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Top 25 classic boat types

What is a classic boat? The answer becomes ever harder to pin down, as more yachts are seen as ‘classic’ and as wooden boats themselves evolve.

Today the ‘classic’ fleet encompasses a vast range of floating marvels, from rugged Victorian work boats, to huge schooners raced by royalty 100 years ago, to the ‘everyman’ yachts of the 1950s, to pin-sharp Metre boats built for the America’s Cup.

This vintage fleet is now bolstered by a growing ‘Spirit of Tradition’ class of wooden yachts that have the look of yesteryear, but the fittings and performance of a modern boat.

If the answer to the question is that ‘you know one when you see one’, then a quick guide to some broad classic boat types surely wouldn’t go amiss. The following, of course, is a fraction of all the different types of traditional vessels out there. So, in no particular order…

Great yacht designs: the Nordic Folkboat

Great yacht designs: Jolie Brise

Affordable Classics: the Stella

Stormvogel: the first of the Maxis

The 100 club: the glory of centenarian yachts

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Classic Boat is the magazine for the world’s most beautiful boats. Packed with stunning images, we have the inside stories of the great classic yachts and motorboats afloat today, as well as fascinating tales from yesteryear and the latest from the wooden boat building scene around the world.

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Vintage Sailboats For Sale

If you ever had a dream of a real sail ship that looked like it came off the pages of the ancient books about pirates and explorers, it is time you looked into the vintage yacht class!

Vintage (old fashioned) yachts are still available to the regular buyers. There are not many of them remaining in the world yacht market, but enough for you to choose from. You can try for yourself one of the first catamarans or a trimaran, a schooner or a brigantine, cruising or racing sailboat built in the dawn of the twentieth century.

‘Vintage’ may be called the brand new boats, made “in the image and likeness” of old ships, as well as the real restored and refurbished yacht that had been used decades or even hundreds of years ago. Don’t be quick to say no to the modern made imitations: they look just like the ancient sail ships, but are much sturdier and more comfortable than their ancestors.

There is no need to name the advantages of this type of yachts: the connoisseurs of old time yachts wouldn’t think twice before buying one of them. Yachts built dozens or hundreds of years ago are very rarely put up for sale and if you’re lucky enough to find one of them, consider yourself a winner.

Vintage yachts, as well as the other yachts of your choice, can be purchased through the yacht broker. He will take care of all the necessary paperwork for the deal.

Vintage sailboats are reminiscent of the sailboats you see in old war or biblical movie scenes. The meaning of the term “vintage” is not necessarily set in stone as many people have different accepted meanings. Some accept the term “vintage” to refer to an item over 50 years old, but less than 100. In its original use, “vintage” was derived from the dating of a bottle of wine.

At Atlantic Ship and Yacht, Inc., we currently have two vintage sailboats for sale in our collection, a 91’ 11” (28.00 m) 2005, Custom, and a 75’ 7” (23.03 m) 1959, Sangermani. Because we have strong partnerships with large-scale yacht and sailboat manufacturers around the world, and we have been yacht brokers for over 50 years, we are the first to hear about and have access to owners wishing to put their vintage sailboats up for sale.

There are many advantages to coming to Shestakov Yacht Sales, Inc., to purchase your next vintage sailboat. In addition to our expertise in the yacht field and many years of experience, we offer additional services to our clients including assistance with the negotiating and closing of vessel purchase and sales transactions, providing legal support as well as financing and insurance, and even assistance with the hiring of crew-members, technical repairs, and spare parts delivery.

Whether you are looking to purchase or sell your vintage sailboat, we have the experience and knowledge to get the best deal and make your experience all the more enjoyable

Vintage Sailboats Search

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To learn more on the “Vintage Sailboats For Sale” or to get advice on how to buy or sell a yacht or get a great price for a yacht charter, please call: +1-954-274-4435 (USA)

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Sailboat Design Evolution

• By Dan Spurr
• Updated: June 10, 2020

You know the old saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same”? As a judge for the 2020 Boat of the Year (BOTY) competition at this past fall’s US Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, I helped inspect and test-sail 22 brand-new current-model sailboats. And I came away thinking, Man, these aren’t the boats I grew up on. In the case of new boats, the saying is wrong: “Nothing stays the same.”

OK, sure, today’s boats still have masts and sails, and the monohulls still have keels. But comparing the Hinckley Bermuda 40, considered by many to be one of the most beautiful and seaworthy boats of the 1960s, ’70s and even ’80s, with, say, the Beneteau First Yacht 53, which debuted at the show, is pretty much apples and oranges.

To get a better sense of what has happened to yacht design, boatbuilding and equipment over the past three, four or even six decades, let’s take a closer look.

Design Dilemmas

At the risk of oversimplification, since the fiberglass era began in the late 1940s and ’50s, the design of midsize and full-size yachts has transitioned from the Cruising Club of America rules, which favored all-around boats (racers had to have comfortable interiors) with moderate beam and long overhangs, to a succession of racing rules such as the IOR, IMS and IRC. All of them dictated proportions, and each required a measurer to determine its rating.

