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At what length does a boat become a yacht?

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by SINKorSWIM, Sep 23, 2007.

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  1. SINKorSWIM

    SINKorSWIM New Member

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    Hi all. I wanted to ask this question but never got around to asking, but here it is...

    I would like to now the approximate feet for these. The length when a boat is called a yacht, the length when a yacht is called a super yacht and so forth.

    Thank you in advance,
    SINKorSWIM
  2. Loren Schweizer

    Loren Schweizer YF Associate Writer

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    Hi Sink or Swim:

    Nomenclature can be so tiring. "Boating" or "Yachting" or "SuperYachts"...

    When I tell my office manager I'm off to do seatrials on an 87-footer, I'm "going for a boat ride".

    When I'm playing hooky, I'll call & tell her that I'm going "yachting" and she knows that I'll be out on Biscayne Bay on my 16-ft. kayak.

    "Superyachts"? That's what 130-footers used to be called ten years ago, but I'd suppose much less than 250 feet nowadays hardly qualifies.

    Check back in a year or so--it'll all change.


    It's a matter of mindset.
  3. jsi

    jsi New Member

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    Built - and am still building - BOATS.

    Everything from a 16' Cape Cod dory to 50 metre big-ass boats.

    Now - as with the shoemaker whose children have no shoes - if I could just afford the time away from nonstop building goddam boats for a living, I could build me a simple little 22' Calkins Bartender and die and go to heaven..............

    so it goes

    jsi
  4. JWY

    JWY Senior Member

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    Depends on the recipient of the term. If it is a seller, it's a boat. If it's a buyer, it's a yacht.;)
  5. Ken Bracewell

    Ken Bracewell Senior Member

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    Learned this one from an employer

    "A Yacht is what a pretentious person calls his boat"
    :D
  6. YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

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    Shouldn't that be the other way around?
  7. JWY

    JWY Senior Member

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    We want the seller to detach emotionally from his vessel. We want the buyer to become Ken's pretentious owner with bragging rights.

    The real estate equivalent is a seller is selling his house, but a buyer is looking for his new home.

    Emotional verbiage that really sounds more prescribed than practiced.
  8. YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

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    OK, now I understand. It's all about perspective...

    As a broker, you want the seller to be detached.

    But when I'm the seller... my 25 footer is a YACHT! ;)
  9. KCook

    KCook Senior Member

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    Key point I think. Very often on other sites I see guys going on and on and on about how fussy they are going to be about who they sell their boat to. As if the buyer is assumed to be low life until proven otherwise. When I turned my boat over to a broker, he told me "forget this boat as of now, as it's no longer your property". And he was perfectly right.

    Kelly
  10. YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

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    I need to apologize... I've been searching YF for threads relevant to the question, but to no avail. Somewhere in the GY forum, we had a thread that outlined designation by length. I remember it, because I posted it. But as Loren stated, the designation seems to be changing by the year.

    Let's put this question to rest. At what point a boat becomes designated a yacht is subject to debate, but for the new-fangled prefixes that have accompanied the magnitude of new, larger yachts, I seem to recall the following...

    Yacht = up to 100'.
    MegaYacht = 100' to 150'.
    SuperYacht = 150' and up.

    Then, a YF member intro'd the term "GigaYacht" (I think it was Lars, maybe Rene), but in fact the title had been reserved as a domain name some years earlier. If I remember correctly...

    GigaYacht = 300' and above.

    What's the general consensus among members? Are these numbers an acceptable "rule of thumb"? Or should they be altered to remove the word "yacht" from the vocabulary of mortals, because a 70 footer is a dinghy by today's standards!
  11. SINKorSWIM

    SINKorSWIM New Member

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    Hi Carl. I think that is good thank you for the info that I needed.
    Now though, what do you think the point is when a smallish boat would be called a yacht. i.e. let's say should it be 30'.

    SorS
  12. KCook

    KCook Senior Member

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    Eh???? Here I thought it was the megayachts that were bigger than the superyachts?

    TOTALLY confused Kelly
  13. SINKorSWIM

    SINKorSWIM New Member

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    Hi, same here I always thaught that to. I agreed with him though because he is the boss as you could say it.
  14. brunick

    brunick Senior Member

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    try a search on "gigayacht" on google - yachtforum is settings the standards on yachting :D
  15. jsi

    jsi New Member

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    Well......

    From the shorter OED;

    Yacht. 1557. Early modern Dutch. Jaghie = jaghischip, fast piratical ship. f. jag(h)t hunting, f. jagen, hunt. A light fast-sailing ship, in early use esp. for the conveyance of royal or other important persons; later, a vessel, usu. light and comparatively small, for cruising, now esp. one built and rigged for racing 1886.

    Just so.

    So we have the question of sail vs. mechanical propulsion.

    And the question of the purpose and proportion built.

    jsi
  16. Loren Schweizer

    Loren Schweizer YF Associate Writer

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    A 'pretentious kayaker' has to be the oxymoron of oxymorons. :p
  17. Loren Schweizer

    Loren Schweizer YF Associate Writer

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    How about this:

    A boat will fit aboard a yacht, but not vice-versa
  18. YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

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    Chapman's has a section that goes into the definition of a yacht. I don't have access to my issue right now. It's in a box. Strange feeling, you know... when your whole life fits into a 15 X 20 storage facility. :eek:

    Getting back on subject, I'm not sure "length" designates the difference between a boat and a yacht. For example... when I think of a 70+ foot express cruiser, I refer to it as a "boat". In contrast, when I think of a 72' Broward... that's a "yacht".

    Is it a matter of stature? An undefined aesthetic element that conjures up a preconceived notion? I'm not sure, but I can say this... when a status-seeking, monetarily-inclined woman asks how big my boat is, she'll always get the same answer...

    It's a row boat! You don't mind rowing, do you?
  19. KCook

    KCook Senior Member

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    I agree with Carl that the type of boat makes a real difference. My "yacht" threshold for a trawler would be much, much lower than for a mid-cabin cruiser.

    Kelly
  20. AMG

    AMG YF Moderator

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    I would say that all yachts are boats, but not all boats are yachts...:)