A sailing yacht (US ship prefixes SY or S/Y), is a leisure craft that uses sails as its primary means of propulsion. A yacht may be a sail or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing.
Sailing are actively used in sport and are among categories recognized by the governing body of sailing sports, World Sailing.
Etymology
The term
yacht originates from the
Dutch language word
jacht (pl.
jachten, which means "hunt"), and originally referred to light, fast sailing vessels that the
Dutch Republic navy used to pursue
and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the
Low Countries.
History
The history of pleasure boats begins with rowed craft in Pharaonic Egyptian times. The history of sailing yachts begins in Europe in the beginning of the 1600s with the building of a pleasure vessel for the son of King James I of England. Pleasure vessels acquired the name
yacht after the time of Charles II, who spent time exiled in Europe and visited the Netherlands, where a variety of
jachten were already well developed as pleasure boats for the elite classes since the beginning of the 17th century. Upon his restoration to the English crown, Charles commissioned a series of royal yachts, which included at least one experimental
catamaran. The first recorded yacht race between two vessels occurred in 1661, followed by the first open sailing competition in 1663 in English waters.
Starting in 1739, England found itself in a series of wars—a period that saw a decline in yachting. In Ireland, however, the gentry enjoyed yachting and founded the first yacht club in Cork as the Cork Harbor Water Club in 1720, followed by the Lough Ree Yacht Club in 1770.
Evolution of design
The fast yachts of the early 19th century were typically
,
, or
with
. By the 1850s, yachts featured large sail areas, a narrow beam, and a deeper draft than was customary until then. Racing between yachts owned by wealthy patrons was common, with large wagers at stake. The America's Cup arose out of a contest between the yacht,
America, and its English competitors. Both countries had rules by which to rate yachts, the English by tonnage and the American by length.
English and American design philosophies for sailing yachts diverged in the early 1800s: the English favoring a narrow beam (width) and a deep-draft keel and the Americans favoring a broad beam and a shallow draft with a moveable centerboard to provide lateral resistance and righting moment. In 1851, when the yacht America crossed to England, the two design philosophies were converging back towards each other. America's pointed, convex bow and maximum beam, placed aft, influenced British designs, thanks to her racing successes against the British competition. American yachtsmen, in turn, found that their shallow "skimming-dish" designs were not faster or safer than the visiting English yachts.
By the turn of the 20th century, racing yachts featured long overhangs, fore and aft, and a narrow, deep keel by historic standards. Along the way, yacht designers discovered that handicapping rules based on tonnage or length were not good indicators of performance, although they remained a basis for taxation in the two home countries.
Cruising yachts
The prevalent purpose of yachting under sail in the 19th century was racing. Boats would cross the Atlantic to engage the yachts of other owners in contests of speed. Cruising was the provenance of the most wealthy in large, luxurious yachts that had reliable auxiliary power or were solely steam-powered yachts.
Early explorers in smaller sailing craft wrote of their experiences cruising the lakes and canals of Europe in a sailing canoe (John MacGregor) and the near-shore waters of England and Scotland in a cutter (R.T. McMullen). In the late 1800s some cruising adventurers converted fishing vessels and pilot boats into cruising boats. The most notable of these was Joshua Slocum Spray, a converted work boat in which he accomplished the first single-handed circumnavigation (1895-98).
Racing yachts
In the 20th century, cruising yacht design evolved past the handicapping rules-based designs of the 19th century towards more sea-kindly hull designs.
In the 1930s yacht hulls were designed with a "fisherman" underbody, whereby the slope of the bow continued to the fullest extent of the draft and then carried horizontally aft. Noted yacht designers, such as John Alden and Starling Burgess employed this configuration. Starting in the 1920s several new rating rules were devised by the Cruising Club of America and the Royal Ocean Racing Club in order to handicap yachts of different designs that were expected to compete against one another. Successful designers of this era were
Olin Stephens,
Philip Rhodes, Aage Nielson, and C. Raymond Hunt. The International Offshore Racing (IOR) rule supplanted the previous rules in 1970 to provide a fairer basis for handicapping racing yachts. This rule promoted the use of fin keels and blade rudders. This rule was augmented with the International Measurement System (IMS) to assure safe designs for extreme conditions, following the disastrous 1979 Fastnet Race in which only 86 of the 303 participants finished owing to failed equipment and loss of 19 lives and five boats.