As frustration grew with each (no handicap rule is perfect), alternatives arose, such as the Performance Handicap Racing Fleet, which essentially based one’s handicap on past performance of the same boats in the same fleet. Also, one-design racing became more popular, which spread beyond identical small boats to full-size yachts, popularized in part by builders such as J/Boats and Carroll Marine. The ethos there was: Who cares about intricate rating rules? Let’s just go out and sail fast and have fun!

And that might best sum up the design briefs for the monohulls in this year’s BOTY competition: good all-around performance with comfortable, even luxurious accommodations. Gone are interiors that noted naval architect Robert Perry called “the boy’s cabin in the woods,” deeply influenced by stodgy British designers of the past century and their now-old-fashioned (though ­sea-friendly, one should note) concepts of a proper yacht, drawn and spec’d by the same guy who designed the hull, deck and rig. Today, dedicated European interior designers are specially commissioned to inject modernity, home fashion colors and textures, amenities, and more light—even dubiously large port lights in the topsides.

Overhangs, bow and stern, have virtually disappeared. Why? It seems largely a matter of style. Plus, the bonus of increased usable space below, not to mention a longer waterline length for a given length overall, which translates to more speed. Former naval architect for C&C Yachts and Hunter Marine, Rob Mazza, recalls that 19th-century pilot cutters and fishing schooners operating in offshore conditions generally had plumb bows, so in a sense, bow forms have come full circle.

Today’s boats are carrying their wide beam farther aft. Gone are the days of the cod’s head and mackerel tail. Wide, flat canoe bodies are decidedly fast off the wind, and might even surf, but they pay a comfort penalty upwind.

These boats have lighter displacement/length (D/L) ratios, which means flatter bottoms and less stowage and space for tanks. The Beneteau 53 has a D/L of 118, compared with the ­aforementioned Bermuda 40 of 373. Among entries in this year’s BOTY, the heaviest D/L belonged to the Elan Impression 45.1, with a D/L of 195. Recall that when Perry’s extremely popular Valiant 40 was introduced in 1975, the cruising establishment howled that its D/L of 267 was unsuitable for offshore sailing. My, how times have changed!

Perhaps more important, one must ask: “Have the requirements for a good, safe bluewater cruiser actually changed? Or are the majority of today’s production sailboats really best-suited for coastal cruising?”

The ramifications of lighter displacement don’t end there; designers must consider two types of stability: form and ultimate. As weight is taken out of the boat, beam is increased to improve form stability. And with tanks and machinery sometimes raised, ­ballast might have to be added and/or lowered to improve ultimate stability.

What else to do? Make the boat bigger all around, which also improves stability and stowage. Certainly the average cruising boat today is longer than those of the earlier decades, both wood and fiberglass. And the necessarily shallower bilges mean pumps must be in good shape and of adequate size. That’s not as immediate an issue with a deep or full keel boat with internal ballast and a deep sump; for instance, I couldn’t reach the bottom of the sump in our 1977 Pearson 365.

And how do these wide, shallow, lighter boats handle under sail? Like a witch when cracked off the wind. We saw this trend beginning with shorthanded offshore racers like those of the BOC Challenge round-the-world race in the early 1980s. As CW executive editor Herb McCormick, who has some experience in these boats, says, “They’ll knock your teeth out upwind.” But route planning allows designers to minimize time upwind, and cruisers can too…if you have enough room and distance in front of you. Coastal sailors, on the other hand, will inevitably find even moderate displacement boats more comfortable as they punch into head seas trying to make port.

A wide beam carried aft permits a number of useful advantages: the possibility of a dinghy garage under the cockpit on larger boats; easy access to a swim platform and a launched dinghy; and twin helms, which are almost a necessity for good sightlines port and starboard. Of course, two of anything always costs twice as much as one.

Some multihulls now have reverse bows. This retro styling now looks space-age. Very cool. But not everyone is sold on them. Canadian designer Laurie McGowan wrote in a Professional BoatBuilder opinion piece, “I saw through the fog of faddishness and realized that reverse bows are designed to fail—that is, to cause vessels to plunge when lift is required.” Mazza ­concurs: “Modern multihulls often have ­reverse stems with negative reserve buoyancy, and those are boats that really can’t afford to bury their bows.”

McGowan also cites another designer critiquing reverse bows for being noticeably wet and requiring alternative ground-­tackle arrangements. The latter also is problematic on plumb bows, strongly suggesting a platform or sprit to keep the anchor away from the stem.

Rigging Redux

If there was a boat in Annapolis with double lower shrouds, single uppers, and spreaders ­perpendicular to the boat’s centerline, I must have missed it. I believe every boat we sailed had swept-back spreaders and single lowers. An early criticism of extreme swept-back spreaders, as seen on some B&R rigs installed on Hunter sailboats, was that they prevented fully winging out the mainsail. The counter argument was that so many average sailors never go dead downwind in any case, and broad reaching might get them to their destinations faster anyway—and with their lunch sandwiches still in their stomachs.

