Tents and Marquees

marquees-pavillion-3Event Tents, such as wedding tents are used when you want to make a splendid outdoor scene. They are generally structures installed at a location for a period of time.

Why A Tent?
Commercial Tents are used as protection from the sun, rain or a gathering place. They can make a stunning and creative atmosphere for any event.

Tent Rentals
Tents can be rented or leased for a day, a weekend, weeks, months, etc. For one or two day events, the Tents are usually installed a few days before the event, depending on scheduling and weather, and remain until a few days after the event. Many rentals are quoted for the entire week, allowing for time to set up and design the interior and exterior. Some Tents are built for exceedingly long-term events and have been installed and remain installed for years.

What Kind of Tent Should I Rent?
Tent rental companies come in all sizes – from small-sized companies with just a few Tents to exceedingly large-sized companies – carrying dozens of several sizes and styles of Tents. Some general rental companies rent from tent rental companies to accommodate their client’s needs.

You may know you want to use a standard Tent for your event, or your event planner may already have in mind to use a Tent. You have options! There are lots of other fabulous
structures and Tent styles out there. Some are unique and make a statement of their own. Ask the rental company you’re working with for a list of the type styles they have on hand.

Usually, the different types of Tents available in most companies are (the names vary depending of the company):

Folding Tents Easy and fast to use and always in demand. Very popular, because usually is the less expensive tent. Fast, flexible, cost effective and long lasting.

They are used by:

  • Corporate brands across most industries
  • Government & Council buyers
  • SME business marketers
  • Franchisees
  • Agricultural exhibitors
  • Emergency services & community groups
  • Folding Tents create brand exposure opportunities.
  • You can reach your audience at the right time, in the right place with the right message.

Inflatable Tents An exciting and entertaining alternative Tent. Easy & fast to set up. Be sure they have removable printed roof because in that way you can share the investment with other licences.

What Size Tent Will I Need?

The size of Tent depends on a few factors:

1. The number of guests you expect
2. Layout or seating arrangements or the style of event:

* Reception with what type of tables?
* Speaker engagement with what type of seating?
* Will you need a dance floor?
* Will you need display areas for your products?

If you are interested in a Tent, you can expect to need about 2,000 – 2,500 square feet for 200-seated guests. That could mean a 40 x 60 size Tent (Always ask the Tent rental vendor directly and they’ll give you the best dataabout the size of Tent you’ll need).

Therefore, the key rule is; know what you are going to use your tent for. The choice of tents is astounding, almost on par with the choice of cars that you can buy.

So if you need a tent for the family BBQ, for example, your needs are fairly basic
and your budget may be tight. Look for cheap tents that offers a waterproof Polyester roof and a solid warranty for under $600.

If you need a tent for a school or sports club you will need a selection of sizes, and colours. Most plain colour Tents s range between $995- $2900. If you are keen to advertise yourself, you can have your names printed for around $150-$300. Printing logos usually be a little more expensive.

In the last 5 years, portable Tents have become important to businesses for their marketing. The essential need for these buyers is a prominent and quality reproduction of their logo. Sign written or printed Tents can be as boring as a website address or they can be a design extravaganza.

Remember, if it is for commercial purposes, the aim is to build recognition of your company with your printed Tent. Printed corporate Tents range in price from $1500- $4000. Good ones will really catch your eye.

Once you have decided on what sort of buyer you are and how you are going to use your Tents, a good Tents company will offer you a choice of frames, a warranty of between 3-5 years and help with formulating the printing-if you need it.

For more information about tents, contact Extreme Marquees. We have a range of cheap tents, for all sorts of home and business applications.

New Zealand’s Top Holiday Cities

New Zealand has a majestic array of breathtaking landscapes. Like huge mountain ranges, majestic coastlines, dense rainforests, deep fiords, snow capped mountains and steaming volcanoes. These picturesque wonders have all made New Zealand an appealing destination for all kinds of holidays.

Awesome travel packages and holiday specials are available on quality accommodation in modern city hotels and luxurious wilderness lodges at reduced prices. Among the top holiday destinations in New Zealand, Queenstown, Christchurch and Auckland would definitely be there. Travel Online is a outstanding online specialist travel operator and provides astounding tourist services for New Zealand. Travel Online provides an instant quote and booking service for accommodation in cities right across the country.

