Sailing yachts or cruising boats are of different categories. The different types of sailing yachts include day sailing yachts, weekender yachts or trailer sailers, cruising yachts, large luxury sailing yachts, racing yachts, etc.
Sailing Boat Types – The Different Categories of Sailing Yacht
New York (USA), September 02, 2017
Sailing yachts are of different categories. Yachts were originally made of wood. Different materials like aluminum, fiberglass, steel, and others are used for making modern day sailing yachts. The main point of differentiation is the size of the sailing yacht.
Types of Sailing Yachts
The different types of sailing yachts include:
Day Sailing Yachts
These are small yachts normally less than twenty feet or six meters in length. As these are mainly used for sailing few hours or at the most a single day, there are no cabins. These yachts cannot be used for overnight journeys. Day sailing yachts have a retractable keel or centerboard. In few dinghies, the front part of hull has a raised solid roof. This is called a cubby. This space provides shelter from spray and wind or can be used to store any equipment.
Weekender Yachts or Trailer Sailers
These yachts usually measure around up to thirty feet or nine and half meters in length. They are used generally for short journeys, say for two or three days. They can sail in shallow waters as they have either a centerboard or shallow lift keels. Quite often, they can be beached if tide falls. This yacht has a simple cabin with bed space for two or three people. A part of the cabin can store supplies, equipment and serve as a kitchen.
Cruising Yachts
Cruising yachts measure between twenty-five and sixty feet or seven and eighteen meters in length. These yachts are very popular family vessels and present complex designs. They can be easily handled by a small crew usually a husband and wife and can sustain long voyages with adequate equipment and preparation. There is sufficient interior space, on-board comfort, and good light-wind performance and can accommodate three or four double-berth cabins with toilet & shower facilities, and a large sized saloon below the deck. These yachts are normally single-masted Bermuda rigged sloops with a Genoa type single foresail of the jib or a single mainsail. Cruisers can undertake journeys of many thousands of miles with speed of upwards of 8-10 knots and can offer permanent live-aboard comfort with all of the luxuries such as Television, air conditioning, refrigerators and hot water. The best cruisers will be custom built according to the requirements and specifications of the buyer.
Large Luxury Sailing Yachts
These yachts normally measure more than eighty feet or thirty to forty meters in length. These yachts obviously have all modern luxuries like television, air-conditioning, refrigerators and hot water as well as water making facilities, automated sailing systems, crew quarters, generators, and extensive electronic aids. Sailing of such yachts is through automated techniques with use of GPS and radar. These can travel long distances and can remain on seas for many months and due to their size and complexity normally require a professional crew to sail, service and maintain the yacht.
Racing Yachts
As the name suggests, these yachts are mainly used for racing. They can reach high speeds of 15 – 20 knots in good sailing conditions. These are very lightweight and feature only basic accommodation. The wetted surface area is extremely reduced to minimize drag. Ocean racing yachts have superb sea-handling capabilities to combat all possible sailing conditions except very rough and inclement weather. Racing yachts could be single-handed with a lone person operating the yacht. Some racing yachts have crew of fifteen or thirty. Crew depends on the type of race.
Guide to Sailing and Ocean Cruising in a Medium Sized Yacht
The Complete Reference Guide to Sailing and Ocean Cruising in a Medium Sized Yacht