Invitation to Yachting

A delightful dividend of the current boating boom is the emergence of the smaller yacht, a far cry from the gold-braid days of million-dollar floating palaces, just as far from the popular family cockleshell. Between these extremes, today, there is a growing world of yachts and yachtsmen which is less formal than of old and less overpoweringly exclusive, but which still preserves those nautical niceties consistent with fine fun afloat. Today's stock yachts in the 30-foot to 50-foot range are compact pleasure packages providing luxurious quarters comparable to those ashore, vessels on which one may enjoy a way of life which has glamor, excitement, variety and the camaraderie of a very special sport. In this magical world, adults have adult excursions on cabin cruisers and cruising auxiliaries, men get away for easygoing weekends of sport fishing and poker, (continued on page 65) and other aspects of high living on the high seas are pleasantly prevalent. Several factors have contributed to this easier, water-borne way of life, most important among them the boats on which it is lived -- a representative fleet of which is pictured on these pages.

The yachtsman's vessel nowadays may be his for as little as the cost of a fine car or -- unless he demands overpowering opulence -- no more than he'd pay for a superior house. Modern construction, modern motors, modern electronic gear and other accessories have made paid crews largely dispensable -- which in turn has increased privacy and the size of owners' quarters, while decreasing the size of the vessels themselves. Indeed, these smaller seagoers have just as much space devoted to the comfort and pleasure of the owner and his party as the big babies did, and they go far beyond them in many a luxurious wrinkle. This holds true right down to the smallest vessels that can be classed as luxury craft. Space and gear have been utilized in the canniest ways, and the gentleman who lives well ashore and doesn't want to go hairy-chested just because he's on a boat, can take his pleasure and comfort with him. There is nothing unusual about TV and hi-fi on today's yachts. Galleys in which meals to satisfy the most Lucullan taste can be turned out are a commonplace, and the surroundings in which to enjoy these amenities are appropriately pleasant.

Ship-to-shore radios, radio direction finders, radar, depth recorders, automatic pilots and electronic megaphones are some of the gear in general use today, engineered for reliability in a compact package and styled to fit in with the most modern decor. No pulsing heap of wires, tubes and old solder need intrude on the tasteful, well-thought-out way most modern yachts are furnished.

Many of today's yachts are set up with entertaining aboard in mind, and designers have also made sure that there is plenty of locker space for the proper clothes. Informality aboard one night and a blast on the town the next are easy to manage.

Marinas -- those yacht-accommodating motels which offer every shore convenience as well as berthage for boats -- now dot the nation's shores and waterways, making it possible to cruise in comfort from harbor to harbor, rendez. vousing with other boating buddies at sundown when the cocktail flag is flown. Visiting back and forth, or exploring the harbor in the outboard-powered dinghy, provides a fun-filled respite from the day's run. Here, too, one may lay over on a blustery day, snugged down in the cabin with congenial companions, or go ashore to find what action the local scene affords.

Recognized yacht clubs -- once few and overpoweringly exclusive -- are also to be found in almost every harbor and boating center. And membership entitles you to guest privileges at most other clubs -- everything from a mooring and ice to the Saturday night dance -- wherever you may be.

There's another facet which characterizes yachting as we like it. This is the delightful halfway point between rugged ocean voyaging, entailing the kind of hardship which prompts landlubbers to say "Who needs it?" and the equally unneeded and opposite occupation of paddling around a pond. Blue water or fresh water, the modern yacht -- power or sail -- provides sensational runs, whether it's an afternoon of drinking or fishing, or zipping along to the tune of a spanking breeze, or a couple of weeks of island and harbor hopping in the Bahamas, Long Island Sound, the Great Lakes, Puget Sound and the Straits of Juan de Fuca, the Coast of Maine, the Keys or wherever.

The term "yachting" can, of course, mean different things to different people. For some, it's the only way to exist: they literally live afloat. Others are dedicated racers who relish the tension of competition (which in boat races can be viciously keen); some get their clout from battling the elements and making (concluded on page 82) Yachting (continued from page 68) like old salts, and a dedicated coterie lives for and dreams about the big fish. But there are many -- and we are among them -- who prefer a bit of all of this, plus the sheer pleasure of being with likeminded friends and commanding a shipshape vessel that gives more in fun and sport than she demands in handling.

These are the generalities of the yachting picture. How about the practical details? What is the best boat for you, how much does it cost, what are the facts of life on running it?

To live afloat in the manner described here, the size range starts at about 30 feet, and .$10,000 can be looked on as a bare minimum initial cost. From here, the limit is what you make it. A large modern yacht, custom built to an owner's special taste in equipment, layout and interior decoration, can gobble up a quarter of a million without even getting her bottom wet. But whereas almost every luxury yacht was custom built 20 years ago, many of the finest now available are turned out by stock-boat builders with national distribution through dealers. Even though they are stock boats, each one is finished off to an owner's own taste and requirements, and they give nothing away in design and engineering, or in layout and fittings. As a rule of thumb for customized stock boats of this type and for cruising auxiliaries, those from 40 feet up can be figured at about $1000 a foot for the smaller ones, and perhaps $1200 a foot once you get over 50 feet. The figure jumps at an owner's whim in highly responsive fashion.

