Why you want it called an H40, or even H37
Consider a hypothetical builder who makes the Howdy 44, using a hull that is 44'9" long. The LOA, counting anchor rollers, is a smidgeon over 46'. Another builder, working with a hull exactly the same size, calls their boat the Wonder 47. Undoubtedly, there is a marketing reason for this. Maybe the new owner of the Wonder 47 sticks his chest out a little further because he owns a 47 foot boat rather than a 44 foot boat. He will also hold his wallet out a little more. When he gets his bottom done, he will pay for a 47 foot hull. Yards don't pull out a tape. If the model is a Wonder 47, then it's 47 feet. Some marinas charge by the boat length. Others will decide, on the basis of boat length, whether you can squeeze into their 40' slips, or whether you need their 50' slips. You can argue all this, but most yards and marinas are set in their ways. So I'll take a SmartBuilder 40, which is 40' 11" on deck, measured from the inside of the stemhead to the aft edge of the cockpit, whose LOH is 44' when you count the swim platform, and whose LOA is 47', if you count the bowsprit. I'll stick out my chest when I sail past the Wonder 47, in my "smaller" boat. And afterwords, I'll have an extra margarita with the money I save by having a "smaller" boat.
