Yacht

A yacht (pronounced "yot") is a type of boat which is mainly used for recreation.^[1] It usually has a cabin, so it does not need to return to the harbour overnight. Originally, yachts were sailing-boats, but now there are also motor yachts. The name comes from the Dutch word jachtschip, which originally meant hunting-boat or fast boat. Yachts have a fixed keel.

A large motor yacht in Lorient, Brittany, France

A yacht can vary in size from about 20 feet (6 metres) to 200 feet (60 metres) or more.^[2]

Most privately owned yachts fall in the range of about 7 metres (23 ft)-14 metres (46 ft); the cost of building and keeping a yacht rises quickly as length increases. In the United States, sailors tend to refer to smaller yachts as sailboats, while referring to the general sport of sailing as yachting. In sailboat racing, a yacht is any sailing vessel taking part in a race.