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Old 19-07-2015, 10:34   #1
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SV vs SY

OK, so I've been watching a lot of youtube and reading forums and noticed the use of SV-Boatname (which I know to be Sailing Vessel) and SY-Boatname (which I take to be Sailing Yacht).
My confusion comes from the use interchangeably, sometimes from the same people.
Is one preferred over the other and when would you use each?

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Old 19-07-2015, 22:14   #2
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Re: SV vs SY

IMHO vessels are build and operated practicality in mind, yachts for vanity and make the owner to look good on the helm. So even the same boat can be a vessel or a yacht depending of the mind set of the person on board or just looking at it ..
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Old 19-07-2015, 23:35   #3
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Re: SV vs SY

We have always used SV - Sailing Vessel - and have the S/V prefix printed on our boat's t-shirts. However, when we got to Australia, we found that the convention was to refer to a sailboat as a 'yacht' and a motorboat as a 'launch', regardless of size.

We have now switched to S/Y.

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Old 20-07-2015, 00:02   #4
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Re: SV vs SY

Quote:
Originally Posted by TeddyDiver View Post
IMHO vessels are build and operated practicality in mind, yachts for vanity and make the owner to look good on the helm. So even the same boat can be a vessel or a yacht depending of the mind set of the person on board or just looking at it ..
Also differs culturally, in the UK no one would bat an eyelid at someone calling his 21' correbee a yacht. Same for captain, anyone signing themselves off as "Captain" Fred blogs would be laughed at by one and all but it seems perfect normal in the states.
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Old 20-07-2015, 03:06   #5
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Re: SV vs SY

Yep, it is very regional.
As others have posted, any sailboat bigger than say 18 feet is simply called a yacht in Oz.
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Old 20-07-2015, 03:15   #6
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Re: SV vs SY

I truly loath the word 'vessel'.

Even when used in the sense 'motor vessel' I prefer the usage 'motor ship'.... we never ever did have 'steam vessels'... we had 'steam ships'

I own a yacht... which I sometimes refer to as my ship....
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Old 20-07-2015, 07:28   #7
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Re: SV vs SY

i sail a ketch so mine is sk and boat name....
i am not so presumptuous as to call my home a yot. there is no helipad on it,. so how can it be a yot...it is a ketch.
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Old 20-07-2015, 08:08   #8
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Re: SV vs SY

Neither SY or SV are a necessity as far as I know. Really only used in the USA.


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Old 20-07-2015, 08:20   #9
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Re: SV vs SY

I'm with Zee on this one. Mine is S/V Odyssey. At least in the states, "yacht" sounds so pretentious. Don't need it.

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Old 20-07-2015, 09:16   #10
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Re: SV vs SY

I think there is a simple criterion. If you own a pleasure craft and do the maintenance yourself, it's a boat. If somebody else does the maintenance, then it's a yacht.
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Old 20-07-2015, 09:38   #11
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Re: SV vs SY

To all of us from the USA, we have to get over this USA centric thinking. Not everyone else in the world ( not even English speaking countries ) uses the same words in the same ways we do. "Yacht" doesn't have the same luxury connotation in other places as it does in North America.

It doesn't matter if you call your boat a vessel or a yacht. If it isn't an aircraft carrier it is still a small boat on a big ocean.


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Old 20-07-2015, 10:30   #12
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Re: SV vs SY

As for "Captain", unless you're in the military or a licensed captain, you shouldn't be using the term. "Skipper" is the correct term for unlicensed owner/operators in command of a pleasure vessel.


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Old 20-07-2015, 10:38   #13
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Re: SV vs SY

A good summary of ship prefixes.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_prefix

According to Wikipedia (for what that's worth), "SY" can also mean "Steam Yacht", whereas "SV" only refers to sailing vessels.


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Old 12-09-2018, 06:29   #14
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Re: SV vs SY

I grew up in Europe. I visited a lot of the European countries (Germany, Poland, Scandinavia, Greece, Italy etc. ) with a sea access. The S/Y abbreviation have been always used there. First time this idiotic SV term I heard in America. - Change it to Water Vehicle. - Buhahahahaa !!! - Language neoplasm.
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Old 12-09-2018, 07:40   #15
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Re: SV vs SY

Interesting topic!

Personally, I share the view of the ones referring to “Sailing Yacht” as a tad pretentious.
If I were the owner of a HR, Forgus, Najad, Malö or some other of the Swedish sailing vessel for that matter, it would definitely be a S/V, but as my boat is a Sweden Yachts, it kind of made sense to call it a S/Y, since “Yacht” is already in the name of the company. Therefore, my Sweden Yachts is a Sailing Yacht. The pretentious prefix before the boat name is compensated to, by referring to myself as the vagabond behind the wheel, or something similar.

By the way, I agree to the suggestion it´s a regional thing. Sailing Vessel is very unusual here in Scandinavia. Sounds way better in my ears though.

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