Queenstown
The international resort town of Queenstown is situated on the shoreline of Wakatipu Lake. This beautiful region is among the most scenic locations on the globe. Throughout the year adventurous and stimulating sports like jet boating, bungy jumping, and white water rafting take place. This town is the epicentre of the entire world’s bungy jumping activities too. With the advent of winter, the town gets transformed to an alpine wonderland with snowboarders and skiers from all corners of the world assembling at the annual Winter Festival.

There is constant demand for Queenstown Accommodation all round the year and Travel Online offers a select group of hotels best suited for New Zealand holidays. 1, 2, 3 or 4 bedroom apartments, with luxurious facilities, gyms, spas and fantastic views are available at various holiday retreats across the city. Larger apartments with more bedrooms, tennis courts, private jetties and fitness centres are also available at a higher price. Luxury complexes with studio rooms in the vicinity of cafes, bars, and restaurants are also found in Travel Online’ Queenstown Accommodation selection.

Christchurch
When choosing a place to stay in Christchurch look for hotels that give views over the beautiful Victoria Square, across the transfixing Avon River or towards the historic Anglican Cathedral. Situated on New Zealand’s South Island, this cosmopolitan city is always abuzz with colourful festivals, shopping spots, theaters and art galleries. Hotels overlooking Victoria Square provide visitors with an insight in to the city’s English history.

Individuals staying in the vicinity of the Christchurch Cathedral will find hotel rooms with a Manhattan-style feel. Tradition and elegance are everywhere in these hotels along with a keen eye on service excellence. Luxurious bedrooms with full-fledged kitchen facilities are common, along with hi-tech conference facilities, resort-like leisure features like spas, saunas, gyms, and swimming pools. Many of these hotels provided by Travel Online are located in the vicinity of the Technology Park, the International Antarctic Centre, and the airport. Travelers who want to stay away from the hustle and bustle of the cosmopolitan life will find suitable accommodation in the stunningcountryside surrounding the city.

Auckland
Auckland, also known as the City of Sails, is situated in between 2 harbors and has more boats per person than anywhere on the planet. Within minutes a person has the choice of sailing away on yachts to isolated nearby islands, living the sweet life in the casino, surfing at winding beaches or tasting the exotic wines at local vineyards. Hotels come in stylish and comfortable studios, and luxurious executive / marina suites. Travel Online caters to the tastes of corporate and business tourists and can beat any price seen on Auckland accommodation advertised. Auckland harbor is majestic, and is seen perfectly from atop Sky City and the surrounding accommodation.

Affordable and comfortable apartments are available for casual tourists, equipped with kitchens, laundries, and balconies to provide a wonderful holidaying experience. Visitors to Auckland love visiting the Antarctic Encounter, which showcases the only penguins present in the sub-Antarctic region. More encounters include cage-bereft shark dives, scuba expeditions and snorkel safaris. New Zealand is waiting.

Travel Online has a wide range of Queenstown accommodation close to all the snow action and cosmopolitan Christchurch accommodation surrounded by all that theatre and art. For holidays in and around the water, Auckland accommodation is as good as anywhere in the world.

Repairing Flooded Carpet: A cheap job is a good job right? Wrong….

Don’t have an unprofessional 24 hour carpet cleaner try to repair your carpets damaged by water. These are the things you should be aware of:

Overcharging. An inexperienced water restoration cleaner may pack the job up with extra inclusions. E.g. using dehumidification for the water damaged carpets when it is not needed.

Correct equipment. They might borrow equipment from hire businesses for drying the carpet. This is all right, but a professional water damage technician will possess all their equipment to provide a faster response and hopefully a better value job.

Proper moisture metre. If they don’t have the correct moisture meter, they can’t see whether the carpet is fixed. This furthers the problem of future mould growth. Removal of this may be required in the future.

Specialised. There are many “Carpet Cleaners” in this industry who do water damage jobs on the “side.” i.e. they aren’t those who take on this kind of job everyday. Be aware of that. Restoring a carpet is an art. Taking carpet off the gripper strips then reinstalling them needs to be done by a professional, otherwise it can be damaged beyond repair.

You could be wondering, how do I choose a good Flood Restoration techinician? Below I have set out some pointers to check for when hunting around for a carpet flood damage business:

How big is their Yellow Pages ad: This can signify how much work they are getting already. A full-size Yellow Pages ad can cost more than $50 000. If they have invested in a big ad, you can at least have some promise that they are professionals.

