Pleasure Boat Technical Term

[MrPixel]

Say what?

I'm writing a story about a yacht club, and have scraped the internet to no avail. A feature on most powerboats over 20' or so is a skeleton structure over the cockpit. Designs range from chromed tubing to a raked fairing. It commonly used as a mount for things like GPSs, radio antennas, spotlights, and speakers. I am not referring to a bimini.

On a car the equivalent is a rollbar.

Here's a picture of the model of boat I'm writing about:

 

[Cali_Love]

Same as on a Jeep or 4WD, I would call it a light bar. A sailing nerd might call it a radar arch (even though there’s no radar mounted on it in the picture).

 

[dirk2024]

I'd call it a handcuff bar because that's where all my bikini babes would stand at attention.

( no please...don't wake me up!)

 

[Bamagan]

Say what?

I'm writing a story about a yacht club, and have scraped the internet to no avail. A feature on most powerboats over 20' or so is a skeleton structure over the cockpit. Designs range from chromed tubing to a raked fairing. It commonly used as a mount for things like GPSs, radio antennas, spotlights, and speakers. I am not referring to a bimini.

On a car the equivalent is a rollbar.

Here's a picture of the model of boat I'm writing about:

View attachment 2619787

I think most people just call it an arch, but I believe if sold as an attachment it's a wakeboard tower.

 

[HordHolm]

Say what?

I'm writing a story about a yacht club, and have scraped the internet to no avail. A feature on most powerboats over 20' or so is a skeleton structure over the cockpit. Designs range from chromed tubing to a raked fairing. It commonly used as a mount for things like GPSs, radio antennas, spotlights, and speakers. I am not referring to a bimini.

On a car the equivalent is a rollbar.

Here's a picture of the model of boat I'm writing about:

View attachment 2619787

There's nothing like some good ol' displacement activity, so rather than check the exam papers I'm supposed to be checking, I've done a little image search, and I can confirm @Bamagan has it dead right. It is a wakeboard tower. The more you know...

 

[TheLobster]

In what universe a bent piece of metal scaffolding that protrudes maybe one foot above the surface it's attached can be called a tower?

English and common sense simply don't mix, it seems.

 

[OralAllOver]

Yardarm? Is that where convicts were hung?

 

[HordHolm]

Yardarm? Is that where convicts were hung?

Hanged. The convicts might have been hung, but by the time they were being hanged from the yard arm I doubt it did them much good.

 

[StillStunned]

In what universe a bent piece of metal scaffolding that protrudes maybe one foot above the surface it's attached can be called a tower?

English and common sense simply don't mix, it seems.

I suppose yachters are even worse at judging these things than most men.

 

[MrPixel]

Okay! Thanks, guys. I think wakeboard tower is right given my text description - but for ski boats. Not a cabin cruiser, like the one in the picture.

I'm going to fall back on my 2-way radio experience and call it an "antenna rail" or something like that, alluding to @Cali_Love 's suggestion. Whatever it is, is apparently not in the general small yacht lexicon. If somebody reads the story who happens to have expertise in 1970's Chris Craft cabin cruisers and calls me on it, I'll accept my lumps!

 

[onehitwanda]

Yardarm? Is that where convicts were hung?

The yardarm is the end of the yard i.e. the tip of the horizontal length of wood that square-rigged ships used to raise or lower their sails. A rope would be passed over the yard-arm, or through a block attached to the yard-arm, and the convict would be hoisted up and left there to dance in the breeze. In the pre-Victorian Royal Navy, the Rogue's March would be played by the Royal Marine drummer while this was going on.

The tower is a modern analogue to a crow's nest or tops, where sailors would be posted to watch for ships, reefs, land and weather. In a modern motor launch it's used to scan for seabirds, fish, and other, drunker powerboat skippers.

This has been a regularly-scheduled broadcast of Radio Free Wanda, you've been listening to "I can't believe she knows this shit, what is wrong with her?". We now return to our regular programming.

 

[StillStunned]

In a modern motor launch it's used to scan for seabirds, fish, and other, drunker powerboat skippers.

I've read enough Literotica stories to know that its actual primary use is to scan for mermaids and naked sunbathers.

