Why do Classic Wooden Sailboats have a low freeboard design?

[Alson An]

I have questions.

Why do Classic Wooden Sailboats have a low freeboard design?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of low freeboard designs?

Its design looks almost like touching the surface of the water.

 

[Bruce Woods]

Priorities.

 

[gonzo]

Fashion has a lot to do. Also, they are closer descendants from workboats than modern yachts do. Fishing boats need low freeboard to be able to reach traps or grab fish. Cargo sailing ships have low freeboard when loaded.

 

[Yellowjacket]

I was told that back in the day the idea was that if you got hit by a big sea, that it would just wash over and provided the hatches were closed the hull wouldn't pound or get knocked around as much as a boat with more freeboard. Today people want more room below decks so they can live more comfortably and not have to stoop down when below decks that results in more freeboard. No idea if that is true, just what I was told once by an old salt.

 

[JamesG123]

People are also a lot taller now too. But yeah mostly it was the styling. Owners (and designers) wanted the lines of the classic schooners and clipper ships and when you build that hull plan scaled down, freeboard shrinks in equal measure.

 

[Rurudyne]

It ain't easy to get Dolly Parton's volume with Audrey Hepburn's lines.

 

[MikeJohns]

I have questions.

Why do Classic Wooden Sailboats have a low freeboard design?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of low freeboard designs?

Its design looks almost like touching the surface of the water.

Low freeboard tends to be very wet in heavy weather to the point of being quite dangerous to be on deck at times. But you'll find classics with quite generous freeboard too. As has been said already fashion plays a large part in yacht design, designs can be quite different from different parts of the world
.

 

[fredrosse]

"What are the advantages and disadvantages of low freeboard designs?"

Low freeboard gives less area for the wind to push the boat in directions that are unwanted. A real technical advantage.

 

[The Q]

Many modern designs are caravans that sail, but light weight for higher speed, so more of the height inside, is above the waterline.
Many Older "classic designs have a heavier longer keel and are effectively narrower. So your feet in the cabin are well below the waterline, so less of the hull is above the waterline..

 

[TANSL]

I believe that each ship has the freeboard that it must have to comply with its SOR or with the regulations that are applicable to it. It seems to me a banality to say that the minimum freeboard is a matter of fashion. Which designer would reduce the security, the stability, the load capacity, ... of its design by following a certain fashion ?. Absurd.
In many types of ships, for various reasons, the freeboard is intended to be the smallest possible, as previously stated, the freeboard increases the area exposed to the wind but, on the other hand, also increases the load capacity or safety of the ship. As always, it is a compromise between different options, it is never about following a trend.
Just my opinion.

 

[fallguy]

To wash(drain) at heel and reduce windage(effective hull height above WL) and minimize draft thus (a bit).

Windage makes boats MUCH harder to steer.

Putting massive buckets (think the entire deck now) that fill in an instant above deck is generally bad design.

All mostly functional. Then after awhile fashion forgets function.

Power vessels have less need to address windage or drainage off the decks.

ps windage-harder to steer and slower

 

[alan craig]

Your example photos partly answer the question - low freeboard and curved sheer line are MUCH prettier than fat plastic tubs.

 

[tom28571]

Many modern designs are caravans that sail, but light weight for higher speed, so more of the height inside, is above the waterline.
Many Older "classic designs have a heavier longer keel and are effectively narrower. So your feet in the cabin are well below the waterline, so less of the hull is above the waterline..

This covers much of the reason.

 

[MikeJohns]

I believe that each ship has the freeboard that it must have to comply with its SOR or with the regulations that are applicable to it. It seems to me a banality to say that the minimum freeboard is a matter of fashion. Which designer would reduce the security, the stability, the load capacity, ... of its design by following a certain fashion ?. Absurd.
In many types of ships, for various reasons, the freeboard is intended to be the smallest possible, as previously stated, the freeboard increases the area exposed to the wind but, on the other hand, also increases the load capacity or safety of the ship. As always, it is a compromise between different options, it is never about following a trend.
Just my opinion.

You really think fashion has never played a part in leisure yacht design?

 

[JamesG123]

Some call it tradition.