kind of stuff. The next time I saw the boat was 3 years later and my friend wasn't aboard. I asked the strangers on the boat how they ended up with her. They said they found her sunk with a 3 foot hole in the side- they tracked down the owner (my friend) who said if they could salvage her, she was theirs.

I had a renaming ceremony for my boat and we all had a great time. My friends all came out and we all toasted the boat while we enjoyed one of the most memorable sails of my life. We've had nothing but luck her...

[rickwrinkley]

The only thing to watch out for in renaming is the name.In my 40 years of boating i have found that boat names are literal ,one was called shotover and thats what happened it was shot over in the persian gulf by two enemy warships.I named one tinker and thats all you did in her.Be careful what you call it.

[Canibul]

Hmmm...this got me to thinking......I've been married three times.....and each time there was a name changing ceremony...and obviously the first two brought bad luck and trouble....

Ever try multiplying one half times one half?

[TrevC]

Originally Posted by Canibul

Hmmm...this got me to thinking......I've been married three times.....and each time there was a name changing ceremony...and obviously the first two brought bad luck and trouble....

The trick is to keep the hull waxed and the bilges nice and clean.

[barnakiel]

It is a big deal if you believe in luck.

I do not believe in gods, nor luck.

We changed the name of our boat when we bought her. Upon the first crossing of the Equator we poured the first glass of wine into the Ocean. We shared the rest.

b.

[Trebek1]

Laugh all you want... Take the piss... Whatever! But you can't change the old rules of sailing. Don't change the name of your ship (Ask the Merrimac?), and don't ever start your voyage on a Friday...


don't leave your hat on a bed either.....

[SeattleBaba]

Why do you ask two dogs...

Seriously though, as long as you have a virgin pee on the bowsprit it should be OK.

[jpemb7]

It all depends if you believe one action can cause another completely disconnected reaction to occur.

Doesn't Chaos Theory say something about this. Einstein was a keen sailor.

[sbenest]

Hi Jim,
I've owned raceboats for years and changed many names. Can't say any of them changed my racing results one way or the other. Possibly one change was for the better - I bought a Kerr 11.3 IRC racer and named it No Fat Chicks as only the boys were racing on it. Later when some of the wives and gilrfreinds started crewing I was obliged to change it a second time to Voodo Doll ! We actually did better after that!

[TrevC]

Originally Posted by sbenest

I bought a Kerr 11.3 IRC racer and named it No Fat Chicks as only the boys were racing on it. Later when some of the wives and gilrfreinds started crewing I was obliged to change it a second time to Voodo Doll ! We actually did better after that!

The name change was probably a good idea. Fat chicks make great movable ballast.