Where do they come up in Google? The higher the rate in Google, the more click-ins there has been for the business.

What Qualifications do they have? The foundational qualification they require is a IICRC qualification in Applied Structural Drying and Water Damage Restoration.

Do Insurance companies hire them for their carpet water damage jobs? This is a top indicator. If insurance companies hire them, the business is very likely to be superb at their work. Insurance companies tend to use the companies that give them the better value for their money.

What Equipment do they have? They should own at minimum 100 Air movers. If they have this many, this indicates they have been going for a while. Our business took 8 years to accumulate that many wet carpet drying air movers.

What sort of commitment can you get from them on a phone call? Ask if you can pin them down to a set fee for water extraction, water removal and initial inspection. If they won’t give you a rate for just this, you know they are not willing to assist you, so go elsewhere.

Response Time – Our Water Damage business in Brisbane is committed to a 59 minute response time to a water damage emergency. The restoration needs to be responded to ASAP. Mould can develop inside a 24 hour period.

If you focus on these tips you are sure to come up with a Flood Damage Restoration technician who knows how to do the job right.

If you have carpet water damage Brisbane, call us for flooded wet carpet drying. Brisbane storm season is approaching and you may need storm damage carpet cleaning. Brisbane and surrounding areas serviced.

Podiatry as a Career in Australia

As a practicing podiatrist in Brisbane, Australia, I am regularly asked by patients if podiatry would be a good career for a school leaver to enter. There are many things to recommend a career in podiatry including:

  • You can be self employed: This is a opportunity that is increasingly being denied to other health care providers such as optometrists and even General Practitioners . Big Business controls a lot of health practices. Consider how often you see an independent optometrist these days – can they compete on price with the multinational chains?
  • Legal Issues: In Australia (unlike the USA where things are very different), podiatrists very, very rarely face malpractice suits. The nature of podiatry practice does not lend itself to accidentally harming one’s patients. Also, you never have to give your customers the bad news that their condition will be terminal.
  • Working Hours: Emergency call outs are very unlikely. This is good news for those among us who like their sleep uninterrupted.
  • Financial Reward: Whilst it is true that podiatry doesn’t pay as well as being a dentist or doctor , the pay is generally commensurate with other allied health providers.
  • Instant Gratification: One of the most rewarding aspects of a career as a podiatrist is the instant gratification! People come in with pain and leave happy. You will see a plethora of bite-sized jobs each day, many with a cure you can provide immediately. From someone that has worked with unanimously grumpy customers in a past career, believe me when I tell you, it makes the day much more pleasant when people leave you smiling.
  • Philanthropy: Podiatry will afford you plenty of opportunity to help eliminate the suffering of your fellow human beings.
  • Self – Determination: Podiatry gives a practitioner the power to determine their own course of action for the benefit of their patients. This is unlike a career in nursing for instance where one acts under the instruction of a doctor.
  • Clear Job roles: The only people who can hold themselves out to be a podiatrist are those with a podiatry qualification. The clear roles that this demarcates relieves the requirement to find your ‘niche’ after university – as someone with a more generic Bachelor of Science degree might need to do.
  • Feel the need to travel? There are many places in the world that do not make their own podiatrists including Tasmania, the Northern Territory, all of Asia and all of the Middle East. If you want to work your way around the world, Australian podiatrists can be registered in any Commonwealth country and are especially in demand in Singapore, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and other far flung fields.
  • Variety: In any given day, a podiatrist will see a great range of complaints. There may be an ingrown toenail or two, an excruciating corn, a sporting injury, some sacroiliac pain and at least a couple of painful arches . The key to being a good podiatrist is to be an effective problem solver. Each patient is an individual with a unique problem requiring a well considered solution.

How do you become a qualified as a podiatrist ?

To qualify as a podiatrist means six Australian Universities:

  • Curtin University
  • La Trobe University
  • Charles Sturt University
  • Queensland University of Technology
  • University of South Australia
  • University of Western Sydney.

Last year, the entry score for the QUT was OP 8.

