Displaying Boat Names

[BroadAmbition]

Some of us will have noticed that a certain hire yard has recently changed the way they display the names of their boats.  Previously the name was displayed on the stern and either the cabin sides or each side of the bow.

Now the boat name is displayed on the stern only.  I quite like the font used and also the colour shade but why on the stern only?

Seeing a hire boat coming t'other way makes one have to turn round for a look-see of the boat name if you are considering hiring it in future or just commenting on a nice looking craft and wanting to know its name/class.  Makes one look conspicuously nosey.

Have they done it to save on the cost of purchasing / applying vinyl?  It must have taken a fair few man hours to remove all those names from the sides in the first place from all their boats then the cost of purchasing and applying the new vinyl to the sterns

The cynic in me has other ideas.

Identifying a boat used to be easy as with a clearly displayed name to sides and stern was achieved at a glance.  Remembering a boat name is also a breeze too.  Registration numbers on t'other hand are not so easy to instantly remember, especially some of the longer ones with hyphens thrown in for good measure and that's if you can see em at a glance.  So if your craft (Be it hire or private) suffers a glancing blow or damage from a craft from this certain yard and doesn't stop (It happens as we all know) then identifying it for repair / insurance issues is no longer straight forward

Thoughts?

Griff

[WherryNice]

I noticed it a few weeks ago, not a fan tbh but each to their own. It does make identfying boats harder but then I'm a bit of a nerdy boat spotter and perhaps not everyone would be bothered. It does give them an air of 'ex hire' (nothing wrong with that) until you can see the stern. 

 

 

 

[MargeandParge]

I Think that a very pale grey on white is absolute camouflage as we took a knock at near dark and only just got the boat name as it was clearly marked after the crew leaning over the back had screamed "WE AINT DONE NUFFINK".

It obviously looked different when the repair was quoted for and in all fairness sorted by the fleet owner. 

Had we not identified the boat and number in the fleet the outcome could obviously  have been very different. Maybe we could ask the BA for Day glow registration numbers.

The new names are harder to see and you have to be an international linguist and translator to remember them.

Good old BA just keep the registration numbers black and white. (with possibly a henna tattoo whilst aboard )

Kindest Regards

Marge and Parge

[Ray]

It certainly does happen, of course if you're not on your boat at the time you have no chance anyway...

(Should polish out)

 

[RS2021]

Saw a few last week when we were out. I think it makes the older boats look very tatty as you can see where the old logos were and it makes them look as if they have been sold off and Richos want no more to do with them. Not sure what it's trying to achieve. Richos get good reports on here for their customer service and how they look after their boats and I've often thought of trying them, but this new look does put me off.

[NeilB]

I’m based at Richos and it was an outside firm applying the names to all boats, looks like a white wrap with the name printed onto the wrap.

[Vaughan]

1 hour ago, RS2021 said:

I think it makes the older boats look very tatty as you can see where the old logos were and it makes them look as if they have been sold off

There is just as much of a knack to removing vinyl logos, as there is to fitting them.

[andyg]

Saw 2 of the broads harmony/ sunset class in woods early. Very odd indeed. They use to have the names in big black letters on both sides of the boat. Now a very faint looking decal on the stern. Guess they've got a reason for doing this.

[SwanR]

I do think the change has taken away the character of the various sets of boats acquired over the years. Maybe that’s the point. But the Swancraft style is now all but gone from that part of the fleet as far as external identity goes. 

 

[Mouldy]

Pure speculation, but it almost seems as if they are following the example set by Clive at Horning Pleasurecraft.  Their boat names are only displayed at the stern, in a distinctive font.

[andyg]

7 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

Pure speculation, but it almost seems as if they are following the example set by Clive at Horning Pleasurecraft.  Their boat names are only displayed at the stern, in a distinctive font.

I actually like that font style, it's very modern and has a kind of 3d affect on some of his boats. 

[NeilB]

Just had a look at a Horizon 42 in the yard, on this particular boat it was one huge wrap covering both sides of the rear doorway, the Bounty's look similar.

[Broads01]

The names do tend to be hard to read. They're not so bad when placed higher up but depending on the boat design that isn't always possible, so the sedans have the name on the stern part of the hull. Imagine hiring for the first time and struggling to find your boat in the boatyard because the name is low down below quay level.