Under 40 feet, the price per foot can be kept a lot lower. A good stock 35-footer need not be much more than $500 a foot, and there are 30-footers available at about $300 a foot if the extras are kept down. Today's 28-30-foot stock cabin cruiser, sport utility or cruising sailboat in the $10,000 range, offers more boat for the overall size than craft a third again as big did 12 years ago.

Boats under 40 feet seldom require a professional captain or provide crew accommodations, and any owner who wants to can learn to run such a boat by himself. Above this size, availability of amateur or paid helping hands should be considered in determining choice of vessel.

Maintenance is another key consideration, since modern materials and construction methods have made fewer inroads in the big boat field than in small, mass-produced outboards and racing sailboats. Fiberglass has yet to make its appearance in large power-boats, although it is now common for sailboats up to 40 feet. This reduces maintenance on hulls to a minimum.

Great ingenuity now goes into devising the utmost in accommodations per foot of length. A popular layout for sport-fishermen and utility boats in the smaller range utilizes two bunks and a head (marine toilet) under the forward deck and a convertible area under the shelter cabin which opens on the cockpit. In it are galley, sink and icebox, making bartending simple, plus day benches that can be used as overnight bunks by curtaining the shelter.

This same principle has been carried over to the big cabin cruisers. Many of them now have sliding panels that open their main lounge up to the adjoining sun deck, forming a single space for entertaining and relaxing that makes use of two-thirds of the boat's length. Below this area are separate, comfortable staterooms for when the party wants to divide itself into equal parts.

A great many power boats are fitted out for sport fishing by the addition of a flying bridge for better conning, and have fighting chairs and outriggers. Unsuitable, however, is the cabin yacht with a stateroom in the stern and a high sun deck over it -- six feet off the water is no place to land a marlin.

All these things should be thought of in deciding on what kind of boat to buy. If your hours afloat are to be informal and easygoing and mostly during the daytime, you have no need for an elaborate yacht with complete living accommodations. If you prefer to spend long periods on a boat in comfort comparative to a well-appointed city apartment, a simple utility sport boat with a big day cockpit and small cabin wouldn't give you what you want. Type of berthing accommodations available, depth and character of home waters, and your party-giving proclivities should all be considered.

An entirely separate world is the one of sail. Its devotees tend to be the more romantic, philosophical type, who notice such things as full moons, the delicate curve of a well-cut mainsail and the blessed silence when the motor is turned off. Sailboats take longer to get somewhere and are not for the speed fans per se, even though there is just as much of a sense of power and speed in a sailboat going nine knots as in a powerboat going 29. They present more of a challenge, more variety, and a more complete escape from the hurly-burly of shore life.

All of which adds up to this: whatever your preference in power or sail, in size and layout, in function and cost, there is probably a stock boat that comes very close to your ideal. And whatever that ideal may be, you'll find other yachtsmen who share it and with whom you can spend hours or days at a time in the pursuit of those intimate and informal pleasures which the nautical life uniquely provides.

Chris-Craft 55-foot Constellation is a stock-built luxury vessel ideal for coastal cruising, entertaining and living aboard. Her V-bottom hull permits ample beam and consequent spaciousness: she sleeps 10, has a roomy main salon, broad decks, three separate staterooms (one of which--at right--is being used by two pretty crew mates for a fresh-up), cruises at 17 mph and costs $60,000 and up, depending on optional layouts and decor.

Chris-Craft 55-foot Constellation is a stock-built luxury vessel ideal for coastal cruising, entertaining and living aboard. Her V-bottom hull permits ample beam and consequent spaciousness: she sleeps 10, has a roomy main salon, broad decks, three separate staterooms (one of which--at right--is being used by two pretty crew mates for a fresh-up), cruises at 17 mph and costs $60,000 and up, depending on optional layouts and decor.

Out O' Gloucester is a compact, sporty 30-footer, rugged and wonderfully seaworthy for her size. Offshore fishing and cruising are her meat; she accommodates four in comfort, has twin controls and flying bridge, and her easily driven hull gives her a cruising speed of 21 mph with twin 135-horsepower engines. She has a very roomy afterdeck for her size which makes her fine for partying as well as fishing, costs but $15,900 complete.

Nautical Gear Hung on and placed around Sudbury's transparent plastic 44-pound, 8-foot dinghy, $199.95: Coast Guard-approved 19-inch life ring, from Masters Marine, $11.45; opposite it, leaning on the mahogany gunwale, Tycoon deep-sea trolling rod of glass, $135, mounted with Fin-Nor salt-water reel, $350. On midship seat and left to right: Buell triple, low-pressure air horns in brass, $300; Vocaline's ship-to-shore radio-telephone has 8 channels plus broadcast band, rates at 135 watts, $725; Bausch & Lomb 7x50 wide-field Navy binocular, $205; matched chrome compass and course indicator with built-in lights, by Airguide, $22.50 and $20. On the stern seat, left to right: Raytheon Ranger portable radio direction finder, self-powered and transistorized, receives beacon, marine and broadcast bands, $299.50; Calamity Jane transistorized battery megaphone, pistol grip and trigger switch, $59; Bendix transistorized depth recorder calibrated in feet or fathoms, $299; atop it Perko's chrome combination port and starboard light operates on oil and electricity, $21. Foreground, in usual order: Burgess clamp-on sealed beam light with 6-volt battery, $9.95; Evinrude 3-horsepower outboard to drive the dinghy nicely, $161.50, in Lafayette's leatherette carrying case, $13.45; Danforth 18-pound anchor, suitable for craft up to 40 feet, $48.

