Name placement

Oct 21, 2012
88
Macgregor 22 Lake Texoma Tx
I am going to put a name on my boat is it best on the sides or on the stern
 

Tim R.

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May 27, 2004
3,626
Caliber 40 Long Range Cruiser Portland, Maine
Personal preference. Also depends on where it fits. We have a swim platform so a name and hailing port do not fit. We have our name on each stern quarter and the hailing port on the transom.
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,982
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
If you can put it on your stern, it keeps the hull clean and helps it look longer. My excuse...:)
 

Alan K

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Feb 22, 2004
54
Hunter 380 Norwalk, CT
If your boat is documented, you will need to follow USCG rules for placement, size, and font.
 
Oct 6, 2007
1,119
Hunter H30 1982 Chicago IL
I agree with Stu, the hull seems to look longer when the sides are clean.

Mine has gradually migrated from the side to the transom as the attached four photos show. When I bought the boat in 2006 it was on the side and arched. Everything wrong about that. From 2007 thru 2013, I had it a bit farther back on the sides and flat with the same font, but the transom always seemed a bit empty with just the port of call. So last spring I moved the name to the transom with a more classic font (Copperplate) which I like much better.

I had been worried the swim ladder would be too much of an obstruction for the name to be legible, but two graphic designer friends convinced me otherwise. I also wanted to get the graphics off the side so I could hang my fenders on the dock rather than on the boat, which I did not think I could do without damaging vinyl graphics on the side.

I guess another point of this would be that if you use vinyl graphics rather than paint, it's relatively inexpensive and easy to change when you want to.

One more thing…When I was looking for inspiration on fonts and styles, and knew I wanted a more classic look, my graphic designer friends told me to go look at wine bottle labels. It actually helped.
 

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Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
I have one name on the transom, and then on the sides, somewhat forward of the beam so they don't get messed up on pilings. I used a wave- like font.
 
Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
feel free to put it wherever you want, just remember to make the name as big as the space allows... it looks better that way.

I wish I would have made the name bigger here...
 

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Aug 15, 2014
114
Catalina 36 Deale, MD
So last spring I moved the name to the transom with a more classic font (Copperplate) which I like much better. I had been worried the swim ladder would be too much of an obstruction for the name to be legible, but two graphic designer friends convinced me otherwise.
The lettering on your transom looks great. I hope you don't mind if I follow your font and layout.
Still working with the Admiral on the new name, but we have all winter to figure that one out.
 
Feb 5, 2009
255
Gloucester 20 Kanawha River, Winfield, WV
Here are the REGS for naming vessels both state & documented:
Hmm. My state registration numbers are outlined, shadowed, AND rounded. Makes me feel like a bit of a pirate now that I've read the regs...
 
Oct 6, 2007
1,119
Hunter H30 1982 Chicago IL
The lettering on your transom looks great. I hope you don't mind if I follow your font and layout. Still working with the Admiral on the new name, but we have all winter to figure that one out.
Don't mind at all. That's a great compliment. Thankyou.
FYI - I used Boat U.S. for my new graphics. They have a very nice on-line design tool.
 
Oct 26, 2008
6,239
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
Stern only for me, too.

I agree with Stu, the hull seems to look longer when the sides are clean.

Mine has gradually migrated from the side to the transom as the attached four photos show. When I bought the boat in 2006 it was on the side and arched. Everything wrong about that. From 2007 thru 2013, I had it a bit farther back on the sides and flat with the same font, but the transom always seemed a bit empty with just the port of call. So last spring I moved the name to the transom with a more classic font (Copperplate) which I like much better.

I had been worried the swim ladder would be too much of an obstruction for the name to be legible, but two graphic designer friends convinced me otherwise. I also wanted to get the graphics off the side so I could hang my fenders on the dock rather than on the boat, which I did not think I could do without damaging vinyl graphics on the side.

I guess another point of this would be that if you use vinyl graphics rather than paint, it's relatively inexpensive and easy to change when you want to.

One more thing…When I was looking for inspiration on fonts and styles, and knew I wanted a more classic look, my graphic designer friends told me to go look at wine bottle labels. It actually helped.
I agree with you, plus your boat has such nice, classic, beautiful lines that graphics really just detract.

I wanted the name on the stern to be really bold but I didn't want "Lake Hopatcong NJ" to overwhelm the bottom so I went with lower case.

I tried the graphic on the side, but it was too cheesy and I didn't like it so the vinyl was easy to remove.
 

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Joe

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Jun 1, 2004
8,161
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
Wishy washy comment here... but garrulous, scripted names on the sides are unattractive. A well spaced, efficient font that is easy to read but doesn't detract from the boat's profile is quite acceptable to me. Although I prefer transom mounted boat names and hailing ports, it really depends the on the transom. Sugar scooped, walk through transoms, boats with wind vanes, dinghy davits and other such hardware... leave little visible space for a name.

I advocate looking at as many examples as possible.. especially boats similar to yours... I also like the idea of mocking up your boat on a computer graphics program to experiment with font, color, placement etc.

It's a big decision, don't rush it. I removed the ugly scripted graphic from my boat's sides long ago.. and have never replaced them. Just a small "Impulse" "San Diego" on the transom.
 
Oct 6, 2007
1,119
Hunter H30 1982 Chicago IL
I agree with you, plus your boat has such nice, classic, beautiful lines that graphics really just detract. I wanted the name on the stern to be really bold but I didn't want "Lake Hopatcong NJ" to overwhelm the bottom so I went with lower case. I tried the graphic on the side, but it was too cheesy and I didn't like it so the vinyl was easy to remove.
Scott,

Your port of call is a mouthful. Good call using lower case. I'm technically in violation of the regs by omitting the state abbreviation, but if a person on Lake Michigan doesn't know what state Chicago is in, then they probably wouldn't know what "IL" means anyway.

BTW, what is going on in those first two images? Sure looks nasty.