Yacht
To be termed a yacht, as opposed to a boat, such a pleasure vessel is likely to be at least 33 feet (10 m) in length and may have been judged to have good aesthetic qualities.
[5] Further classifications for large yachts are commercial: carrying no more than 12 passengers; private: solely for the pleasure of the owner and guests, or by flag, the country under which it is registered.
jachten), which means "hunt", and originally referred to light, fast sailing vessels that the Dutch Republic navy used to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries.
[2] The history of pleasure boats begins with rowed craft in Pharaonic Egyptian times, and other vessels in the waters of Myanmar, India, Mindanao and Japan.
Anglo-Saxon royal pleg-scips (play ships) of the 8th-century featured ornamented bows and sterns and had the capability of cooking on board.
The first recorded yacht race between two vessels occurred in 1661, followed by the first open sailing competition in 1663 in English waters.
Boatbuilders, who had been making fast vessels both for smugglers and the government revenue cutters, turned their skills again to yachts.
By the 1850s, yachts featured large sail areas, a narrow beam, and a deeper draft than was customary until then.
[13] While sailing yachts continued to exist, the development of reliable power plants created a new category of pleasure craft.
Ultimately, engines employed pistons driven by steam within cylinders, connected to a crank shaft, which drove a propeller.
[14] Compound engines exhausted steam into successively larger cylinders to accommodate the higher volumes at reduced pressures, giving improved efficiency.
These stages were called expansions, with double- and triple-expansion engines being common, especially in shipping where efficiency was important to reduce the weight of coal carried.
[15][16] Large steam yachts were luxurious; their staff included a captain, engineer, and stewards, as well as deck hands.
[17] The Recreational Craft Directive requires that all vessels sold in the European Union and United Kingdom satisfy one of four design categories, based on the wind force and seas that they are designed to encounter:[19] The Large Commercial Yacht Code (LY2) of Great Britain and its dominions defines a large yacht as one that is 24 metres (79 ft) or more at the waterline and is in commercial use for sport or pleasure, while not carrying cargo or more than 12 passengers and carrying a professional crew.
The code regulates the equipping of such vessels, both at sea and in port—including such matters as crew duty times and the presence of a helicopter on board.
A cruising yacht is likely to have a head (bathroom) with a marine toilet that discharges waste into a holding tank.
[30][31] Onboard systems include:[31] Modern yachts employ a suite of electronics for communication, measurement of surroundings, and navigation.
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.
[31] Underwater foils can become more specialized, starting with a higher-aspect ratio fin keel with hydrodynamically efficient bulbs for ballast.
As of April 2020 a 600-foot (180 m) yacht, REV Ocean, was under construction,[43] which when launched would replace the 590-foot (180 m) Azzam as the longest superyacht.
A proposed definition for calling a vessel a yacht rather than a ship would if it was constructed solely for personal use and has a combined occupancy of less than 100, including crew.
The United States Coast Guard classifies motorboats—any vessel less than 65 feet (20 m), propelled by machinery—in four classes by length:[44] A motor yacht's style can both be functional and evoke an aesthetic—trending towards the modern or the traditional.
Among the styles, mentioned in the literature, are:[45] There are three basic types of motor yacht hull: full-displacement, semi-displacement, and planing, which have progressively higher cruise speeds and hourly fuel consumption with increased engine power:[46] A typical semi-displacement yacht has a wedge-shaped bow, which promotes penetrating waves, that transitions to flatter, wider surfaces aft, which promotes lifting the vessel out of the water—the "deep vee" hull, designed by Ray Hunt, found in approximately 75% of modern power boats.
