Fishing Yachts

Fishing Yachts

Yachts are built out of necessity. In Nordic costal regions, where the day's catch is the only means of sustenance, and later on trade, sailing yachts are developed out of this necessity. They are designed to be fast, as squalls, storms and fogs could leave fishermen and seafarers stranded at sea. And because fishing at this time was more of family business, fishing yachts are also designed to be manned by the fewest number of crew possible.

Later on, yachts would see other uses outside fishing. They would become transport vessels that allow fast approach and boarding of enemy ships. The Scandinavian navy during the Viking age became a threat to a number of coastal regions as the yacht variant, the longboat allowed Vikings uncontested rule over the waters of Scandinavia, British Isles and even parts of Iberia. It wasn't clear if longboats have preceded yachts or yachts preceded long boats but there have been strong resemblances of the two.

Then come fishing yachts as a pleasure vessel. Allowed more space in the hold, yacht variant like the caravel are used for long voyages carrying important persons, affording more speed than massive galleons and barges but also can be lived in pleasantly with a number of accommodations on board.

In spite of seeing several uses, yachts are still being widely used for fishing. And through today, in the 20th century where modern yachts are more popular as cruise or pleasure vessel, fishing yachts still haven't lost its usefulness in the original purpose.

That is because fishing yachts are still faster than heavy fishing barges, and allows the least number of crew to man. Modern fishing yachts are either commercial or private ownership, fitted with equipment designed to catch specific marketable fish. The most prominent fishing yachts are trawler yachts that haul nets over the sea bottom or on pelagic columns designated to catch specific fish.

Sport fishing yachts do exist, though because the practice seldom involves the capabilities of the yacht, there is no fixed yacht design aside from having a good motor. Sport fishing yachts sometimes have several winches and pulley on the stern to facilitate in grounding heavy game fishes.

The present parlance for fishing yachts would always mean trawler yachts. Trawler yachts, depending on the type of fish it is designed to catch would always include several winches, a sizable fish hold with a cooling unit and a lower water displacement.

For illustration, here are some excellent fishing yachts available for sale over the internet:

Fairways Trawler Yachts 38 at Apollo Duck
http://motoryachts.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=37852

The Fairways Trawler Yachts is a glass fiber semi displacement diesel trawler yachts selling for £130,000. The Fairways Trawler includes complete navigation equipment.

Shrimp Trawler Customizable
www.iboats.com/boats/marine--1/boats--10/power_boats--100/trawler_yachts--1060/57551.html

Currently designed as shrimp trawler, this slightly used trawler can be modified to fit a customer's preference, whether for fishing, cargo or cruising. This shrimp trawler sells for $495,000 USD.