Actual LOA v Advertised LOA-gctid343985

[CaptTom]

Ever since I bought a 35' slip, I've been looking for a boat that would fit in it. I can't go over exactly 36' 10" fully rigged. That includes the swim platform to the tip of the anchor. Obviously I should be at least a few inches under that so I'm not banging against the dock.

Bayliner was one of the honest manufacturers until recently; my 2003 285 is actually about 28.5' HULL length. LOA it tops out closer to 30'. Fortunately, most marinas only charge me for what the model # implies. I always tell them "28 and a half" and have never been charged for more than 29.

I notice that all changed a few years ago when Bayliner re-jiggled all the model numbers. My 285 no longer exists, but they promoted one of the smaller hulls to use that name. Kinda sucks for people who pay by the foot, but I guess that's marketing.

I'm getting off topic here. My point is it's very hard to find the real LOA of any advertised boat. And that's what I need before I can even look at a boat.

I've downloaded Bayliner manuals for a lot of the models I'm interested in, looked on various boat and yacht seller's web sites, and found absolutely no consistency. I've come to the conclusion that the term LOA means different things to different people. I'm not sure what part of the word "overall" they don't understand, but there's clearly some disconnect.

So, does anyone know of any way to get an HONEST listing of boat lengths? I really don't want to waste my time on something that my marina won't allow me to keep in my slip.

[ksanders]

What you are seeing is pretty prevalent industry wide, but as you mentioned Bayliner was one of the "honest" ones in that their advertised length used to be the hull length.

Our 2859 was just shy of 28' hull length and over 30' OAL

Our 3488 was 34' hull and 36' OAL

Our 4788 is 47' hull and 52'+ OAL

So the other day the admrial was reading Passagemaker and she showed me a advertisement for a boat that is 54' OAL. She was suprised when I told her that our 4788 is less than 2' smaller, and probably has more interior room.

[Machog]

I had exactly the same issue when I purchased my 4087.

I had wrongly assumed it was 40' give or take a few inches. When I called the marina where I had my permanent slip booked, was told I needed a 45' slip (which they didn't have at the time), as my boat with anchor roller and swim platform was nearly 44' (43' 7"). Its actually longer than that now as I sling a dinghy off the stern.

I think the only true way to get your length is a survey or very carefully measure it yourself.

Machog

[jmcannonball]

It appears to me that if a boat has a bow spit with anchor and a swim platform with a dinghy, you can add at least 4-6 feet to the advertised length. My 3888 is about 44ft LOA.

[SomeSailor]

Also keep in mind that manufacturers build their boats to fit in certain classes (markets). They can stretch this a bit by using the rules to their advantage a bit. "Rigged Length" includes bolt ons and items that not integral parts of the hulls (swim steps, pulpits, anchor rollers, etc). Marinas are on the other side of this argument and charge you for every inch.

The rigged length varies from model to model within the same brand. Look at a 2859 and a 2858 sitting beside each other and you'll see it pretty clearly.