Sailing Machines

The term yacht was derived from the Dutch term jachtschip, which translates to “pursuit ship” that carry important passengers, such as VIPs. The term was first used when Charles II returned to England in a jachtship, after which people simply refered to as the “yacht”.

By the physical characteristics of the first jachtships, which were sleek and built for speed, the term was then used to refer to many types of marine vessels that has the characteristics of high speed and luxury.

The most noted types of yachts are racing yachts and luxury mega yachts. Of course, they are the extremes of the two main categories; sailing yachts and motor yachts, respectively.

Raching yachts are much longer and wider than typical weekend/leisure yachts, they can be over 90 feet long. The hulls are made of light material and and is designed to keep the weight as low as possible. The light weight hull would then be supported by a deep heavy bulb keel. The bulb keel gives the yacht its ability to handle bigger sails. Modern racing yachts also have a much wider beam, and the bottom of the craft much flatter than average. With the presence of the bulb keel, this type of hull design helps the craft maintain buoyancy without sacrificing agility. All of the craft’s unique hull characteristics would then be powered by as many 4 sails and can attain speeds as high as 40 knots.

Luxury yachts, the extreme end of motor yachts, are in a class of its own. They thrive for the best in luxury and the extremes in size as well. The biggest yacht in the world, Rising Sun, is 138 meters long. Octopus, yet another mega yacht, is as high as a 12 storey building. Pelorus, on the other hand, takes the term “fancy”, by having that unique futuristic, military looking and speed boatish look, all in a huge luxury craft. They have restaurants, bars, discos, spas, on board watersports centers with personal watercrafts, speed boats and some times even sailing yachts on board.