Beginners Guide to Boat Particulars and Numbers
Open nearly any article or review about a boat, or look at the plans for one, and you will probably find a chart or table near the title headed “Particulars,” “Principal Dimensions,” “Principal Characteristics,” or something similar. A list of abbreviations and numbers will come under this heading. In this edition of Getting Started in Boats, I hope you’ll gain an understanding of what some of these particulars mean and how they can lead you to a clearer interpretation of the boat in question.
Boats and yachts can be described either subjectively or objectively. Subjective descriptions like “long,” “wide,” “beautiful,” and “seakindly” (the list can be endless) are opinions and judgments that will vary according to the writer’s and the reader’s connotations and personal experience. The objective route will leave little or no doubt to a precise meaning. Saying that the load waterline (LWL) is 29' 7" or the beam is 11' 51⁄2" allows you to visualize the boat in a concrete way. Some particulars describe specific characteristics that are not visible, such as stability, and many are used to compare the boat to others of similar design.