What do you guys consider a Yacht?
Posted by Sir-Realz@reddit | sailing | View on Reddit | 44 comments
I see people post here all the time about Yacht but I just saw a post about a 25 footer. I feel like they have to be 45ft and very nice at that minimum.
billsmithers2@reddit
A yacht is just a pleasure craft with at least one cabin intended for overnight use.
Raneynickelfire@reddit
That would mean my Catalina 22 is a yacht.
Raneynickelfire@reddit
The boat that I am currently on is a yacht. Be it a rubber dinghy, my catalina 22, or a Swan 131. If I'm on it, it's a yacht dammit!
ghettoskier@reddit
My 20ft dinghy is a yacht when I want to jokingly be pretentious. Other people's boats are yachts when I want to joke about them being pretentious.
Everything else is just sparkling boats.
Difficult_Limit2718@reddit
It's only a yacht if it comes from the yachtanie region of France
crazyswedishguy@reddit
* Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC)
Intelligent-Salt-362@reddit
The term “Sparkling boats” is ::chef’s kiss:: and I will be stealing it. Does that make me a pirate?
ComplexQuiet6790@reddit
Only if you're wearing an eye patch
Intelligent-Salt-362@reddit
I had a lazy eye as a kid and actually had to wear an eye patch after having an ocular alignment, but that is no longer an issue. So in the immortal words of Nick Papageorgio “I do not require them.”
hertzsae@reddit
Google basically says any vessel from around 33 to 100 feet in length that isn't used for commercial purposes and generally has a cabin for sleeping or other luxury amenities.
That's a pretty good definition and I feel like anyone who is proud of their more stringent requirements is just trying to gatekeep.
crazyswedishguy@reddit
Why the 100 foot limit? Are super-yachts and mega-yachts not yachts?
Sir-Realz@reddit (OP)
If I wanted a strait forward good explanation I wouldn't have come to reddit. Lol
bryangcrane@reddit
A generally accepted definition that my fellow Southern California boaters use, is that a yacht is a pleasure vessel with a hired captain.
Thoughts?
wrongwayup@reddit
A hired captain and/or a hired chef!
wrongwayup@reddit
I've heard a lot of tongue-in-cheek references and have made a few myself. Worn blue blazers on all sorts of janky vessels. But in more objective terms, if it's got some kind of professional on-board staff, that's a yacht.
Infinite-Land-232@reddit
I used to store my Naples Sabot next to another one named "YOT". I don't think mine was a yacht but his was.
bobber18@reddit
A yacht is a boat that is used exclusively for pleasure. Fishing hosts, world boat, and transports don’t count. And size doesn’t matter.
Dstegs_@reddit
So my sunfish is a yacht?
StatisticalMan@reddit
Yachts have overnight accomodations. So no a canoe or sunfish wouldn't count.
However there are pocket cruiser yachts down to 22 feet.
Much-Hamster-2182@reddit
May 22er comed with 4 beds, a pantry with flowing water, sink and 4 flames cooker, two tables (if needed), lots of storing space and even a toilet. So don‘t tell me my floating realm is not a yacht. snorting indingnantly
bobber18@reddit
Yes, both are yachts. Congratulations
Dstegs_@reddit
digger250@reddit
I sail at a yacht club that was established 100 years ago and never raced boats bigger than 18'
vulkoriscoming@reddit
I think the definition requires overnight accomodations. I do like the other guy's assertion that it also requires a dedicated ice maker you can use away from the dock.
squishyPup@reddit
I call my Cape Dory 25 a yacht, a sailin' boht, a day sailor, a pocket crusier, and a coastal cruiser, sometimes all in the same day.
I also teach on 22 foot Ensigns and to lighten the mood for nervous new sailors, after casting off, I always say ha HA! Lovely day for yachting!
DogtariousVanDog@reddit
The common definition that I know is that a yacht is any pleasure craft with a keel that provides righting moment.
12221203@reddit
America’s Cup boats are yachts yet some don’t have sleeping provisions, dinghies, or an ice maker. Some even carry passengers now and are still considered yachts.
Truth_Said_In_Jest@reddit
I think that's more of a legacy classification.
CapnJuicebox@reddit
I yacht is a vessel that carries it's own dinghy on deck, and is over 33ft in length
vulkoriscoming@reddit
This is a reasonable definition
OptiMom1534@reddit
a yacht is any boat used for pleasure. the end.
mikemerriman@reddit
any boat bigger than mine is a yacht
vulkoriscoming@reddit
This is the real answer until you get 75 foot plus with staff. Then they are all yachts.
whyrumalwaysgone@reddit
From a systems guy: if it has an icemaker, it qualifies as a yacht.
There are a lot of different ways to distinguish, this is the most accurate one. Will die on this hill.
crazyswedishguy@reddit
I have a portable (countertop) ice-maker that I bring on my sailboat. Does that make it a yacht?
whyrumalwaysgone@reddit
If you have the available power to run it away from the dock free of worry, absolutely yes.
Sir-Realz@reddit (OP)
Solid I like this no holes in this logic
sailingtroy@reddit
There are old British Pathé videos where they refer to the boats in a dinghy regatta as "yachts". I've heard people draw all kinds of lines over the years. "Must have a toilet," "must have a galley," "must have a berth," "must have a tender..." some people draw the line at different lengths: 25', 27', 30', 40', 50'....
I will tell you that at my venerable, old YACHT club, there are very few 45'+ boats and fewer of them "very nice."
I think it's all classist bullshit and not worth worrying about. It's just another way to divide people, in this case sailors, and we can use all the solidarity we can muster these days. "United we stand, divided we fall."
Difficult_Limit2718@reddit
But the rich always want to divide themselves from the poors... That's the point
Almost_human-ish@reddit
The guy that taught me to sail used to say a yacht it had to have a mast and sails.
Everything else was a either a working boat, a speedboat, or a 'floating gin palace crewed by people who's idea of navigation was trying to stay on the blue parts of a road map'.
He was a funny old bugger, but by god he was a hell of a sailor.
squashed_fly_biscuit@reddit
In the UK a yacht is commonly a sailing vessel with a cabin for sleeping that isn't a sailing barge
1have2much3time@reddit
There isn’t a specific size starting point for a ‘yacht’ like there is for a mega/super-yacht classification.
It just needs to be a pleasure vessel with a dedicated space to sleep and store/prepare food.
1959Mason@reddit
This depends where you are in the world. Different regions have different takes on this. Sounds like you consider fancyness and length in your criteria.
KaleidoscopeWeird310@reddit
A yacht has its own boat(s).