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 stunning
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 lively 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 amazing, 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 fundamental
and your budget may be tight. Look for cheap tents that offers a waterproof Polyester roof and a good warranty for under $600.

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

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 identical 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 awareness 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 radiant array of beautiful landscapes. Like huge mountain ranges, sweeping coastlines, dense rainforests, deep fiords, snow capped mountains and steaming volcanoes. These panoramic 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 discounted prices. Among the top holiday cities in New Zealand, Queenstown, Christchurch and Auckland would definitely be there. Travel Online is a prominent online specialist travel operator and provides fantastic 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 exciting 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 request 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 modern facilities, gyms, spas and fantastic views are available at various holiday retreats across the city. Bigger 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 astounding Victoria Square, across the transfixing Avon River or towards the epochal 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 accommodated 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. Huge 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 magnificentcountryside 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 flexibility of sailing away on yachts to isolated nearby islands, living the high life in the casino, surfing at endless 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 stunning, 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 let a novice 24 hour carpet cleaner attempt to repair your water damaged carpets. These are the things you have to be aware of:

Overcharging. An unprofessional water restoration cleaner may load the job up with superfluous inclusions. E.g. using dehumidification on the damaged carpets unnecessarily.

Using the correct equipment. They might hire equipment from hire places for the carpet. This is permissible, but an experienced water damage technician will possess all their equipment to enable a speedy response and hopefully a better value job.

Moisture metre. If they don’t have the choice moisture meter, they won’t be able to know whether the carpet is dry enough. This increases the danger of future mould growth. Removal of this may be required.

If they aren’t specialised. There are many “Carpet Cleaners” in this industry who do repair repairs on the “side.” i.e. they don’t do this kind of job often. Be aware of this. Restoring water damage to carpets is an art. Reinstalling carpets on the gripper strips should be completed by a professional, otherwise carpets can be damaged beyond repair.

You could be pondering, how do I choose a proper Flood Restoration professional? Below I have selected some pointers to look out for when you hunt around for a carpet flood damage business:

The size of their Yellow Pages ad slot: This can signify how much repair work they are getting already. A full-size Yellow Pages advertisement can cost about $50 000. When they have got a large ad, you have some promise that they will deliver the goods.

Where do they show in Google? The higher the rank in Google, the more click-ins there has been for their business.

What Qualifications do they have? The base qualification needed is a IICRC qualification about Applied Structural Drying and Water Damage Restoration.

Do Insurance companies hire them for carpet water damage jobs? This is a great indicator. If insurance companies source them, the business is bound to be good at their skill. Insurance companies generally use the companies that grant them the better value for the money.

What Equipment do they have? They should own at least 100 Air movers. If they possess this many, this probably means they have been in the game for a good time. We took 8 years to build up that many wet carpet drying air movers.

What type of commitment can you get from them on a phone call? Try to pin them down to a fee for water extraction, water removal and initial inspection. If they won’t give you a package for this at the least, you know they are not going to serve you, so go elsewhere.

Response Time – Our Water Damage business in Brisbane operates to a 59 minute response time to water damage emergency. The job needs to be attended to ASAP. Mould can appear during a 24 hour period.

If you stick to these tips you are sure to get a Flood Damage Restoration business 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 choice that is increasingly being denied to other health care providers such as optometrists and even GPs . 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 litigation . The nature of podiatry practice does not lend itself to accidentally harming one’s patients. Also, you never have to give your clients 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 fulfilling aspects of being a podiatrist is the instant gratification! People come in with pain and leave happy. You will experience 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 rewarding when people leave you smiling.
  • Philanthropy: Podiatry will afford you plenty of opportunity to help resolve the suffering of your fellow human beings.
  • Self – Determination: Podiatry affords 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 example where one acts under the direction of a doctor.
  • Clear Job roles: The only people who can work as a podiatrist are those with a podiatry qualification. The clear roles that this demarcates relieves the need to find your ‘niche’ after university – as someone with a more generic Bachelor of Science degree might need to do.
  • Got the urge to travel? There are many places around the world that do not train their own podiatrists including Tasmania, the Northern Territory, all of Asia and all of the Middle East. If you want to work around the the world, Australian podiatrists can be registered in any Commonwealth country and are particularly in demand in Singapore, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and other far flung fields.
  • Variety: In any given day, a podiatrist will see a huge range of complaints. There may be an ingrown toenail or two, a debilitating corn, a sports injury, some sacroiliac pain and at least a couple of painful arches . The key to being a good podiatrist is to be a great problem solver. Each patient is an individual with a unique problem requiring a well considered solution.