That issue aside, the current rigging configuration may allow for better mainsail shape. But as Mazza points out, it’s not necessarily simple: “By sweeping the spreaders, the ‘transverse’ rigging starts to add fore-and-aft support to the midsection of the mast as well, reducing the need for the forward lowers. However, spreader sweep really does complicate rig tuning, especially if you are using the fixed backstay to induce headstay tension. Swept spreaders do make it easier to sheet non-overlapping headsails, and do better support the top of the forestay on fractional rigs.”

Certainly, the days of 150 ­percent genoas are over, replaced by 100 percent jibs that fit ­perfectly in the foretriangle, often as a self-tacker.

Another notable piece of rigging the judges found common was some form of lazy jacks or mainsail containment, from traditional, multiple lines secured at the mast and boom; to the Dutchman system with monofilament run through cringles sewn into the sail like a window blind; to sailmaker solutions like the Doyle StackPak. This is good news for all sailors, especially those who sail shorthanded on larger boats.

Construction Codas

Improvements in tooling—that is, the making of molds—are easily evident in today’s boats, particularly with deck details, and in fairness. That’s because many of today’s tools are designed with computer software that is extraordinarily accurate, and that accuracy is transferred flawlessly to big five-axis routers that sculpt from giant blocks of foam the desired shape to within thousandths of an inch. Gone are the days of lofting lines on a plywood floor, taken from a table of offsets, and then building a male plug with wood planks and frames. I once owned a 1960s-era sailboat, built by a reputable company, where the centerline of the cockpit was 7 degrees off the centerline of the deck—and they were one piece!

Additive processes, such as 3D printing, are quickly complementing subtractive processes like the milling described above. Already, a company in California has made a multipart mold for a 34-foot sailboat. Advantages include less waste materials.

Job training also has had an impact on the quality of fiberglass boats. There are now ­numerous schools across the country offering basic-skills training in composites that include spraying molds with gelcoat, lamination, and an introduction to vacuum bagging and infusion.

The patent on SCRIMP—­perhaps the first widely employed infusion process—has long ago expired, but many builders have adopted it or a similar process whereby layers of fiberglass are placed in the mold dry along with a network of tubes that will carry resin under vacuum pressure to each area of the hull. After careful placement, the entire mold is covered with a bag, a vacuum is drawn by a pump, and lines to the pot of resin are opened. If done correctly, the result is a more uniform fiberglass part with a more controlled glass-to-resin ratio than is achievable with hand lay-up. And as a huge bonus, there are no volatile organic compounds released into the workplace, and no need for expensive exhaust fans and ductwork. OSHA likes that, and so do the workers.

However, sloppy processes and glasswork can still be found on some new boats. Surveyor Jonathan Klopman—who is based in Marblehead, Massachusetts, but has inspected dozens, if not hundreds, of boats damaged by hurricanes in the Caribbean—tells me that he is appalled by some of the shoddy work he sees, such as balsa cores not vacuum-bagged to the fiberglass skins, resulting in delamination. But overall, I ­believe workmanship has improved, which is evident when you look behind backrests, inside lockers and into bilges, where the tidiness of glasswork (or lack thereof) is often exposed. Mechanical and electrical systems also have improved, in part due to the promulgation of standards by the American Boat & Yacht Council, and informal enforcement by insurance companies and surveyors.

We all know stainless steel isn’t entirely stainless, and that penetrations in the deck are potentially troublesome; allowing moisture to enter a core material, such as end-grain balsa, can have serious consequences. The core and fiberglass skins must be properly bonded and the kerfs not filled with resin. Beginning in the mid-1990s, some builders such as TPI, which built the early Lagoon cruising catamarans, began using structural adhesives, like Plexus, to bond the hull/deck joint rather than using dozens of metal fasteners. These methacrylate resins are now commonly used for this application and others. Klopman says it basically should be considered a permanent bond, that the two parts, in effect, become one. If you think a through-bolted hull/deck joint makes more sense because one could theoretically separate them for repairs, consider how likely that would ever be: not highly.

Fit-and-Finish

Wide transoms spawned an unexpected bonus; besides the possibility of a dinghy “garage” under the cockpit on larger boats, swim platforms are also possible. In more than one BOTY yacht, the aft end of the cockpit rotated down hydraulically to form the swim platform—pretty slick.

Teak decks are still around, despite their spurning for many years by owners who didn’t want the upkeep. In the 1960s and ’70s, they were considered a sign of a classy boat but fell from favor for a variety of reasons: maintenance, weight and threat of damaging the deck core (the bung sealant wears out and water travels down the fastener through the top fiberglass skin into the core). Specialty companies that supply builders, like Teakdecking Systems in Florida, use epoxy resin to bond their product to decks rather than metal fasteners. And the BOTY judges saw several synthetic faux-teak products that are difficult to distinguish from real teak—the Esthec installed on the Bavaria C50 being one example.

