<P> Until the 1950s, almost all yachts were made of wood or steel, but a much wider range of materials is used today . Although wood hulls are still in production, the most common construction material is fibreglass, followed by aluminium, steel, carbon fibre, and ferrocement (rarer because of insurance difficulties). The use of wood has changed and is no longer limited to traditional board - based methods, but also include modern products such as plywood, veneers, skinned balsa and epoxy resins . Wood is mostly used by hobbyists or wooden boat purists when building an individual boat . Apart from materials like carbon fibre and aramid fibre, spruce veneers laminated with epoxy resins have the best weight - to - strength ratios of all boatbuilding materials . </P> <P> Sailing yachts can range in overall length (Length Over All--LOA) from about 6 metres (20 ft) to well over 30 metres (98 ft), where the distinction between a yacht and a ship becomes blurred . Most privately owned yachts fall in the range of about 7 metres (23 ft) - 14 metres (46 ft); the cost of building and keeping a yacht rises quickly as length increases . In the United States, sailors tend to refer to smaller yachts as sailboats, while referring to the general sport of sailing as yachting . Within the limited context of sailboat racing, a yacht is any sailing vessel taking part in a race, regardless of size . </P> <P> Many modern racing sail yachts have efficient sail - plans, most notably the Bermuda rig, that allow them to sail close to the wind . This capability is the result of a sail - plan and hull design oriented towards this capability . </P> <P> Day sailing yachts are usually small, at under 6 metres (20 ft) in length . Sometimes called sailing dinghies, they often have a retractable keel, centreboard, or daggerboard . Most day sailing yachts do not have a cabin, as they are designed for hourly or daily use and not for overnight journeys . They may have a' cuddy' cabin, where the front part of the hull has a raised solid roof to provide a place to store equipment or to offer shelter from wind or spray . </P>

When does a motor boat become a yacht