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This article attempts to give an overview of the design and manufacturing of sailboats and the evolution of this industry. Details should be found and contributed through other/linked pages
Egyptian, Phoenician, Greek and Roman cultures along with prior cultures and their contemporaries used sails as propulsion for commercial and military vessels. However, pleasure craft evolved along with practical craft. Even today some primitive vessels can outsail modern sailing yachts when running before the wind with their standard sails (no spinnakers etc.)
The term "yacht" is a 17th-century English extraction from the Dutch word Jacht; however, royalty and aristocracy enjoyed traveling on the water from time immemorial, with the earliest documentation being in the Egyptian heyday. There is no documentation that these beneficiaries of the enjoyment were participants in the efforts.
The roots of modern yachting come from British royalty, commencing with Charles II, when Kings and Princes commissioned relatively small pleasure craft in which they competed.
During the era when water-based industries were largely dependent on sailing vessels, speed was a vital element for success. The ability to quickly transport perishable goods to market could make or break a commercial venture. Therefore, the development of a swifter hull or a superior rig could provide a strategic advantage for achieving financial success.
The competition among owners of small commercial craft was the primary driver for advancing upwind sailing technology. Conversely, larger craft were less concerned with maneuverability within harbors or along coastal regions, where the geography of the land made downwind sailing difficult.
The fishing industry and local commercial packets were instrumental in the development of many yachting technologies. Pirates also contributed to the technological advancements, as small, fast, and highly maneuverable vessels proved to be successful for their purposes.
The huge wealth accumulated by the commercial upper-class in the late 19th and early 20th century allowed commoners to enter the realm of yachting previously reserved for royalty and the peerage. Americans as well as Britons began to vie for international acclaim. The yacht America burst in on British egos and created a national rivalry, which has now grown to be the America’s Cup.
Wealthy industrialists such as the Vanderbilts and the Liptons vied with royalty to finance a boom in yachting technology. As the learning curve flattened, less illustrious names were able to finance successful yachts as advance seemed to come from more random successes in design – fine tuning.
World War I dampened the growth in yachting, but the 1920s once again brought a heyday of activity and advancement. The production manufacturing capacity and technology created during the war years catapulted the developments in yachting. However, the crash of the international economy at the close of the decade as quickly dampened the demand for large exotic yachts. In order to survive designers and producers had to diversify their efforts and offerings. Once again small commercial craft became the testbeds for technology and the bread-and-butter for the builders in the 1930s. One of the great design teams from this period, Sparkman & Stephens is still influential today.
World War II terminated most direct production of yachts, but the tremendous need for increasingly diverse small naval craft stimulated research and development and increased production capacity for the boating industry. Louisiana based Higgins came up with innovative landing craft, and along with Elco, manufactured the majority of PT Boats. Sparkman & Stephens designed the DUKW an amphibious version of the conventional six-wheel-drive Army truck. Of course, the military had little need of sailboats.
The late 1940s, following World War II, were a time of economic retrenchment, but as the US and international economies boomed in the 1950s the pent-up technology within the boating industry exploded with innovation and production. World War II was the catalyst for development of compact engine systems, mass production of plywood watercraft, and advances in hydrodynamic design. Another outgrowth of war production was fiberglass; the first fiberglass boats were made in the 1930s, but practical production did not begin until the 1950s and then more as a supplement to wood and plywood than as a structural component.
While the 1950s was a test bed for early fiberglass techniques, the early sixties were when the benefits became directly available to the average sailor, as the fiberglass industry began to mature from one-up to assembly lines and standardization. There was an explosion of entrepreneurial expression in the first half of the sixties, which leapfrogged year after year. Each season brought more options and larger boats to the common man, almost analogous to the rapid expansion of the personal computer in the 1990s. Soon a middle-class family could add a 30-foot sailboat to their Plymouth and hamburger budget.
Some of the prevalent brands in the 1960s were Cal, Coronado, Columbia, C&C, Morgan and Pearson; most of these were outgrowths of entrepreneurial venture. But even large companies such as AMF and Chrysler were making boats. Today's big manufacturers are led by people with their roots in 1960s venture.
