Beautiful boats and compliments..

[tenchiki]

My Yankee Dolphin 24 gets lots of attention as "What a pretty boat!". I certainly don't keep up the teak as I'm letting it go back to natural (I hate maintaining brightwork).


The Port Townsend Wooden Boat show had these 2 pieces-of-art Kayaks that I don't think I would dare to take out for fear of scratching them...

[SomeGuyInaShirt]

I own a comparatively inexpensive old mass produced sloop most of which look pretty bad. It's amazing what metal polish and a good compund/polish and wax job can do to set a boat off. I get compliments fairly often

[Kettlewell]

Most cruising boats these days have so much junk piled on them they look more like yard sales than sailboats. But, I understand the need for all that junk, and in the end a cruising boat is really a cargo ship with sails. It's purpose is to carry you and all your junk to the next harbor safely, and that utility has a certain beauty to it. I am reminded of a boat I used to see on the ICW a long time ago. It was named Old Fart and appeared to be captained by one. It must have been built by him too. It was steel, and the sides were horribly wavy and uneven, streaked with rust. The design must have been his own too, as it was basically undescribable. If most of us saw that vessel for sale somewhere we would have run in the other direction, but this guy was out there doing it. More than once I ran into him sailing down the ICW while most of us were under power. He covered some territory too.

[Mal Reynolds]

Dated designs, but lovely spring to the sheer lines:

Alden
Alerion
Hinckley/McCurdy & Rhodes
Morris

[Bill Streever]

Pearson Countess: 44 feet on deck, John Alden design. Inexpensive to buy but most are in need of lots of work. Very functional as well as pretty, though not as fast as modern sailboats.

I am with you: the outward appearance of a boat is important! It adds to the pleasure of boating.

[mlydon]

Hull shape is a big attractor. A spoonbill bow up front and a counter (stern out of the water) gets ‘em every time. I have people chase down my Columbia 50 constantly - it’s like paparazzi.

Albert 37, cape dorys, columbias in general.

Matt

[s/v Jedi]

Precious yachts and getting compliments are requirements for boats to show off in marinas. Bluewater cruisers are concerned with ever larger solar arrays, large RIB’s with outboards, Starlink antennas, deck storage of fuel etc., all things that make it ugly according to most who give compliments

So Morris, Hinckley and the old school survivors are the pretty ones. Herreshoff and designers of that era. Sometimes a brand new one-off with the same classic lines.

For bluewater cruisers it’s the Ovni, Sundeer, what’s that French Sundeer clone… ah Amel, Beneteau, Jeanneau etc. They have the interior space that enables living aboard, systems that enable self reliance and only get compliments from bluewater cruisers in anchorages far away from the marinas

[Godshalk]

I've sailed many miles on a Hinckley 42, 41, and 40 and Concordias. I have owned a SW42 for 23 years, enjoyed many compliments (perhaps for the varnish job the yard did ;-)) and feel it's a good balance of attractive, performance and quality. Bermuda 40s are even more attractive in my opinion, but with less interior space and, I think, not as fast. The Pilot is even prettier but only 35'. Concordias are right at the top of gorgeous and traditional, but spartan and restricted interior. Many Aldens and Alerions certainly make the list.

[IrieCat]

Our CLC sailing Chester Yawl

[rls8r]

I get my fair share of compliments for my boat, but after mine - my favorite boat on my dock is a nicely-kept Sabre 32 (?). I also like the Cape Dorys and Bristols.

I used to like the clipper bows exclusively - like Herreshoff's "Tioga" and the gaff-rigged cutter "Elf" that plies the Chesapeake, but I've since come to appreciate the spoon bows of the Hinckleys, Aldens, Concordias, Morrises, etc.

For my money, a "pretty" boat has a nice shear line, compact topsides, and evidence through being well-maintained that the owner loves the boat.

[JBsurfin]

Originally Posted by JordanH

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder, I mean, beholder. Usually you can't quantify 'pretty' but I'm sure that you can count the number of compliments received by certain boats. In your marina, there's probably a pretty boat, two if you include your own, but specifically there's likely a boat that has people always stopping by to tell the owner how pretty it is.


I have one of those boats. There's nothing particularly outstanding about my boat, it's old, worn and the teak needs more attention than I've given it in a few years, but my little Contessa 26 continually receives comments from the dockside, both yachties and otherwise. On the weekend, I was out for a sail and another sailboat intentionally steered down to meet me, just to shout over a compliment and his admiration. It was a small thing, but I love having a pretty boat.



Now, I've been in the market for a larger, blue water cruiser for a long while now, searching primarily on utility and function but I realize that I'll miss the aesthetic appeal and resulting compliments of having a special boat... So here's my question, what is the blue water cruising boat, 40-44' (ish), that you think garners the most compliments? What's that one boat that you look at and think, "Wow, that's a pretty boat." I mean, an Ovni or an Island Packet probably gets the job done with utility to spare, but I'm betting a Hans Christian receives more compliments.

Anyone want to throw a boat into the ring?

Dickerson 42 Ketch , they also made only two 52', one is on the market.

[S/V Illusion]

Frame of reference issue.

A Hinkley in Nantucket harbor doesn’t draw any attention. They are ubiquitous.

A Passport, Alden, Morris,et.al., in Monaco are “cute little boats”.

[gs41escapade]

One thing I find really interesting is that the impression of beauty in boats changes as the technology changes. When I switched from a steel bicycle to carbon, I thought "wow those thick carbon tubes don't look pretty or 'right'. Now when I see a steel bike I think 'wow, too skinny'.

Same with boats. Long graceful overhangs. Now all plumb bows and sterns. It seems to take time to appreciate the changes. That said, whatever the style, some are well executed and yar, some not so much.

[Nicholson58]

1984 Camper and Nicholson 58 ketch.

[s/v Jedi]

Here’s a good picture showing classic vs function