When people picture a boat in their head, they are likely either picturing a classic yacht design or an ultra-modern yacht design. This holds true with sailboats and powerboats alike. We never seem to picture any of the designs that live in between these two extremes.
Classic yachts seem to be a timeless design that most consider beautiful to look at. This is why when you go into a novelty store, all the models of sailboats are "classics". The toy manufacturer doesn't have to worry about brand details or anything, it is simply a "sailboat".
On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have the modern day designs. Contemporary yachts have plumb bows and sugar scoop sterns, cabin tops that are long and sleek, almost disappearing into the deck. The rigging is radical and tall and the keel is thin and deep with a bulb at the end.
This may be the current modern design, but little more than a decade ago, this was far from the case. The bows were raked, and the transom was pointy. The cabin top popped out of the deck like a house with large port lights lining the sides. These sailboats do not have the lines of a "classic", yet they are not the contemporary design either. What are they other than an "Old Model"?
When yachts turn into an older model, you can really begin to appreciate the beauty or question what the designer was thinking. On a new boat, you will be all wrapped up in the experience of seeing this creation for the first time! You will be surrounded by sales people telling you this is the latest and greatest and other onlookers who are awestruck at the wonder of its beauty. 20 years later, will it still have that effect on you as you walk down the pier to look at it?
Carver, a popular powerboat manufacturer is known for creating "original" designs. I have heard them affectionately referred to as Clorox bottles, since they are short with very high freeboard and all white. The contemporary Carvers I see are interesting to look at, and I never thought about it past that point.
Then one day, an older Carver came into the marina and I looked at it in confusion. It looked like many layers of boats piled on top of each other, each more confused about its purpose than the last!
It got me thinking though, when this boat was new, did people look at it in the same way we look at modern yachts? Did the owner love the layers look? Or did they question what the designer was thinking as he wrote the check to buy it?
It also made me wonder if we will look back at the current trend in designs with the same shock as I looked upon that boat, or will we still find the modern yacht pleasing to look at?
Let me know what you think about the style trend of modern yachts in the comments down below. What are your favorite features that you would like to see continue on in future designs?