Cruising
Cruising yachts may be designed for near-shore use or for passage-making. They may also be raced, but they are designed and built with the comfort and amenities necessary for overnight voyages. Qualities considered in cruising yachts include: performance, comfort under way, ease of handling, stability, living comfort, durability, ease of maintenance, and affordability of ownership.
Categories
Cruising sailboats share the common attribute of providing overnight accommodations. They may be classified as
small (easy to haul behind a trailer),
and
off-shore.
sailing yachts are a category, apart.
-
Small yachts are designed for sheltered coastal waters, bays inlets, lakes and rivers.
- that are readily towed by a car are generally shorter than length overall and weigh less than .
-
Near-shore yachts are designed for exposed coastal waters, bays inlets, lakes and rivers.
-
Offshore yachts are designed for ocean passages and extended voyages.
Design
Design considerations for a cruising yacht include seaworthiness, performance, sea kindliness, and cost of construction, as follows:
-
Seaworthiness addresses the integrity of the vessel and its ability to stay afloat and shelter its crew in the conditions encountered. Watertightness of connections, ports and hatches are key to staying afloat. Stability—the ability to return to an upright condition when upset by waves is also important.
-
Performance hinges on a number of factors, including the waterline length (longer means faster), drag in the water (narrower hull with smooth appendages), hull shape, and sail shape and area.
-
Sea kindliness is an indicator of steering ease, directional stability and quelling of motion induced by wind and waves.
The displacement of a monohull cruising sailboat affects the above factors, as follows:
-
Heavy displacement yachts with a displacement to length ratio (D/L) of 400+ have a long, deep keel and a protected propeller. They are stable, often roomy, are resistant to harm from groundings and floating obstacles, and have good sea kindliness, but lack speed.
-
Medium displacement yachts with a D/L of about 300 typically have a separate keel and blended rudder support, which improves speed and maneuverability over the heavy displacement designs.
-
Light displacement yachts with a D/L of about 200 typically have a fin keel and a spade rudder with a ballasted bulb. They have good speed, maneuverability, and ability to point into the wind. Their sea kindliness is less than the heavy and medium-displacement categories.
Multihulls offer tradeoffs as cruising sailboats, compared with Monohull. They may be catamarans or trimarans. They rely on form stability—having separate hulls far apart—for their resistance to capsize.
Construction
Traditionally, all sailing yachts were made of wood, using a wooden keel and ribs, clad with planks. These materials were supplanted with metal in specialty racing yachts. In the 1960s
fiberglass became a prevalent material. These materials and other composites continue in use.
-
Wood construction, using conventional planks over ribs continues. Hard-chined boats made with plywood is an infrequent technique. Whereas yachts made with the WEST system—plies of wood strips, soaked in epoxy and applied over the boat frame—provide a durable, lightweight and robust hull.
-
Metal hulls from steel or aluminum offer the opportunity for welding components to a completely watertight hull. Both metals are vulnerable to damage due to electrolysis. Steel is easy to repair in boatyards around the world, whereas aluminum is a much lighter material.
-
Fiberglass construction is best suited for Mass production yachts, using a mold and is therefore the most prevalent material. Fiberglass skins comprise plies of roving (glass fabric) and matting, soaked in resin for the hull. Decks typically have a core of balsa or PVC foam between layers of glass mat. Both elements of construction are vulnerable to intrusion of water and the development of blisters.
Rigs
Gaff rig have been uncommon in the construction of cruising boats, since the mid 20th century. More common rigs are
Bermuda rig,
Fractional rig, cutter, and
ketch. Occasionally employed rigs since then have been the
yawl, schooner,
Wishbone rig,
catboat. A survey of cruising sailors identified preferences for sloops, cutters, and ketches in equal measure.
Most cruising yachts have masts of aluminum, which may be stepped (mounted) on the top of the keel inside the boat or on the top of the cabin, outside. A keel-stepped mast is better able to withstand a failure of its supporting standing rigging, but requires a penetration of the cabin roof and the need for waterproofing. Masts have a variety of possible tracks for the mainsail to be attached and raised. Some allow for in-mast furling of the mainsail at the expense of aerodynamic efficiency of the mast and sail. Some booms allow for roller furling of mainsails.