Stephanie Cosgrove graduated as a podiatrist from QUT in 1990 and with a Master’s degree in Applied Science (Podiatry) in 1996. Since 1991, she has worked in private practice as a Podiatrist Brisbane. She received three university prizes during her studies, including the award for excellence in design and manufacture of orthotics. Brisbane has been the site of her private practice since 1991 which has grown to four locations and eleven staff. If you want to Walk Without Pain consider a visit to Brisbane’s most innovative podiatry practice today. Call for an appointment now on 1300 A1 Feet.

Eight Steps to Great Web Design

Take charge of getting your site actualized by a developer and comprehend the process it will save you money and gain you a site that actually works the intended purpose!

1. Knowing your business and how you are currently positioned in your market.
In order to author a site that truly meets your requirements; you first need to have a full knowledge of your business including your products, and/or services and more importantly their market position. You then have to acknowledge how you want to explain your business and what it offers in 7 seconds or less. Sounds impossible? Well that is the average time that a user will consider the point “is this site I searched for?”.

2. Budget and estimation
Have a budget in mind and don’t be afraid to let the developers know what it is. In saying this: BE REALISTIC, $500 will never see a great web site created, nor will they be anything left in the bank to market it.

3. The creative process
Be furnished with example sites and more importantly the elements of the site you like so they can accomplish an understanding of what you would like to see on your site and also what you find frustrating about other sites. This will construct a good profile and identify not only what type of site to build for you but your tolerance to colours, animations, layouts etc. for your requirements which will allow for fast development. The more interaction and information you accord them in the beginning the more time you will save everybody in the long run by becoming what you want 1st time round. Check with the designers on how many rounds of changes come with the contract, most will allow for a total conceptual redesign only once and 2 rounds of changes after that.

4. Production and Content
After the home page design is made, the developers will more than likely acquire the general layout of this concept and then construct the inner page template. It is this template that will be repeated for most of your pages for your site.
Submit your content in a pre-proofed word processed document; don’t get too creative with the document fonts etc. as these will not be preserved when the content is copied into the code of the site. It is inferred that you do use bolding, underlining, headings and sub heading though ,as these highlights are transferred into the site and are very important later on in not only getting the point across to the reader but for Search Engine Optimisation.
One last tip for content; formulate a decent amount of content but provide it in a way that a reader may attain a summary of what you are trying to present across in the 1st couple of paragraphs and an image or to. The rest of the paragraphs that get into finer details ARE FOR GOOGLE !

5. Development Programming and CMS
If your website contains Content Managed Areas (CMS) or has any other dynamic sections the developers will wrap your design around a content management program such as Joomla or Drupal or they may have a custom built system. Make sure that you get to see how the CMS system operate on another site they have developed or an example site they may have. it is essential that you know that you can use and know the system when your site is complete.

6. Testing and training
We work closely with the developers to test your site especially if there are any CMS or special programs that have been created for you. You can guarantee if it is has just been written for you then it will not work 100% first time round. This is a where things can get ugly in the process you must understand the way the program operates and test it as if you were normal website user. If it doesn’t make sense to you, chances are it won’t make sense to your audience. Make sure you test your website on more than just your browser, try to test it on Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari. All of these browsers are available to download on the internet for free!

7. Launch – going live
When the developers are ready to bring your site live make sure you have completed the above testing step until you are certain that this website is the best representation of your business / product it can be. Remember even though you can change things after going live it is still a poor reflection on your business if there are spelling mistakes or broken images when you launch.

8. Marketing
There is little point in having a website if nobody visits it, make sure as part of you contract you have considered search engine optimisation and or search engine marketing as part of your website build. This is the absolute most important factor of the whole process. If you are the only one looking at your site then you are in trouble.

Remember Search Engine Optimisation is about 30% Onsite (getting your site correct for Search Engine to index correctly) and 70% Promotion. Any developer who tells you otherwise hasn’t been in the industry too long.

For more information about web design Brisbane, contact Web Site Blue. Our web designers understand marketing as well as design.

Tips to Creating a New Business Logo

A logo is a crucial step to building a business. It is the face of your business. And like your face expresses the tone of your business, gestures the service and screams the professionalism or lack there of.

People spend a lot of money on the formation of their logo and walk away with no artwork files. Then a couple months down the track when they need to put signage on their new building they cannot track the design studio down that formulated the original logo for them and so incur costs to have it recreated. This is needless and may cause complications when trying to recreate the logo exactly as completed originally.