LPG tanks no longer have to be strapped to a stanchion or mounted in a deck box because decks now often incorporate molded lockers specifically designed for one or two tanks of a given size. To meet ABYC standards, they drain overboard. In tandem with these lockers, some boats also have placements or mounts for barbecues that are located out of the wind, obviating the common and exposed stern-rail mount.

Low-voltage LED lights are replacing incandescent bulbs in nearly all applications; ­improvements in technology have increased brightness (lumens), so some even meet requirements for the range of navigation lights. Advances in battery technology translate to longer life, and depending on type, faster charging. And networked digital switching systems for DC-power ­distribution also are becoming more common.

Last, I was surprised at how many expensive yachts exhibited at Annapolis had nearly the least-expensive toilets one can buy. Considering the grief caused by small joker valves and poorly sealed hand pumps, one would think builders might install ­systems that incorporate higher-quality parts or vacuum ­flushing, and eliminate the minimal hosing that famously permeate odors.

Dan Spurr is an author, editor and cruising sailor who has served on the staffs of Cruising World, Practical Sailor and Professional Boatbuilder. His many books include Heart of Glass , a history of fiberglass boatbuilding and boatbuilders .

Other Design Observations

Here are a few other (surprising) items gleaned from several days of walking the docks and sailing the latest models:

• Multihulls have gained acceptance, though many ­production models are aimed more at the charter trade than private ownership for solitary cruising. You’d have to have been into boats back in the ’60s and ’70s to remember how skeptical and alarmist the sailing establishment was of two- and three-hull boats: “They’ll capsize and then you’ll drown.” That myth has been roundly debunked. Back then, the only fiberglass-­production multihulls were from Europe, many from Prout, which exported a few to the US. There are still plenty of European builders, particularly from France, but South Africa is now a major player in the catamaran market.
• The French builders now own the world market, which of course includes the US. Other than Catalina, few US ­builders are making a similar impact. In terms of volume, Groupe Beneteau is the largest builder in the world, and they’ve expanded way beyond sailboats into powerboats, runabouts and trawlers.
• Prices seem to have outpaced inflation, perhaps because, like with automobiles, where everyone wants air conditioning, electric windows and automatic transmissions, today’s boats incorporate as standard equipment items that used to be optional. Think hot- and cold-pressure water, pedestal-wheel steering, and full suites of sailing instruments and autopilots.
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The Top 10 Famous Classic Ships in History

18th may 2023 by samantha wilson.

“The more you know of your History, the more liberated you are.” – Maya Angelou.

Every ship that travels, has a story to tell. More the people on it, more are the stories and many more are the lessons we learn from their experiences. Because that’s what history does: it informs us about all the victories and failures of the past, so that we live a wiser life. Most of the beautiful crafts ever built over hundreds of years are historic and it lets us enjoy, investigate and study their brilliant past. Each failure was a stepping stone to success for the next craft and each one is a classic in its own way. If classic cars are worth gazing, classic ships are astounding and amazing. The feeling is like an obsession that cannot be put in words and one cannot erase its image from their memory. The timeless vessels are very attractive, beautiful and in a few cases still functional and hold the mysteries of ages. They are the accumulation of maritime secrets and old-world workmanship.  

Here in this article, we present you the top 10 famous ships of all time. There are many out there, but these ten names out of the many stand out with its own uniqueness. 

Santa Maria

Hms victory, uss constitution, flying cloud, rms lusitania, rms titanic, uss arizona, battleship bismarck.

Photo credit: Wikipeda

Launch year: 1460

Builder: Juan de la Cosa

Length: 24 m

“You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore”, said the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus who sailed in a tiny, slow paced, hideous Spanish ship named Santa Maria from Spain to the “New World” in 1492. The vessel earned a permanent place in the history of ships and in the same year on Christmas Day, it ran aground. But not all was lost, another famous ship named La Navidad was built with its salvaged wood.

Photo credit: Encyclopedia Britanica

Launch year: 1607

Builder: Christopher Jones  

Length: 33 m

The ones who trust the magic of ‘beginnings’ are the ones who have the courage to put a full stop to their suffering. And that was how the Pilgrims set out to start afresh in the New World, wishing for a better life. The cultural icon in the history of the United States - Mayflower, carried the English Separatists and Puritans (Pilgrims), from Plymouth, a port on the southern coast of England to the other side of Atlantic - Massachusetts, their “New World.” This journey made the Mayflower an icon of European colonization. The Mayflower crew spent the winter with the pilgrims, living on the ship, and sailed back to England on April 5, 1621 and arrived on May 6, 1621.