Gear
Sailboats employ
standing rigging to support the rig,
running rigging to raise and adjust sails, cleats to secure lines, winches to work the sheets, and more than one anchor to secure the boat in harbor. A cruising yacht's deck usually has safety line to protect the crew from falling overboard and a bow pulpit to facilitate handling the jib and the anchor. In temperate climates, the cockpit may have a canvas windshield with see-through panels, called a "dodger". Steering may be either by tiller or wheel.
Accommodations
Depending on size, a cruising yacht is likely to have at least two cabins, a main salon and a forward stateroom. In smaller yachts, the salon is likely to have convertible berths for its crew or passengers. Typically the salon includes a dining area, which may have a folding, built-in table. The salon is typically contiguous to the galley. A cruising yacht is likely to have a head (bathroom) with a marine toilet that discharges waste into a holding tank. Larger yachts may have additional staterooms and heads. There is typically a navigation station that allows the laying out of charts away from other activities within the vessel. The electrical panel and auxiliary instrumentation is often near this location.
Engine
Cruising yachts have an auxiliary propulsion power unit to supplement the use of sails. Such power is inboard on the vessel and diesel, except for the smallest cruising boats, which may have an
Outboard motor. Target shaft horsepower for the engine per unit of displacement is related to hull speed per square root of waterline length all to the third power. Choice of engines is also a function of target propeller speed at cruise.
A sailboat might have a engine,
whereas a sailboat might have a engine.
Systems
Electrical power comes from a bank of batteries that are recharged by the motor, driving an alternator. The plumbing system for house water draws from one or more tanks, which are either filled in port or replenished with a
Desalination, driven by the engine. Typically water from kitchen and bathroom sinks and showers drains overboard. Toilets typically use salt water and drain into holding tanks, unless they are in use beyond prescribed distances from shore. Refrigeration may be from ice acquired ashore, or by mechanical refrigeration driven directly from the engine or the yacht's electrical system. Yachts have electrical lighting for inside and outside use and also for night-time running.
Modern yachts employ a suite of electronics for communication, measurement of surroundings, and navigation.
-
Communications equipment includes radios in a variety of bandwidths, specifically for maritime use. Offshore vessels are likely to be equipped with an automatic identification system that allows other vessels to see their type and origin as part of the information presented on the ship's radar.
-
Instrumentation also provides information on depth of water under the vessel (Echo sounding), windspeed (anemometer), and directional orientation (compass).
-
Navigation electronics include units that identify a vessel's location (e.g. GPS) and display the vessel's location (chartplotter) and other vessels and nearby shore (radar).
Styling
Hull design can affect the aesthetics of a sailing yacht. The shape of the bow and stern are significant factors, as is a yacht's
sheer line (the curvature of its deck). Bow shapes include the
bow (convex curve),
destroyer or
vertical (near vertical), and
knuckle or
raked (angled straight to the water line). Stern shapes include
raked aft or
counter (slight outward angle),
straight (up and down),
reverse angle (sloping downward from the deck). As to sheer, traditional yachts have the deck follow a curve below an imaginary straight line from stem (top of bow) to stern.
Racing
Racing yachts emphasize performance over comfort. High-performance rigs provide aerodynamic efficiency and hydrodynamically efficient hulls minimize drag through the water and sideways drift.
Design features
Racing yachts have a wide selection of weights and shapes of sail to accommodate different wind strengths and points of sail. A suite of sails on a racing yachts would include several weights of
jib and spinnaker, plus a specialized storm jib and
trysail (in place of the
mainsail). Performance yachts are likely to have full-battened kevlar or carbon-fiber mainsails.
Underwater foils can become more specialized, starting with a higher-aspect ratio fin keel with hydrodynamically efficient bulbs for ballast.
Classes
World Sailing recognizes eleven classes of racing yacht:
| +
!Class
!LOA
!Manufacturer |
| Farr 30 | | Various |
| X-35 | | X-Yachts |
| J/111 | | J/Boats |
| Class 40 | | Open |
| Soto 40 | | M Boats |
| X-41 | | X-Yachts |
| Swan 45 | | Nautor |
| Transpac 52 | | Open |
| IMOCA 60 | | Open |
| ClubSwan 50 | | Nautor |
| Maxi yacht | + | Open |
|
See also
-
Cruising (maritime)
-
List of sailboat designers and manufacturers
-
Sailing (sport)
-
Yachting
-
Yacht racing
External links