We have created some basic tips you for to think about when creating a logo. Hopefully these will help you from experiencing any future difficulties.

Tip 1
First things first – you need to decide if you would like your logo to have an accompanying icon. It is advised that if your service or product name is not in your business name then perhaps an icon will help in conveying a clear message across to your target audience.

An icon can add an extra element to your branding in that you could use the icon on its own on collateral where perhaps you are sighting for a more illustrative finish without losing recognition.

A perfect example of this is the well-known and executed Nike logo.

Tip 2
Colour can be an crucial decision as it not only could affect the output costs but can also hinder your output use. Think about the end result and what you will be putting your branding onto in the future. Make sure your designer is aware of this as they should design accordingly.

Tip 3
Confirm you get a back up disk of your logo as a master file and assure that it includes all the files required for the different printing formats.

Creative software updates frequently and some programmes become obsolete. Confirm you have a copy of your logo as a PDF – with the text converted to curves.

Tip 4
Using images in your logo is not very easy to arrange. For example it is difficult to reverse into black and white. Images also have limitations when it comes to size – they can only be reproduced to a certain size before they start pixilation.

Tip 5
Using gradients in your logo is not recommended. This too can have limitations when it comes to output for ie: gradients are hard to reproduce when embroidering fabrics.

Tip 6
Make certain sure the font is legible. Some logos need to be reproduced on small pieces of collateral ie: post stamps. It is important that in this case the text is
legible.

Tip 7
Assure that you accept a copy of your logo in CMYK high resolution 300 dpi (for printing use) and RGB 72 dpi(for web use).

Tip 8
It is important to have a style guide of your logo. It will clearly show you how to use your logo so it looks exactly the same every time it is reproduced. This allows you to keep your corporate image consistent.

Tip 9
Make sure that you get a letter from the design studio declaring that you own the copyright to your logo.

If you follow these tips then not only will you collect a well-designed logo but you will also own the artwork. And when it comes to reproducing your collateral you will be doing it the most cost effective way.

For logo design Brisbane and web design Brisbane, contact Bydaughters today for a free two hour consultation.

How to Create a Style Guide

How many times have you sent business cards to print and collected yet another version of your corporate colour? Ever been fired up to see your advert in the latest newspaper and then observed that the crucial tag line is gone or your logo has been wrecked.

There is only one way to stop this from happening and that is to use a style guide. Not only will a style guide aid you conduct the reproduction of your logo – it will also help you extend your brand recognition – which many argue is one of the strongest selling tools.

We have placed the below steps together for you as a starting point.

Step 1 : Outline the audience for your Style Guide. Is this for staff to work in-house or is this for suppliers and contractors to refer to?

Step 2 : Define what your output uses are. This is important because you will want different logos and file formats for example, black and white publication adverts in comparison to vehicle graphics.

Step 3 : Define the tone for the copy and content required. For example you may needcopy rules for printed content and then copy rules for website content.

Content rules cover all punctuation rules and how to specify to the business and team.

Step 4 : Insure you layout all the design templates so it is clear how and where the logo and branding sits on all the different pieces of collateral that may be reprinted.

Step 5 : Confirm to include any contributing logos or logos of business that are linked with you. It’s also important that you mail a copy of the layout to these companies to guarantee they accept the layout of their logo as they too may have their own Style Guide and hierarchy layout rules.

Step 6 : Make sure that grammar, spelling and contact details are correct.

Step 7 : Assure that when suppliers are using the Style Guide they understand~know~discern~apprehend} that a proof needs to be dispatched~sent~mailed~commissioned}to you to be approved as correct.

Have your Style Guide finished and as secure as possible. Then have it saved in an email friendly file format and have a couple printed. Once this is done we strongly advise a training session – whereby your design studio arrives and trains your staff on how to utilize the Style Guide and most importantly your brand.

For graphic design Brisbane, logo design Brisbane and web design Brisbane, contact Bydaughters today. We help your brand build business.

Projectors: LCD Verses DLP (The downfall of DLP technology)

The common question that is asked when purchasing a new projector for the home, office, or classroom is: will I take an LCD projector or a DLP projector? LCD, an acronym for ‘liquid crystal device’ and DLP, which stands for ‘digital light processing’ are the two most popular projector imaging technologies. With so many company brands and models available, it can be confusing for customers to decide between the two technologies. The fact is that LCD projectors give better image quality and colour accuracy. The following article will tell you why DLP projectors struggle with creating an equal standard of image quality.