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Launch year: 1765

Builder: Chatham Dockyard

Length: 57 m

The HMS Victory is regarded as one of the greatest wooden warships ever built, to serve both the French and Spanish fleets in the last decades of the eighteenth century, and is still commissioned by the Royal Navy. She is best known for her role as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 where it’s flags gave Nelson’s famous signal “England expects that every man will do his duty.” After the end of Napoleonic War, it was restored heavily by the British government in 1922 and began serving as a museum ship in Portsmouth, England.

Launch year: 1797

Builder: Edmund Hartt’s shipyard, Boston

Length: 93 m

It was the longest serving battleship in the US Navy and world’s oldest commissioned naval vessel - United States Constitution was named by George Washington, the first president himself after the United States Constitution. The main duties of the USS Constitution were to protect American merchant ships against French fleets and to fight Barbary pirates.

She gained the biggest fame during the war against Great Britain in 1812 when she managed to capture several merchant ships and defeated five British warships. The fame and the nickname earned after defeating HMS Guerriere, ‘Old Ironsides’, helped her from not being scrapped after the war. The “Old Ironsides” serves as a museum ship in Boston, Massachusetts.   

Launch year: 1820

Builder: Woolwich Naval Dockyard

Length: 28 m

Charles Darwin says, “It’s not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one that is most responsive to change”. And so, he set out on a voyage in HMS Beagle, the British naval vessel, to South America and around the world (1831–36) that lead to the beliefs we hold today along with religious theories. He gained fame by publishing his diary journal, best known as- ‘The Voyage of the Beagle’, and his discoveries played an important role in the origination of his scientific theories on evolution and natural selection.

Launch year: 1851

Builder: Donald McKay of East Boston, Massachusetts

Length: 69 m

Never wait for a perfect moment, take the moment and make it perfect. That’s what Eleanor Creesy, wife of Josiah Perkins Creesy did on Flying Cloud that set the world sailing record for the fastest passage between New York and San Francisco in 89 days and 8 hours. She was the ship's navigator, a position never heard of for a woman in the mid-19th century. The ship held this record for over 100 years, from 1854 to 1989.

Launch year: 1906

Builder: John Brown & Co‎, ‎Clydebank‎, Scotland

Length: 240 m

At the start of the World War I, the United States remained an immobile presence, but the destruction of Lusitania gave way to the American entry into the war, changing the future of the world history. The Lusitania, owned by the Cunard Line, was built to compete for the highly lucrative transatlantic passenger trade. Although luxurious, the Lusitania was noted more for its speed. It won the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic crossing, averaging nearly 24 knots.

Launch year: 1911

Builder: Harland and Wolff shipyard for the British Shipping Company White Star Line

Length: 269 m

The unsinkable that became unforgettable. The RMS Titanic was the product of powerful strife among competitors in the first half of the 20th century. It sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912, off the coast of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic after sideswiping an iceberg during its maiden voyage. Of the 2,240 passengers and crew on board, more than 1,500 lost their lives in the disaster. It ranked among the most sophisticated and luxurious ships of that time with one of the most devastating maritime disasters in history. Designed to be the epitome of style, comfort, and luxury, the passengers aboard Titanic were some of the wealthiest people in the world. And over a thousand emigrants from Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia too, seeking a new life in North America. In 1985, the wreckage of the Titanic was located on the floor of the North Atlantic. After this tragic accident, more safety-improvement measures were established, like the number of lifeboats on board a ship should reflect the entire number of passengers.

Launch year: 1915

Builder: Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York

Length: 185 m

The USS Arizona battleship was one of the U.S. Navy’s most heavily armed vessels and the largest ship in navy’s fleet. Arizona’s return to its base at Pearl Harbor was on 12-06-1941, next morning, approximately at 7:55 am, Japan launched a surprise attack on the naval base. For nearly two hours, more than 350 Japanese aircraft dropped bombs on U.S. vessels. Around 8:10 am, Arizona was struck by a 1,760-pound projectile, it reportedly lifted the battleship out of the water. Even while sinking, the ship was struck by more bombs. While approximately 334 crew members survived the death toll on Arizona was 1,177. Arizona was among four battleships that sank during the attack. The attack unified the American public and on 12-08-1941, the United States declared war on Japan and effectively entered World War II. The ship could not be salvaged, but remains as a paradigm in Pearl Harbor as a war memorial, which is visited by millions of people from all over the world.  

Launch year: 1939

Builder: Blohm & Voss shipyard, Hamburg

Length: 251 m

Battleship Bismarck, named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, was the first of two Bismarck-class battleships built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. It is considered as one of the largest battleships ever built by Germany whose design was finalised by Hitler’s Navy after they rose from the ruins of the First World War. It was almost the length of three football grounds put together with seven decks above the waterline and seven below it. The biggest Battleship Bismarck was set to fight the Second World War, aiming at taking control over the open waters along with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, raid Allied shipping from North America to Great Britain. Over nine tense days in the year 1941, after many attacks, Bismarck suffered sufficient damage from three hits that forced an end to the raiding mission. The dramatic battle crippled life swallowed the majestic Battleship Bismarck. In no time, the short and brave attempt by the German masterpiece created ripples within the British. In 1989, American oceanographer Robert Ballard located the wreck of the Bismarck.

