M/V or M/Y

BruceK said:

There are enthusiastic rebuilders. Recently saw an advert for a boat with twin freshly rebuilt Gardners, in NZ I think.

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Interesting. They are great engines !

If you do all the work yourself it's a M/V. If some full-service yard does all the work, some other outfit details it and a service company provisions the boat before you arrive then it's a M/Y.

"It's easy to grin
when your ship comes in
and you've got the stock market beat.

But the man worthwhile
is the man who can smile
when his shorts are too tight in the seat".

-Judge Elihu Smails

Okay, pookie. Do the honors...

I'm with JDCAVE - mine is definitely (for more reasons than one) a M/V. Paraphrasing Supreme Court Justice Stewart regarding obscenity: But I know a yacht when I see it, and the boat in question is not that.

Lots of confusion in part because the English language is used in several countries each of which has its own style.

In the UK its a yacht, in the US a boat. M/V is used extensively in the Caribbean as opposed to S/V. Both are used frequently.

sbu22 said:

...But I know a yacht when I see it, and the boat in question is not that.

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Good one. I belong to a "boat" club, and we really bristle at any suggestion we're a "yacht" club.

It depends on who you are talking to. If you have just met a lovely young lady you explain that you own a yacht. If you are meeting with the tax auditor it is just an old boat.

CaptTom said:

Good one. I belong to a "boat" club, and we really bristle at any suggestion we're a "yacht" club.

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We belong to a Yacht Club which we go to primarily to play tennis and occasionally to eat. We've never referred to our boat as a yacht. I think the "yacht" term came in for many clubs as in their early days they were more sail than power clubs.

Our club opened in 1938 for the purpose "to promote the science of seamanship and to provide and maintain a Clubhouse, piers and anchorage for the recreation of its Members and to make available for the youth of the community the opportunity to learn and practice seamanship and to render benevolent aid to the youth of the community interested in learning seamanship." All the other aspects came later.

In conversation, when asked what are you doing this vacation?


Vast majority of waterborne pleasure craft using people will reply... "We're going boating". Extremely few will say... "We're going yachting". Unless, of course, they might say that as a joke.


That should pretty much settle it once and for all! 99% of us on TF own "Boats"!!!

Yacht clubs are very exclusive and one needs to have an "inside angle" to get invited for membership. Boat clubs are more open and invite one to join a function and get acquainted with the members for sponsorship. Club titles, however, don't differentiate.

Well friends, 5 pages ago, I asked M/V or M/Y when identifying yourself over the radio. I don't know if the person who starts the thread has the power to stop the thread, but I thank you all for your input, which all makes eminent sense.
Jim Lanza
On the white boat with the blue bimini (and if you're close enough, the redhead at the helm). (Hahaha!)

RTF may know - was it Groucho Marx who said this? "I'd be suspicious of any club that would have me as a member."

C`mon Jim, 5 pages of advice, what`s your choice?
That should be good for 5 more.

Bliss, I believe Groucho said: "I won't belong to any organization that would have me as a member."

VJameslanza said:

Well friends, 5 pages ago, I asked M/V or M/Y when identifying yourself over the radio. I don't know if the person who starts the thread has the power to stop the thread, but I thank you all for your input, which all makes eminent sense.
Jim Lanza
On the white boat with the blue bimini (and if you're close enough, the redhead at the helm). (Hahaha!)

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No. You started it and surrendered all control to the universe and where it goes, nobody knows.

BandB said:

No. You started it and surrendered all control to the universe and where it goes, nobody knows.

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Funny ! And so true

VJameslanza said:

Well friends, 5 pages ago, I asked M/V or M/Y when identifying yourself over the radio. I don't know if the person who starts the thread has the power to stop the thread, but I thank you all for your input, which all makes eminent sense.
Jim Lanza
On the white boat with the blue bimini (and if you're close enough, the redhead at the helm). (Hahaha!)

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I once had a professor in my student days who said 'When you try to control things, you enjoy nothing'

In my own opinion, Mr Marty - post # 95 - in his overall concept provided a clear and convincing explanation.

In South Florida the term motor yacht has a very specific meaning, and it sure as hell doesn't mean 40' mainship, no matter how clean I keep it. If I hailed a marina, bridge or other vessel and said I was a my they wouldn't be looking for me. They'd be looking for a Berger or something.

markpierce said:

Yacht clubs are very exclusive and one needs to have an "inside angle" to get invited for membership. Boat clubs are more open and invite one to join a function and get acquainted with the members for sponsorship. Club titles, however, don't differentiate.

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That's the stereotype. The "yacht club" we belong to is populated by all manner of people . . . well off and not-so, old and young, blue collar and while collar, as well as diverse nationalities and races. Anyone who loves sailing, can pay the $1,000 initiation fee and is willing to work for the club can join (assuming the max headcount hasn't been reached). Possibly it was called a "yacht" club out of a sense of irony because, at the time of its founding in the 40s, the largest boat in the harbor was probably under 20 feet. People who visit our club are often surprised that they're meeting down-to-earth, unpretentious people.

People who hear the word "yacht" tend either embrace it or recoil from it. Regardless of its Dutch sailing origins mentioned earlier, language changes and the connotation has come to mean for many snooty people in ridiculous nautical attire. I would run screaming from such a place.

Old sitcom regarding real yachtie people! - LOL

We agree Mr Angus. PSYC, Puget Sound Yacht Club that we belong to is a very diverse group of boaters who enjoy cruising having fun and partying. The initiation is a fifth of what you mentioned and annual dues are 300 bucks. We have a great clubhouse on Northlake Dr., a dock & moorage on Lake Union, reciprocals all over Puget Sound & BC. We have if I recall 8 cruises planned for this year, one to our outstation on Hat Island. PSYC owns the land and clubhouse that was acquired in the 1960's. We have a monthly meeting that and dinner that is hosted by club volunteers.

I invite anyone in or around Seattle to come check us out!

Belonging to a Yacht Club can be fun... So Can Not!

Most surviving yacht clubs have changed a great deal over the years or were always family oriented. The two nearest us both have an incredible number of activities each week and definitely a lot for kids.

Wow this thread is like the energizer bunny!! Just keeps going and going and going!! M/Y ASD.....

OK, I found my copy of Chapman's, 65th edition.

From Chapter 1, Nautical Terms, Page 14:

VESSEL is a broad term for all waterborne vehicles and is used without reference to size, particularly in maritime laws and regulations.

A YACHT is a power or sail vessel used for pleasure, as opposed to work. The term often connotes luxurious accommodations, and it is usually not used for craft under 40 feet (12.2 m) length, but there are no formally established limits. This term also applied to governmental craft used by officials and dignitaries, such as a "presidential yacht."

This thread is starting to look like an anchor thread....opps I said it.

Yacht rock DJ's define it this way.. With a snooty voice say "if it's 39' or under its a a cabin cruiser. 40' or larger is a yacht!"

While I get the general drift of most here that they are "boats", almost all boat cards I've received from anyone who has a sailboat has S/V Whatever. Any motor vessel card I've received does not have a prefix. When talking with anyone, we call our boats "boats". But for bridge tenders, we always use S/V Whatever. When we move to our trawler, I'd like to know what is correct.
Obviously, many here have already commented. I, too, find M/Y pretentious. My only question (and no one addressed it) is I always thought M/V = Merchant Vessel. Our recreational vessels would not be a "merchant vessel". Can anyone clarify?

M/V is Motor Vessel.