Classification of sailing yachts

Sailing yachts fall into four basic categories: ‘Day Sailing’, ‘Weekender’, ‘Cruiser’ and ‘Racer’.

Day Sailing yachts are small sub-6 metre (20 foot) vessels. Sometimes called dinghies, they often have a retractable keel, centerboard, or daggerboard. Day sailing yachts do not have a cabin as they are designed for hourly or daily use and not for ovenight journeys.

Weekender yachts are small, sub-9.5 metre (30 foot) vessels. They often have twin-keels or lifting keels. This allows them to operate in shallow waters, and if needed ‘dry out’ – become beached as the tide falls, the hull shape (or twin-keel layout) allows the boat to sit upright when there is no water. Such boats are designed to undertake short journeys, rarely lasting more than 2 to 3 days (hence their name). Of course, in coastal areas long trips may be undertaken in a series of short hops. Weekenders usually only have a simple cabin, often consisting of a single ’saloon’, with bedspace for 2-3 people, and clever use of ergonomics to allow both galley (kitchen) space, seating and space for navigation equipment. There is limited space for large stores of water/food. Weekenders tend to be slower vessels due to their small sail area, and due to their small size they can be overwhelmed by heavy seas. Most are single-mast ‘Bermudan sloop’ rigged vessels, with a single foresail (of the ‘jib‘ or ‘genoa‘) type and a single mainsail. Some are gaff rigged. The smallest of this type–generally called pocket yachts or pocket cruisers can be trailed on special trailers behind vehicles to transport them by road.

Cruisers are by the far the most common in private usage, making up most of the 7 m to 14 m (23 to 46 ft) range. These vessels can be quite complex in design, as designers try to find a balance between docile handling qualities, interior space, good light-wind performance and on-board comfort. The huge range of such craft, from dozens of builders worldwide make it hard to give a single illustrative description. However, most favour a teardrop-planform hull, with a wide, flat bottom and deep single-fin keel to give good stability. Most are single-mast ‘Bermudan sloop’ rigged vessels, with a single fore-sail (of the ‘jib‘ or ‘Genoa‘) type and a single mainsail. Spinnaker sails, with huge areas, are often supplied for lightwind use. These types are often chosen as family vessels, especially those in the 8 to 12 metre (32 to 40 ft) range. Such a vessel will usually have many rooms below deck. Typically there will be 3 double-berth cabins, a single large saloon (galley, seating and navigation area) and a ‘head‘ (toilet/shower-room). The interior will be finished in wood panelling, with plenty of storage space. Cruisers are quite capable of taking on long-range passages of many thousands of miles, so have large freshwater tanks. Such boats have a cruising speed of around 10 km/h. This basic design is typical of the standard types produced by the major yacht-builders. Most large luxury yachts (15m+, 50 feet+) are also cruisers, but their design varies greatly as they are usually ‘one off’ designs to the specific needs of the buyer.

Inshore yacht racing in Sydney Harbour, Australia

Racing yachts try to reduce the wetted surface area (which creates drag) by keeping the hull light whilst having a deep and heavy bulb keel, allowing them to support a tall mast with a great sail area. Modern designs tend to have a very wide beam, with a flat bottom, to provide buoyancy preventing an excessive heel angle. Speeds of up to 40 mph can be obtained in good conditions. Dedicated racing yachts sacrifice crew comfort for speed, having basic accommodation to reduce weight. Depending on the type of race, such a yacht may be crewed by as many as 15 people. At the other extreme there are ’single handed’ races, where one person alone must control the yacht. Yacht races may be over a simple course of only a few miles, or epic trans-global contests such as the Global Challenge and Clipper Round The World Race. Ocean racing yachts have very good sea-handling qualities, as they must be able to maintain good speeds in all but the heaviest conditions.