12 Meter Gleam, 1937
Diamond For Ever, 1987
Aesthetics in sailboat design and our reactions to them are interesting. We find Gleam heartbreakingly beautiful and Diamond For Ever almost offensively ugly.
But I guess someone liked the lines of the latter enough to spend a huge amount of money building her and then refitting and lengthening her. Or was she one of those dreadful instances when a design looks fine on paper but terrible in real life (although that would not explain the refit)?
By the way, a boat does not have to be old, traditional and covered with varnish to look good. For example, I think these are great looking boats.
If you disagree with our tastes, you can buy Diamond For Ever for the bargain basement price of eight million euros. As far as I know Gleam is not for sale.
What do you think about boat aesthetics? Which boats do you find beautiful? Please leave a comment.
‘Gleam’ is beautiful and was fast for her day, but what else? Too many sailors put too much emphasis on aesthetics, imo. For instance, the brightwork looks pretty but it’s not really practical for most people and involves a lot of maintenance – all of which doesn’t make a vessel any more seaworthy. Personally, I prefer the more rugged aesthetics of workboats rather than ‘yachts’. A trip through ‘Mystic Seaport’ (especially in the small watercraft section) will show many of these rugged beauties which were built for the sea and could stand up to the weather. Actually, I like the look of chines. The rounded-bilge form has become favored mostly because of fiberglass constrction. I guess some people see beauty in mass-produced plastic boats – and some are pretty – but they are designed for a particular kind of customer (the weekend sailor). Not my cuppa.
Hi Jerry,
I totally agree. When we bought “Morgan’s Cloud” she had teak decks and a lot of varnished wood, as was the custom of the day. Over the years we have removed the teak decks (replaced with Treadmaster) and most of the wood. The wood we could not replace, we have pained white. But here is the thing. I think that each of these changes has made her more beautiful, not less.
Now she is no longer a yacht, but an expedition sailboat, and I find that very compelling.
Of course the fundamentals of her beauty lie with Jim McCurdy’s timeless lines and perfect sheer line.
Dear John,
Can’t agree more on the ”these” link.
I have visited the warf early this year and now I only need to sell my 41footer Hutting (Koopmans design).
Thanks for the great and very active site!
Best,
René
I was googling Koopmans just yesterday. There is a gorgeous 52 foot one-off Koopmans, robin’s egg blue hull, in the transient slip across from mine. BLUEFIN, from Hindeloopen.
I recently surveyed a 45′ S & S built in the 1960s. So beautiful she makes Gleam look like an ugly duckling. Reached down in the bilges and felt the completely rusted out iron floors, and suddenly she became ugly. Beauty is as beauty does!
exactly.
Hi Richard,
A very good point. “Gleam” was completely rebuilt at huge expense in time and money. Falling in love with beauty can be a dangerous thing.
Gream & Diamond look pretty much the same, you ask me.
Hi Nicolas,
Interesting. Each to their own view. Just shows how subjective this subject is.
John,
I too find Gleam beautiful and the other one very ugly. My boat is a Victoire 34, also a Koopmans design. Before I even knew that Koopmans was the designer, I already fell for their designs (my current boat is the second of their hand). And the boat I would like to have, a Breehorn 37 is also Koopmans. And also, I fell for her lines before I knew the designer…
I still don’t know what it is that attracts me to them, but it there, definitely.
If I look from a wider perspective, I find my taste to be a little old fashioned, I usually fancy the designs that were deemed ‘modern’ in the late 70’s and early ’80’s.
Looking forward to the lines of the Adventure 40, too!
Regards,
Erik
Hi Erik,
Another good designer who combines good looks with great function. We spent a month looking after the Koopmans design “Polaris” in Greenland a couple of years ago and came away very impressed.