The other surprising and slightly daft thing is there's nothing to identify the boats as belonging to Richardson's other than the slightly cryptic R on the bow. So as a first time visitor who's never heard of Richardson's you'd be looking at their boats and wondering where they were from.

[andyg]

I haven’t seen richardsons jolly richie out on the rivers for a couple of years. I did wonder how the wrapping would stand upto the abuse a hire boat receives in a season,especially the Hull. It's been a few years since she was done it would be interesting to know how it's held up. Maybe it's done just fine and it's cheaper in the long term to vinyl wrapp a superstructure then it is to keep re painting them. Easier to keep clean as well I'd of thought. 

[kpnut]

Jolly Richie is still out and about. The wrapping looks a bit faded and scratched close up but still distinctive when coming along the river. 
I don’t like the new name plates either. Very difficult to see etc as others have noted. And it makes a lot of the boats look identical, rather than unique, each with their own character.
I hadn’t thought about the logo not being obviously Richardson’s as I’m used to it. But fair point. 

[JanetAnne]

Is there a requirement in law (or by-law) to name a boat? 

And if so, is there a requirement to display that name? 

Registration numbers yes, obviously, but just curious about the naming thing.

[petersjoy]

39 minutes ago, andyg said:

I haven’t seen richardsons jolly richie out on the rivers for a couple of years. I did wonder how the wrapping would stand upto the abuse a hire boat receives in a season,especially the Hull. It's been a few years since she was done it would be interesting to know how it's held up. Maybe it's done just fine and it's cheaper in the long term to vinyl wrapp a superstructure then it is to keep re painting them. Easier to keep clean as well I'd of thought. 

 

On 25/04/2022 at 22:39, Ray said:

That was my best artistic shot! 😂

 

Thought I'd seen it in a recent post, second photo.

[andyg]

Sods law, just had a quick peek on hw webcam and low and behold, their's jollie richie moored outside the yard lol

.

[MauriceMynah]

I don't think that there's any legal requirement to have a name for a boat, given that names do not have to be unique. I've lost count of how many 'Swallowtail's I've spotted (I won't even mention 'Le boat's under it's previous name, what I can't for the moment spell !!!)

No, sorry folks, you'll just have to carry on trying to take the registration number.

[Vaughan]

37 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

I don't think that there's any legal requirement to have a name for a boat,

Except if it is British registered.

On the Thames, the name must be unique as the name is the boat's registration and there are no numbers.

[Smoggy]

Part 1 shipping register must have a unique name but not for part 3 reg (ssr), I would guess inland navigation authorites would have their own bylaws but most use reg numbers rather than names.

[Cheesey69]

I’m thinking it’s to give the impression that this boat is a private boat. 

[Dan]

I thought it had probably been done to try and unify the look a bit when they are in the yard

Don't mind the font but was suprised they had not repainted where old ones were removed, some looked absolutely dreadful for it, others not quite so bad

I cant imagine it would take long to tape and repaint panels such as the white bits from this photo, so it did look a bit like standards had slipped or more had been lost than gained, hopefully be improved soon...

Dan

[FlyingFortress]

1 hour ago, Smoggy said:

Part 1 shipping register must have a unique name but not for part 3 reg (ssr), I would guess inland navigation authorites would have their own bylaws but most use reg numbers rather than names.

Don't know about unique as I don't know how many ships called Antares I have been on. Maybe different flags.

Nameculture can be quite funny.

One company I worked for simply numbered their ships. ie Gulf Fleet 1 all the way to Gulf Fleet 104. I was on 17,53 and 102 

A company that owns bulk carriers had a series of ships called Titan followed by a planet. Titan Mars, Titan Saturn etc and yes there was a Titan Uranus 🤣

Some regular visitors on The Thames had some strange names. Mini Me, Tequila, Triple A and so on. When I asked about the strange names the captain told me the owners daughter used to name the ships and it really depended on what particular chemical she was Imbibing as to what name came out. 

One Swedish captain thought it was the funniest thing he had ever seen when a ship passed called Britannia Beaver and this from a captain who worked for a company that had a ship called Mammary I kid you not. 

[PaulN]

I think it's to make the boats look more like private craft and therefore more appealing to the discerning hirer. I first noticed this with the large hire craft from NYA. When Clive started his Horning Pleasurecraft, there was also just a discreet stainless steel company name on the sides and the boat name on the transom. I think the font and branding he uses looks great.

We however, with our Swancraft are trying to buck the new trend