However, by the late 1960s there was market saturation and entrepreneurs sold into conglomerates or otherwise merged their efforts. The mid-1970s saw an increase in interest in sailing as oil prices began to climb following the 1973 Oil Embargo; however, with petroleum as a major component for plastic resins manufacturing costs also increased. In early designs the solution to engineering problems was frequently: just add more fiberglass. The early boats were sturdy but heavy. Many of the vessels produced during this time frame are afloat today, and several models still enjoy solid sales demand and exhibit excellent sailing characteristics.
With the increase in materials costs, engineering to a finer standard became critical for financial success. This was a double-edged sword as boats became lighter, but in some cases they became weaker. Also, some manufacturers turned to less expensive plastics and a form of hull decomposition known as blistering became prevalent.
The economic downturn of the early 1980s reduced demand for sailboats, while manufacturers increasingly competed with the used boat market. Since fiberglass doesn't rot or rust, twenty years of high production had left a huge inventory of boats, and in many areas the number of boats exceeded the marina space to house them.
The boats of the 1960s and 1970s were substantially extensions of classic hull designs which evolved in wood and were influenced by the early rules of racing. There was an emphasis on shorter waterlines at rest that would expand dramatically when the boat heeled (leaned). This had to do with the rules of racing, where the boat's handicap was not based on actual performance, but on design attributes.
Modifications of racing rules and changes in consumer demand have influenced recent boat designs. There is also a polarization, where racing boats are more distinct from cruising boats.
Current racing rules for the common sailor are known as PHRF (Performance Handicapped Racing Fleet) rules. The philosophy is to have a dynamic system of handicapping which looks to the performance of a boat model over time but allows for adjustment to an individual boat based on options and/or modifications. What we consider long lean classic proportions of the boats of the early 1900s were at the time design exercises to manipulate the racing rules. Now our current boats tend to seek optimum performance as the prime criterion.
Boats tend to fall into the categories of (1) racer, (2) racer-cruiser, (3) cruiser-racer, and (4) cruiser; however, there is much subjectivity in the definitions and classifications. Cruising is sailing for the enjoyment of sailing and to reach destinations. Frequently cruisers spend much more time enjoying the amenities of their boats than the sailing aspects, so creature comfort is important. A large pure cruising boat would be likely to have solar panels, wind generated electricity, multiple heads (bathrooms), a complete galley (kitchen), comfortable cabins and even laundry facilities. Many cruiser designs are cutter rigged meaning they carry two headsails, and many have a second mast (mizzen), in the yawl or ketch configuration. Having more sails allows for having smaller individual sails; on a pure cruiser the boats do not change directions frequently, so manipulating multiple sails is not a factor.
Virtually all racing boats today are sloop rigged, which means that they carry one headsail and a mainsail, both from the same mast. Two very large sails mean more work to hoist and handle, but when changing direction, there is less work to be done and it can be done faster; however, sometimes with great effort using massive winch systems. The interiors of serious race boats are often stripped bare, with the head being a bucket.
Most cruising boats are produced in large factories; most racing boats are produced in smaller lots by specialty shops or under contract with larger producers. Frequently the name of a race boat is that of the designer not the producer; in some cases, multiple manufacturers have produced the same design either at the same or different times.
The majority of market share for production cruising boats is divided among Beneteau, Catalina Yachts, and Hunter Marine. Beneteau has a bit more emphasis on speed; Hunter focuses more on amenities; and Catalina falls in between. Catalina tends to have long-running models of boats which evolve over time, but this allows for the development of "one design" fleets, where Beneteau and Hunter tend to change their designs frequently addressing the demands of the market. Both strategies have been successful for the staying power of these three brands.
There is also a strong demand for more specialized cruising boats with a wide range of producers. These boats offer features such as center cockpit, deck salon, pilothouse, cutter rigs, mizzen masts etc. The cabin detail and systems in Beneteau, Catalina and Hunter boats is comfortable but basic; more expensive boats offer a wide range of quality in the woodwork, cabinetry, upholstery, and systems. There are also structural improvements beneath the surface and qualitative benefits in systems as the cost of the boat increases. A top-of-the-line cruiser could cost three times the price of a Beneteau, Catalina, or Morgan. The price may not be justified for bay cruising, but heavier shrouds, a thicker mast, and a stiffer hull could be priceless in a force 8 gale.
