Glossary:Yacht
Some yachts are chartered with professional crew to paying passengers, who then primarily use the yacht for pleasure. Such a vessel is a charter yacht.
There is no firm lower-end cut-off for the size of a yacht; however, it can generally be said that a vessel or conveyance used on the water for pleasure, approximately under 30 feet (9.1 meters) LOA is a not a yacht but a pleasure boat or recreational boat.
The word yacht also connotes elegance and expense. Thus some pleasure boats under 30 feet (9.1 meters), which are particularly elegant or expensive, may occasionally be called yachts. Example: When speaking of a particularly beautiful and elegant 25-foot (7.6 meter) sailboat, one might say, “Now that’s a real little yacht.”
Most yachts are boats but not all yachts are boats. Some very large vessels have been built entirely for private pleasure and pleasure-charter use, a few over 400 feet (122 meters) LOA. Such vessels are ships that are yachts. Very large yachts are often termed megayachts or super yachts.
The word yachts may also be used collectively to encompass a large group of boats used primarily for pleasure, even if many of the boats are smaller than usual to specifically be termed yachts on their own. Example: “The harbor is filled with yachts.”