Imagine a set of blinds in your home for your bedroom window. By pulling a rod you can have the shutters open or closed, depending on if you want to let light in or not. That is exactly how an LCD projector works. Each pixel works like its own shutter on a set of blinds to either shine light through or to block it. DLP on the other hand is constructed of millions of microscopic mirrors or ‘pixel elements’ as the experts like to call them. Each pixel element works to either reflect light or block it.

How the light source is processed from the point when the projector is switched on to when the content reaches your screen is ultimately important with regard to image quality, brightness and colour accuracy. LCD projectors direct white light from the lamp by separating it into red, blue and green components, by three mirrors which direct the coloured light to 3 stand alone LCD panels. The 3 LCD panels cast the elements of the image by shining each pixel on and off. The pixels are then projected in a glass prism to send the projector image. An important point to know about LCD projectors is that all three colours are sent onto your wall all at once. The way a DLP projector operates is widely different and even the produced image comes out is not the same. With DLP, white light from the lamp is sent through a spinning colour wheel with transparent red, blue and green segments, at speeds up to 11,000 rpm/s. This approach to making an image casts a sequence of red, blue and green light. The millions of micro mirrors as mentioned above reflect the coloured light on the pixels to create the image elements. The elements of the image are cast in sequence on the screen, one colour at a time. The viewer’s vision will then combine each coloured element of the image into the total image. With LCD projectors, all colours are available all the time to form the top level of brightness and spectacular colour accuracy. In DLP, just one colour is available at any given time, and so resulting in lower colour brightness and accuracy. Some developers have placed a white segment into the colour wheel to improve general brightness, but this also degrades colour accuracy.

I read in forums all the time that DLP gives a higher contrast ratio and therefore must be superior quality. For those who do not know, the contrast ratio is a measure of a display system defined as the ratio of the luminance of the brightest white to that of the darkest black that the system is capable of producing. DLP projectors do offer high contrast specifications when compared to many LCD projectors. Initially, this seems to be a plus, however, in the real world, the true black level is determined by the ambient light in the room while the projector is being utilised. Do not be hoodwinked by contrast specifications on websites and in brochures.

When the content you wish to bring to life includes moving images, DLP projection technology also has image marks, or ‘artifacts’. The most common artifact that a DLP projector shows with moving images is colour break up. Colour break up is inherent in DLP systems because moving images keep changing between the time red, blue and green colours are displayed. LCD projectors do not have this problem because all colours are sent at once. DLP builders have come up with 3DLP solutions using 3 chips to fix the colour break up artifacts, but the price tag of these projectors make them impractical for many businesses and consumers.

Another differentiation between LCD and DLP is how they make up for the refractive qualities of light. Take yourself back to high school science, and remember when they taught you how the different colours of light refract varied amounts when projected through the same lens. The downfall with DLP projectors is that they utilise the one same panel for the same lens to project Red, Blue and Green. All 3 colours are obviously not the same and refract light in different ways. Usually with a DLP projector, a superfluous yellow colour will come through above and a spill of blue will show below an image of something as simple as a single black line. In manufacturing LCD projectors can be adjusted to reduce these effects on the projected image, as each colour is processed on isolated LCD panels.

The isolated true plus (excluding price) with deciding on a DLP projector is its smaller total size and weight. However, this is only relevant for mobility and has to be traded off against the image plusses of LCD projectors. If overall picture quality is important to you, then the choice is no-brainer. Choose an LCD projector! LCD projectors will always produce bright, colourful images with fewer image imperfections. If you wish to find out more about LCD technology in more detail, have a gander at this tremendous resource website: Explore 3LCD. If you have any more questions, jump onto Projector Central and send me an email.

Jonathan King is the sales and marketing manager at Projector Central, Australia’s top online retailer for projectors. Based in Brisbane, Projector Central has served Australia for 15 years. For data projectors in Brisbane and Interactive Whiteboards, contact Projector Central today.