 

[onehitwanda]

I've read enough Literotica stories to know that its actual primary use is to scan for mermaids and naked sunbathers.

Naked Sunbathers are never the Hollywood version, it's always the Blackpool version.

 

[Bamagan]

In what universe a bent piece of metal scaffolding that protrudes maybe one foot above the surface it's attached can be called a tower?

English and common sense simply don't mix, it seems.

You may be putting the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble. A wakeboard is a (perhaps overly technical) term for a board being towed in the vessel's wake, as for water-skiing. Attaching such a board at the metal scaffolding in question provides more stability for the rider being towed. Or so I'm towled, having never tried it myself. Not to be confused with keelhauling, which is another way sailors used rope for murder and/or hijinx.

 

[NotWise]

Okay! Thanks, guys. I think wakeboard tower is right given my text description - but for ski boats. Not a cabin cruiser, like the one in the picture.

I'm going to fall back on my 2-way radio experience and call it an "antenna rail" or something like that, alluding to @Cali_Love 's suggestion. Whatever it is, is apparently not in the general small yacht lexicon. If somebody reads the story who happens to have expertise in 1970's Chris Craft cabin cruisers and calls me on it, I'll accept my lumps!

I asked Google specifically "what term is used for a structure like a wakeboard tower on a cabin cruiser?" and it said:

A structure similar to a wakeboard tower on a cabin cruiser or larger vessel is most commonly referred to as a radar arch or simply an arch

While wakeboard towers are designed specifically for high-point towing, arches on cabin cruisers serve a similar structural purpose—providing a rigid, elevated framework for mounting equipment—and are often designed with a forward-swept look similar to modern towers.

Other common terms for similar structures on larger boats include:

• Reverse Arch Tower: A specialized, forward-swooping tower often installed on cruisers that combines the sleek, modern styling of a wakeboard tower with the functionality of an arch, typically made of 2.5" tubing.
• T-Top: A common structure on center consoles or walkaround boats that features a sturdy aluminum framework supporting a roof, often used to mount rod holders, electronics, or a tow point.
• Radar Pod: A dedicated mount for radar or antennas, often integrated directly onto the hardtop or the arch.

You can repeat that search if you'd like, and review the references instead of depending on the AI summary.

 

[TheLobster]

You may be putting the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble. A wakeboard is a (perhaps overly technical) term for a board being towed in the vessel's wake, as for water-skiing. Attaching such a board at the metal scaffolding in question provides more stability for the rider being towed. Or so I'm towled, having never tried it myself. Not to be confused with keelhauling, which is another way sailors used rope for murder and/or hijinx.

Oh, so it's "tower" in the sense of "something that tows, or is related to towing", and not implying there's a Barad-dur sticking out of your yacht. Got it, that makes (very slightly) more sense.

 

[MrPixel]

I dunno. Just cannot reconcile "arch". This is an arch:



...sigh... "Arch" it is.

 

[Britva415]

I dunno. Just cannot reconcile "arch". This is an arch:

View attachment 2619891

...sigh... "Arch" it is.

Many boat arches are necessarily flat topped because they mount solar panels.

 

[MrPixel]

Many boat arches are necessarily flat topped because they mount solar panels.

You're not getting my Crocodile Dundee reference.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

You may be putting the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble.

This is the second time I've seen this sentence tonight. What's it a quote from?

(I know sod all about boats, but mounting arch sounds clear to me)

 

[MrPixel]

mounting arch sounds clear to me

Kinky.

 

[AStrangeDesire]

Christ-almighty, this is like the third time I've mis-read the title of this post as 'Pleasure bot' ... before I go "no you idiot, it's 'Pleasure boat'."

Which, when combined, maybe something I need to drop off at the plot bunny pen.

This place...

 

[WaxPhilosophic]

Naked Sunbathers are never the Hollywood version, it's always the Blackpool version.

View attachment 2619821

No, no. I said, only the good things that come to mind about your mother.

 

[Bamagan]

This is the second time I've seen this sentence tonight. What's it a quote from?

(I know sod all about boats, but mounting arch sounds clear to me)

I didn't know where it came from, aside from the fact that it's been a meme for a while. Search suggests it originated in the 2003 movie A View From the Top.