In a world full of trends, remain a classic – Keep sailing.   Rightboat has 100’s of beautiful classic boats and yachts listed for sale.  Explore a rich and historic look back at some of the most beautiful craft ever built over hundreds of years.  Start your Boats for Sale search today...

Written By: Samantha Wilson

Samantha Wilson has spent her entire life on and around boats, from tiny sailing dinghies all the way up to superyachts. She writes for many boating and yachting publications, top charter agencies, and some of the largest travel businesses in the industry, combining her knowledge and passion of boating, travel and writing to create topical, useful and engaging content.

More from: Samantha Wilson

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28 Historic Ships That You Can Actually Sail Aboard

The Brig Niagara under full sail, off of South Bass Island, Ohio on Lake Erie. by Lance Woodworth ( CC BY )

History Courses

There's a romance and adventurousness to old-time sailing you just don't get from chic modern cruise liners . Thankfully, the travel industry provides plenty of opportunities to recreate and learn about the experience of being on a wooden ship at sea, albeit without the same dangers and isolation faced by sailors in the old days. We review some of the day and overnight boat tours and ships-turned-museums giving tourists a chance to live out their nostalgic seafaring fantasies. While many costs have risen even as trips are shorter and services trimmed, that's not universal, and we've noted where prices are down from years past.

Related: The Best Places in America to Travel Back in Time

American West | Portland, Oregon

The American West , formerly the Queen of the West, is a nostalgic paddlewheel ship that retraces portions of the Lewis and Clark voyage along the Pacific Northwest's majestic Columbia and Snake Rivers. Run by American Cruise Lines, this seven-day Northwest cruise starts in Portland and encompasses natural and historic landmarks such as Multnomah Falls, Mount St. Helens, and Fort Clatsop, where America's most famous expeditioners rode out the winter of 1806. Rates starting at $2,455 — a price drop from before the coronavirus pandemic — include lodging, dining, and onshore guided experiences.

Related:   Private Islands and Resorts Owned by Cruise Lines

Adventure | Gloucester, Massachusetts

Launched in 1926, the schooner Adventure  hauled in more than $4 million worth of fish before retiring in 1953 as the Atlantic's last dory trawler. Now restored to active condition, it serves as a mobile symbol of Massachusetts' maritime heritage, a living history classroom for students, and host to private events and open community sails in season. Tickets to learn about the vessel's history and operations firsthand are available May through October and cost $49, another price drop from 2020.

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Star of India | San Diego

The world's oldest active sailing ship, the Star of India  was built in 1863 and traversed the globe 21 times between Great Britain, India, and New Zealand before serving the West Coast's salmon cannery industry. Visitors can get the inside scoop on this history and what life onboard was like with a $20 admission to the San Diego Maritime Museum. Even more experiential learning opportunities are available with the four-hour on-the-water adventures , costing between $59 and $99, aboard either the Gold Rush-era Californian or 16th century replica San Salvador.

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SS American Victory | Tampa, Florida

For $12 per person, the American Victory Ship and Museum  gives full access to one of America's last operational World War II merchant ships. That's nine decks complete with crew cabins, captain's quarters, radio and weaponry rooms, a three-level cargo hold, and much more. Docent-guided tours offer more to learn about the rare artifacts and military decorations onboard, as well as why merchant marines are considered the "unsung heroes" of many conflicts. The ship also hosts a couple of Relive History cruises every spring and fall, wherein participants enjoy live entertainment and traditional maritime demonstrations while sailing through Tampa Bay.

Christeen | Oyster Bay, New York

Built in 1883, the nation's oldest oyster sloop now takes passengers on educational tours of Oyster Bay and Cold Spring harbor. After surviving numerous hurricanes and Nor'easters dredging up the turn of the century's chief fishery product, the one-masted Christeen  now provides a unique venue for learning more about both the maritime history and current environmental conditions of Long Island Sound.

Elissa | Galveston, Texas

The official Tall Ship of Texas, this three-masted barque was built at the end of the age of sail but still lasted well enough to become one of the world's longest continuously sailed vessels. The Elissa is also open for self-guided tours for $10 per adult.

U.S. Brig Niagara | Erie, Pennsylvania

The U.S. Brig Niagara  is a replica of an 1813 warship that serves as both a historical artifact and sail-training classroom. While accessible for most of the year as part of the Erie Maritime Museum (admission cost $10), the Niagara also goes out on the Great Lakes for four-hour public day sails costing $85 and hosts two-week seamanship apprentice programs for would-be sailors of high school age and over in summer. The Lettie G. Howard, a National Historic Landmark that dates back to 1893, also hosts 1½ hour sailing trips.