Yachting and Yacht Clubs

As the Dutch found dominance in sea power during the 17th century, the initial yacht became a pleasure craft used mostly by royalty and then by the burghers on the canals and the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Racing was incidental, arising as private challenges. English yachting started with King Charles II of England during his exile in the Low Countries. On his return to the English royalty in 1660, the city of Amsterdam presented him with a 20-metre (66-foot) pleasure boat with a beam (maximum width) of 5.6 m (18 feet), which he named Mary. Charles and his brother James, the duke of York (James II, sovereign 1685–88), ordered for other yachts and in 1662 raced two of them from the Thames, from Greenwich, to Gravesend, and back, on a £100 punt. Yachting rose as classy for the rich and aristocracy, but after that point the habit did not last.

The first yacht club in the British Isles, the Water Club, was formed in about 1720 at Cork, Ire., as a cruising and unofficial coast guard group, and held great naval panoply and rigour. The closest thing to a race was the “chase,” when the “fleet” pursued an imagined enemy. The club went on, mostly as a social club, until 1765, and in 1828, when merging with other organisations, it became the Cork Yacht Club (later the Royal Cork Yacht Club).

Yacht racing was seen in some stipulated manner on the Thames about the mid-18th century. The duke of Cumberland founded the Cumberland Fleet for Thames racing in 1775. When George IV ascended to monarchy in 1820, it was then known as the Fleet to His Majesty’s Coronation Sailing Society. The Thames Yacht Club seceded with a racing fight, to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The first English yacht association had been initiated at Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1815, and royal funding made the Solent – the strait between the mainland and the Isle of Wight – the continued location of British racing. The society at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, again at the rise of George IV. Each member was required to have boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing races for high stakes were held, and the club life was superlative. Ultimately Royal Yachting Club boats increased in size to more than 350 tons.

In North America, yachting started with the Dutch in New York in the 17th century and persisted when the English had dominance. Sailing was largely for fun and rose to its epitome in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which traveled on the Mediterranean Sea and established a minimum of luxury and elegance for the later yachts in that area from the late 19th century. The first continuing American yacht organisation, the Detroit Boat Club, was formed in 1839. In 1844, John C. Stevens began the New York Yacht Club while aboard his schooner Gimcrack.

Kinds of sailboats
The Early sailing yachts followed the style of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century through the latter half of the 19th century. The craft of bigger yachts was originally largely put upon by the win of America, which was designed by George Steers for a group headed by John C. Stevens, and it was the boat for which the America’s Cup (q.v.) was named after its win at Cowes in 1851. Earlier yachts were not designed and built in today’s sense, with just a model for an outline. Not until the second half of the 19th century did what was known as naval architecture come into being. Not until the 1920s did the use of the study of aerodynamics do for the design of sails and rigging what it had previously done for hulls.

Because almost all sailboats were individually manufactured, there arose a requirement for handicapping boats before the one-design class boats were built. Thus, a rating rule came into being, which is found in the International Rule, taken on in 1906 and amended in 1919. In modern times, one of the rapidly flourishing areas in the field of sailing is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are created to the same specifications in length, beam, sail area, and other elements (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing between such boats can be held on an even keel with no handicapping at all. A prime example is the standard International America’s Cup Class taken on board for participants in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

So long as yachting belonged primarily for the royal and the wealthy, expense was no issue, and the size of boats grew, in both length and weight. The promotion and preference of smaller yachts came in the second half of the 19th century in the sailing of the Englishmen R.T. McMullen, a stockbroker, and E.F. Knight, a barrister and journalist. A trip around the world (1895–98) captained single-handedly by the naturalized American captain Joshua Slocum in the 11.3-metre Spray proved the seaworthiness of less sizeable craft. Later in the 20th century, for the larger part after World War II, smaller racing and recreational yachts became commonplace, down to the dinghy, a favoured training boat, of 3.7 m. In the late 20th century, craft of less than 3 m were sailed single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kinds of power yachts
Following the decade 1840–50, during which steam started to take the place of sail power in commercial craft, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were favoured increasingly in leisure yachts. Sizeable power yachts were furthered to a high standard, and long-distance travel turned into a favoured activity of the wealthy. The earliest power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; these then gave rise to boats powered by the fully submerged screw or propeller sort of propulsion. Like naval and merchant craft, auxiliaries with both sail and power were the yacht archetype for a number of years. By the later half of the 20th century, several yachts were still auxiliaries, but the majority were solely power yachts containing gasoline or diesel engines.

