Raft vs. Boat - what's the difference

[janelouis]

Hello all, I am a new member. I participate in the annual Connecticut River Raft Race, see ctriverraftrace.org.

I need an authoritative definition of what makes a raft vs. a boat. Can some kind person enlighten me?

Thanks!

[hoytedow]

Rafts are more designed to drift and are not hydrodynamically designed for speed or efficiency having as their main quality the ability to float when occupied. Boats have a pointy end and a motory end or a sail and have all the positive features of a raft but hydrodynamic advantages of efficiently moving in the direction you want them to go.

[lewisboats]

To paraphrase hoyt...

One goes pretty much where YOU want and the other goes pretty much where IT wants.

[janelouis]

Thanks, folks!

[Vulkyn]

Originally Posted by lewisboats

To paraphrase hoyt...

One goes pretty much where YOU want and the other goes pretty much where IT wants.

Thumbs up for that explanation .....

[janelouis]

Actually, I'd have to give that 2 thumbs up!!

If anyone cares to look, www.ctriverraftrace.org is where our crafts can be seen. We do human powered rafts (or boats?) for fun and for charity. All very home made! We were invited to participate in a newly organized raft race, but questions have been raised as to whether or not we had a raft. I guess we are a hybrid of sorts?

[jehardiman]

IMHO, I think it is a little more simple. A raft you ride on, a boat you ride in. Huck Finn used a raft, Mike Fink used a keel boat, both drifted down river. Kon Tiki was a raft, Ra was a boat, both were steered (sort of) and sailed.

[larry larisky]

raft is wet

[hoytedow]

Tugboat Annie

[hoytedow]

George Raft

[mydauphin]

A raft sits on the water, a boat in it.....

[GTO]

But that would mean a raft has 0 displacement, therefore weightless.
Would that mean a raft is actually alien space technology with a counter-grav generator onboard???

I WANT A RAFT!!!!

[Vulkyn]

OK this is taking a rather strange turn .....

Sitting on the water does not mean it has 0 displacement ... but more than zero, there for its not alien technology but strange crystalline composite polymer made by the Atlantians ....

[Submarine Tom]

R.A.F.T.: Rare Artifact For Travelling

No?

-Tom

[Petros]

A raft is usually something make shift, or for emergency use. The term originally meant it had beams or members running in both directions.

I think a good working definition, already given, would be the ability to control where it goes. It would draw the line between a raft and boat.

Though many of the craft on in your contest are way beyond a raft and are really boats. Are there any rules for that contest?