The Schooner Pride | Charleston, South Carolina

Modeled after 18th century coastal trading ships, the Schooner Pride  evokes the peak days of Charleston's harbor trade with daily public sailings. Lasting 90 minutes each, they offer afternoon dolphin sails ($50 per adult), sunset sails ($75), and an assortment of others. While not narrated, passengers are encouraged to ask crew members for more context on the area's maritime history and marine wildlife, or for the chance to help rig the sails.

Related: Free or Cheap Things to Do in Charleston

Creole Queen | New Orleans

This list wouldn't be complete without a paddleboat tour along the Big Muddy. In New Orleans, the Creole Queen  offers twice daily tours with a local historian narrator, covering the city's 300-year heritage through landmark stops such as the Chalmette Battlefield and Jean Lafitte National Historical Park. Prices start at $39 per adult for the three-hour experience, with a $20 surcharge for bottomless mimosas along the way.

SS John W. Brown | Baltimore

The SS John W Brown  is one of two remaining operational "Liberty Ships" that served the U.S. Merchant Marine in World War II. Preserved in the Baltimore harbor, she now hosts several annual events that whisk passengers off the land and into the 1940s, imparting the duties of a merchant seaman in their authentic quarters in between USO-style entertainment and aircraft flybys. Four-hour or weekendlong experiences can be booked in for $50 and $1.000, respectively.

The Pilgrim | Dana Point, California

As well as a full-sized replica of the circa 1825 fur-trading brig immortalized by the novel "Two Years Before the Mast," the Pilgrim  is the Ocean Institute of Dana Point's "largest classroom," hosting living history programs and overnight field trips for thousands of students each year. For the rest of the public, it features prominently in the annual Tall Ships Festival each September, and hosts weekend open house (with $15 admission) wherein period-appropriate docents impart sea shanties, nautical lore, rigging techniques, and other tidbits about the golden age of sailing.

USS Constitution | Boston

The world's oldest commissioned warship still afloat, the USS Constitution , or "Old Ironsides," played a major role fending off British naval forces in the War of 1812. Now part of Boston's Freedom Trail of distinguished historical sites, the top three decks are open and free to visit throughout the year at the Charlestown Navy Yard, where active duty Navy personnel are stationed to give oral presentations on the ship's life and role in American history every 30 minutes.

Schooner Alliance | Yorktown, Virginia

Modeled after early colonial sailing vessels that traded with the Powhatan Indians, the Schooner Alliance  recalls America's infancy with sailings through Virginia's "Historic Triangle," the birthplace of our democracy, including the Revolutionary War's Yorktown Battlefield and Victory Monument. The two-hour sightseeing cruises run daily from April through November with an admission cost of $41 for adults or $31 for children, who may prefer the themed Pirate Adventure cruises instead.

Queen Mary 2

There are plenty of cruise ships sailing the seas today, but the Queen Mary 2  is the only remaining ocean liner, which were once the primary mode of transportation across oceans from the mid-19th century onward. This retro classic holds more than 2,500 passengers and 1,200 crew members, like its own civilization at sea, complete with a vast library, bars, restaurants, luxurious staterooms, and a spa club. Guests can experience all the shared challenges of life out at sea and the civilized trappings of the turn-of-the-century before coming to port like the socialites and immigrants of yesteryear. Two-night cruise itineraries within Europe cost as little as $399, though trips also rise into the thousands.

Star Clippers

The Star Clipper and Star Flyer  are a pair of modernized clippers, the common 19th-century merchant sailing ship, which ferry up to 170 cruise passengers across the seas in retro style. With sailings from the Caribbean and Panama Canal to the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia, their voyages combine the evocative historic decor of tri-masted teak decks, antique paintings, mahogany railings, and an Edwardian-style library with more modern luxuries such as a tropical-themed bar and two onboard swimming pools.

The Jolly Roger | Grand Cayman

Though modeled after Christopher Columbus' galleon the Nina, the experience onboard the Jolly Roger  is more escapist than historic, evoking family-friendly pirate lore during chartered sails along the shores of Grand Cayman. Whether snorkeling, watching the sunset, or blasting music, tourists can enjoy stunning views along with live entertainment from the crew and unlimited quantities of fruit and rum punch. Charters start at $895.

Eye of the Wind | Caribbean & Mediterranean

An internationally certified sail-training vessel, the Eye of the Wind  navigates between Mediterranean and North Sea ports each summer and Caribbean ports each winter. Along the way, intimate groups of 12 passengers learn how to rig and take control of the 111-year-old topsail schooner, which may be recognizable for its featured role in films such as "The Blue Lagoon." Cruises range from five to 19 nights in duration starting at $1,459 per person.

Rio Amazonas | Iquitos, Peru

Built in 1899, this restored steamboat will make passengers feel like a Victorian-era explorer, cruising down South America's most iconic body of water during the "Rubber Boom" of the late 19th and early 20th century. Along with the 1876 Clavero, also housed at the Museum of Historic Boats, the Rio Amazonas  takes regular five-day cruises, featuring wildlife viewing, naturalist lectures, and classic books on Amazonian history in a retro historic setting outfitted with useful modern comforts such as air conditioning. Costs start at $1,249 per passenger.