In the last decade of the 19th century there was a rise in the design of large steam yachts. In particular of these was the Mayflower (1897) of 2,690 tons, with triple-expansion engines, twin screws, and a compartmented iron hull, and was manned by a crew of more than 150. The Mayflower, commissioned by the United States Navy in 1898, was the official yacht of the president of the United States until 1929 and saw active service for World War II.

As more sizeable and more dependable internal-combustion engines were created, many big boats started using them for power. The creation of the diesel engine, using heavy oil for fuel, was furthered in World War I. In the decade after, big power-yacht creation flourished, hitting a climax in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. In that period the largest auxiliary yacht manufactured was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The building of bigger power boats lessened in 1932, and the style thereafter was toward smaller, less costly yachts. After World War II, lots of small naval craft were sold to private owners for conversion to yachts. In the late 20th century, yachting has become a widespread popular activity enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen personally sailing and keeping their own small recreational boats. The amount of craft and owners increased steadily, not only in the traditional areas along the beach but also on inland waterways and lakes.

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Proportional, Progressive, and Regressive taxes

Taxes are categorized by the effect they have on the allocation of income and wealth. A proportional tax is a kind that places the same relative burden on every taxpayer—i.e., where tax liability and income grow in the same scale. A progressive tax is characterized by a larger than proportional growth in the tax burden in regard to the rise in income, and a regressive tax is recognised by a less than proportional increase in the related onus. Therefore, progressive taxes are seen as removing a lack of equality in income distribution, but regressive taxes are believed to cause an increase in these inequalities.

The taxes that are often regarded as progressive include individual income taxes and estate taxes. Income taxes that are nominally progressive, however, could become less so for the upper-income categories—particularly if a taxpayer is allowed to lessen his tax base by claiming deductions or by removing some certain income components from his taxable income. Proportional tax rates that are applied to lower-income classes can also be more progressive if such personal exemptions are declared.

Income measured over the period of a year may not definitely give the most appropriate measure of taxpaying requirement. For example, transitory rises in income can be saved, and in temporary declines in income a taxpayer may select to pay for consumption by reducing savings. Therefore, if taxation is made comparable alongside “permanent income,” it would be less regressive (or more progressive) than when compared with annual income.

Sales taxes and excises (save on luxuries) are generally regressive, because the spread of personal income consumed or spent for specific goods lowers as the rate of personal income is raised. Poll taxes (also termed head taxes), nominated as a standard amount per capita, patently are regressive.

It is complicated to determine corporate income taxes and taxes on business as progressive, regressive, or proportionate, principally because of the lack of certainty around the ability of businesses to shift their tax expenses (see below Shifting and incidence). This difficulty of determining who bears the tax burden is dependant essentially on whether a national or a subnational (that is, provincial or state) tax is being determined.

In assessing the economic purposes of taxation, it is necessary to distinguish between varied points of tax rates. The statutory rates include those specified in the law; generally these are marginal rates, but occasionally they are average rates. Marginal income tax rates indicate the fraction of incremental income that is taken by taxation when income is increased by one dollar. Hence, if tax burden rises by 45 cents when income rises by one dollar, the marginal tax rate is 45 percent. Income tax laws generally contain graduated marginal rates—i.e., rates that grow as income increases. Careful analysis of marginal tax rates must consider provisions other than the formal statutory rate structure. If, for example, a particular tax credit (reduction in tax) lowers by 20 cents for each one-dollar increase in income, the marginal rate is 20 percentage points more than specified within the statutory rates. Since marginal rates indicate how after-tax income moves in response to changes in before-tax income, they are the necessary ones for regarding incentive effects of taxation. It is even more complicated to nominate the marginal effective tax rate applied to income from business and capital, because it may be dependant on such considerations as the structure of depreciation allowances, the deductibility of interest, and the provisions for inflation adjustment. A basic economic theorem holds that the marginal effective tax rate in income from capital is nothing under a consumption-based tax.

Average income tax rates signify the part of total income that is taken in taxation. The pattern of average rates is the one that is relevant for judging the distributional equity of taxation. Under a progressive income tax the average income tax rate grows with income. Average income tax rates generally grow with income, both because personal allowances are granted for the taxpayer and dependents and because marginal tax rates are graduated; on the other hand, preferential treatment of income received for the most part by high-income households may dampen these effects, allowing regressivity, as signified by average tax rates that lower as income grows.

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