A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. 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.
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture.
A catboat is a sailboat with a single sail on a single mast set well forward in the bow of a very beamy and (usually) shallow draft hull. Typically they are gaff rigged, though Bermuda rig is also used. Most are fitted with a centreboard, although some have a keel. The hull can be 3.7 to 12.2 metres long with a beam half as wide as the hull length at the waterline. The type is mainly found on that part of the Eastern seaboard of the USA from New Jersey to Massachusetts.
Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats by using five essential controls:
The Nordic Folkboat is a sailboat that was designed by Scandinavian Sailing Federation as a racer-cruiser and first built in 1942. Tord Sundén was hired by the Scandivian Sailing Federation to finalize the plans based on four awarded entries in the design competition. The awarded designs were done by Knud Olsen, Jac M. Iversen, Alfons Kvarnström, and O.W. Dahlström. No winning design was declared. Tord Sundén was never credited as the actual designer of the boat.
A Bermuda rig, Bermudian rig, or Marconi rig is a configuration of mast and rigging for a type of sailboat and is the typical configuration for most modern sailboats. This configuration was developed in Bermuda in the 17th century; the term Marconi, a reference to the inventor of the radio, Guglielmo Marconi, became associated with this configuration in the early 20th century, because the wires that stabilize the mast of a Bermuda rig reminded observers of the wires on early radio masts.
Beneteau or Bénéteau is a French sail and motorboat manufacturer, with production facilities in France and in the United States. The company is a large and recognized boat builder, with its holding company now also holding other prestigious brands, such as Jeanneau and its multihull subsidiary Lagoon in 1995.
Cal Yachts was a manufacturer of performance oriented fiberglass sailboats from the 1960s to the 1980s. The Costa Mesa, California, headquartered company was founded in 1957, among the earliest of all-fiberglass, mass-production sailboat builders. Although the brand has been out of production since 1989, the existing fleet is still substantially active in racing and cruising.
A sailing yacht, 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. There is no standard definition, so the term applies here to sailing vessels that have a cabin with amenities that accommodate overnight use. To be termed a "yacht", as opposed to a "boat", such a vessel is likely to be at least 33 feet (10 m) in length and have been judged to have good aesthetic qualities. Sailboats that do not accommodate overnight use or are smaller than 30 feet (9.1 m) are not universally called yachts. Sailing yachts in excess of 130 feet (40 m) are generally considered to be superyachts.
The Pearson Ensign, or Ensign 22, is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Carl Alberg as a one-design racer and day sailer and first built in 1962. It is the largest full-keel one-design keelboat class in the United States.
A trailer sailer is a type of sailboat that has been designed to be easily transported using a boat trailer towed by an automobile. They are generally larger than a sailing dinghy. Trailer sailers include day sailers and small cabin cruisers, suitable for living on.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to sailing:
The O'Day 25 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by C.R. Hunt & Associates.
The Kirby 25 is a Canadian trailerable sailboat, that was designed by Bruce Kirby as a racer and first built in 1978. The design is out of production.
The Catalina 310 is an American sailboat, that was designed by Gerry Douglas and first built in 1999.
The MacGregor 25 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Roger MacGregor and first built in 1973. From the start of production until 1980, it was sold as the Venture 25.
The Aloha 28 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by Edward S. Brewer and Robert Walstrom and first built in 1972.
The Capri 25 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Frank Butler as a one design racer and first built in 1980.
The Beneteau First Class 10 is a French sailboat that was designed by Jean Marie Finot of Groupe Finot and Jacques Fauroux as a racer/cruiser and first built in 1982.
The Mark 25 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Canadian George Harding Cuthbertson, as one of the first works under his new design firm Motion Designs Limited after he left C&C Design. The boat was intended as a racer-cruiser and first built in 1984.