USS Alabama | Mobile, Alabama

Built in 1940, this 45,000-ton battleship  saw action across the North Atlantic and South Pacific with a crew of 2,500 Americans before settling down as a National Historic Landmark on the Gulf Coast. For a $18 general admission ticket, visitors gain access to the enormous gun turrets and below-deck living quarters of the "Mighty A," as well as the plane and artillery collections — not to mention America's oldest publicly displayed submarine — also in the grounds of Battleship Memorial Park.

USS Cobia | Manitowoc, Wisconsin

The USS Cobia submarine  sank 13 Japanese vessels in World War II, including two that proved crucial to the Allied victory at Iwo Jima. Restored to its 1945 condition, it now serves as a submarine memorial and centerpiece of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. A general admission fee of $20 not only lets you tour the preserved torpedo rooms and other quarters, but also includes a "Below the Surface" exhibit that recreates an actual depth-charging battle based on the ship's patrol log.

USS Constellation | Baltimore

The USS Constellation was the last sail-only warship built by the U.S. Navy, which served in the African Slave Trade Patrol before being drafted to guard the U.S. merchant ships in the Mediterranean against attack by Confederate ships in the Civil War. As part of the Baltimore harbor's world-class Historic Ships collection, the Constellation has four decks open to explore, with uniformed crew members offering historic context. They also host regular live firings of the Parrott rifle and kid-friendly tours about the "Powder Monkeys," who were as young as 11 and responsible for manning the artillery guns. General admission is $20.

Related: The Best Things To Do In Baltimore

USS Hornet | Alameda, California

This aircraft carrier  is a museum unto itself, paying tribute to its history in World War II's Pacific theater and as the recovery ship for NASA's early Apollo missions. Included with a $20 adult entry ticket are hourlong docent tours through meticulously restored living quarters and control rooms, a test command module and similar space-race artifacts, military jets and helicopters in the hangar decks, and other in-depth history exhibits.

Charles W. Morgan | Mystic, Connecticut

Dating to 1841 with an 80-year seafaring career, the Morgan  is second only to Old Ironsides as America's oldest ship still afloat. A relic of New England's commercial whaling era, it now serves as a flagship for the Mystic Seaport Museum, occasionally sailing between ports to raise awareness of maritime history and issues of ocean conservation. Still lined with enormous try-pots for converting blubber into whale oil, the ship's decks are available to tour for $27 per adult.

Arthur Foss | Seattle

Well before starring in MGM's 1933 blockbuster Tugboat Annie, this 1889 tugboat towed ships across the Columbia River shoals and to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. Now the oldest floating vessel in the Pacific Northwest, it's one of several museum ships at Seattle's Northwest Seaport  available for public tours and vocational training. For a full boat rental of $700 per night, one can spend the night learning about the ship and its place in maritime history. (Divide it by the nine bunks and it's $78 per person.) She also hosts chantey sings and onboard happy hours in summertime.

USS Cairo | Vicksburg, Mississippi

One of seven ironclad warships built for the Civil War, the USS Cairo  captured a Confederate fort along the Mississippi before becoming the first ever vessel sunk by remote torpedo. Preserved for more than 100 years by the mud of the Yazoo River, the gunboat was eventually recovered and displayed at Vicksburg National Military Park, along with more than a thousand artifacts offering a glimpse into what life was like onboard. The park costs $20 to visit by car or $10 by foot and includes an accompanying museum and summer ranger programs to supplement a ship walkthrough.

USS Silversides | Muskegon, Michigan

The USS Silversides  sank the third-most ships of any Allied submarine during World War II, and the museum named in its honor now offers a window into what life was like onboard during the conflict. While standard daily admission is $17.50, groups of 20 or more can pay $35 to $40 apiece to stay overnight in the same berths once occupied by U.S. Navy sailors.

Rhode Island Bay Cruises | North Kingstown, Rhode Island

For this cruise, the boat isn't the historic attraction so much as the sights it sails past. In a 90-minute passage  through Narragansett Bay, passengers can take in the opulent Gilded Age mansions of Newport, the nation's second largest masonry fort, and many prime examples of classic wooden ships. The $35 advance ticket takes you past 60 miles of coastline, with insights along the way provided by well-known local historian Arthur Strauss.

So long as you're not planning to cruise U.S. waters, you'll be happy to learn that this  four-masted schooner  is still cruising. Built by a Wall Street tycoon in 1931, the windjammer now hosts up to 64 guests in an old-timey atmosphere of marble fireplaces, teak benches, and antique nautical instruments. Knowledgeable crew members are also happy to answer questions about the Sea Cloud's eventful history, while a live pianist and sea shanty choir provide regular entertainment on the promenade deck.

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