Nautical Gear The fiberglass Minimum Dinghy, just under 7 feet, is unsinkable, weighs 45 pounds, $179. Chrome mobile is a Windometer, lives atop yachtsman's house, hooks to three-dialed blond box (indoors) to show wind velocity and direction (center dial is a barometer), by Aircraft Components, $99.50. Standing on Windometer case are Airguide's chrome clock and barometer, $33.50 and $18.50, suitable for mounting, shown in walnut deskrest, $6.50. Continuing counterclockwise: mahogany chart casetable, from Commodore, $25. RCA ship-to-shore radio telephone, 8 channels, $750. Standing on it, the DF-O-Matic transistorized, battery-powered radio direction finder with left-right course indicator, $249. Raytheon's direct-reading depth sounder (2 to 120 feet), $159.50. Tubular aluminum Fold & Stack cockpit or deck chair, $7.20. The indefatigable British Seagull 1 1/2- horsepower lightweight outboard (dandy for this dinghy), $130. Six-step, mahogany folding boarding ladder by Perko, $72.50. On its steps, going up: chrome gimbaled ashtray with wind guard, by Rubel, $16.95. Zenith's transistorized portable in leather case doubles as small-boat radio direction finder, $99.50; Bendix automatic pilot's wheelhouse control, hanging beside it remote control for change of course and power steering from any position on boat, $674. complete. Flare pistol with 6 shells (two shown), by Kilgore, $29.95.

Huckins is to motor yachts what Rolls-Royce is to cars: both represent the finest in construction and design, are notable for their indifference to fads and trim, provide instantly recognizable distinction. Above is the Linwood 53 Fairform Flyer, driven with great stability and quiet by twin engines in the extreme stern and at a cruising speed of 27 mph. Her accommodations for eight are the last word in seagoing luxury, include three baths and four separate staterooms. Price varies with buyer's preferences in layout and fittings, probably averages $75,000.

Below: a yachtsman at bridge's wheel enjoys a sense of power.

Creekmore (left) is an out-and-out sailer but her fiberglass construction makes for more room below than conventional wood vessels of her 36-foot length provide. Yawl rigged here (more commonly sloop rigged) she is an easily driven and easily handled centerboarder with accommodations for four or five (in main cabin and stateroom). Ample cockpit makes her fine for day sailing and cruising--and she should do well in ocean racing, too. Sails are Dacron, price about $20,000 including gas or diesel auxiliary engine.

Enterprise 35 is the ultimate development of the sport skiff for deep-sea fishing and highspeed performance in rough water. Her characteristics are great strength, light weight, tremendous power: she'll cruise at 32 mph, has a top speed of 42. Although she sleeps four in wheelhouse and stateroom, her principal feature is her large cockpit, continuous with the wheelhouse. This makes her not only ideal for fishing but great for lazy basking--and a boat-hoppers' haven at cocktail time. Enterprise has dual controls

Below, she's being skippered from the flying bridge as she gets up and planes. Price, about $37,500.

Code flags not in The Sea Scout Manual but not hard to read: cocktail flag invites bibbers aboard

Sleepy bunnies say "Quiet, please"

Jolly Roger apprises fair game of piratical intent

Battle axe means Mrs. Bligh is standing by to repel boarders.

New porter (above) is a superb cruising ketch that verges on the motor-sailer. 40 feet on deck, 32 feet on the waterline and clipper bowed, she has luxurious accommodations for six in two staterooms and her large, airy doghouse. Built of fiberglass-covered plywood, Newporter really sails, yet has a cruising range at 10 mph of 1000 miles under quiet diesel power. She sells for $25,000 to $30,000, depending on equipment, and may be had sloop rigged.

Left: Newporter's unusual cockpit features a cushioned poop deck for lolling about as she foots along, a mahogany taffrail, plenty of standing headroom under the mizzen boom, davits to hold a pram. Doghouse windows give helmsman good vision ahead.

Matthews 42-foot convertible sedan cruiser with flying bridge is built on a stock hull which can be equipped with a variety of cabin plans. Matthews is one of the oldest and most respected builders; the vessel shown here is comfortable, sturdy, accommodates six in two staterooms and wheelhouse, and boasts a large, circular dining nook opposite her galley. Her round-bottom hull makes her an excellent sea boat, gives her a cruising speed of 20 mph. Cost varies with layout and power plant, runs upward from about $33,000.

Below: at anchor in a snug harbor a partition is folded back to join wheelhouse and cockpit into a 20-foot-long area. This is when the cocktail flag is flown to beckon other yachtsmen and their dates for impromptu drinking and dancing as the sun goes down.