How do you become 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 created by a developer and comprehend the process it will save you money and attain you a site that actually works the intended purpose!

1. Knowing your business and how you are currently established in your market.
In order to create a site that truly meets your requirements; you first need to have a full comprehension of your business including your products, and/or services and more importantly their market position. You then have to consider 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 acquire 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 realise not only what type of site to construct 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 give them in the beginning the more time you will save everybody in the long run by achieving 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 take the general layout of this concept and then formulate the inner page template. It is this template that will be duplicated for most of your pages for your site.
Provide 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 crucial later on in not only interacting with 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 get a summary of what you are trying to infer 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 works 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, odds 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 avialable on the internet for free!

7. Launch – going live
When the developers are ready to bring your site onlive make sure you have completed the above testing step until you are content 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 essential step to forming a business. It is the face of your business. And like your face represents the tone of your business, indicates the service and reveals 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 created the original logo for them and so incur costs to have it recreated. This is unnecessary and may cause complications when trying to replecate 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 obstacles.

Tip 1
First things first – you need to decide if you would like your logo to have an accompanying icon. It is desired that if your service or product name is not in your business name then perhaps an icon will help in getting 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 searching for a more illustrative finish without losing recognition.

A good example of this is the well-known and executed Fedex logo.

Tip 2
Colour can be an extremely important decision as it not only could influence the output costs but can also hinder your output use. Consider 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
Assure you get a back up disk of your logo as a master file and make sure that it includes all the files required for the different printing formats.

Creative software updates frequently and some programmes become obsolete. Insure 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 manage. 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 sure 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
Insure that you acquire 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 accept 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 commissioned business cards to print and obtained yet another version of your corporate colour? Ever been fired up to see your advert in the latest newspaper and then spotted 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 create a style guide. Not only will a style guide assist you oversee the reproduction of your logo – it will also help you fortify 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 : Mark 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 require 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 : Make sure 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 repeated.

Step 5 : Make sure to take into account any contributing logos or logos of business that are affiliated with you. It’s also important that you mail a copy of the layout to these companies to insure they approve 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 : Make certain 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 validated as correct.

Have your Style Guide finished and as established as possible. Then have it saved in an email friendly file format and have a couple printed. Once this is done we strongly advocate a training session – whereby your design studio arrives and trains your staff on how to put to work 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 most common question that is asked when buying a new projector for the home, office, or classroom is: should I buy an LCD projector or a DLP projector? LCD, short for ‘liquid crystal device’ and DLP, standing for ‘digital light processing’ are the two top projector imaging technologies. With so many business brands and different models available, it can be overwhelming for the buyer to choose between these technologies. It comes down to the fact that LCD projectors have far superior image quality and colour accuracy. The next part of this article explains why DLP projectors struggle with projecting the same level of image quality.

Imagine a set of blinds in your room on your bedroom window. By twisting a rod you can make the shutters open or closed, according to whether you want to let light in or not. And this is exactly how an LCD projector functions. Each pixel operates like a unique shutter on a set of blinds to either send light through or to block it. DLP on the other hand is constructed of millions of microscopic mirrors or ‘pixel elements’ as the pros like to call them. Each pixel element functions to either reflect light or block it.

How the light source is processed from when the projector is switched on to when the image reaches your screen is ultimately important in regard to image quality, brightness and colour accuracy. LCD projectors process 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 form the elements of the image by processing each pixel on and off. The pixels are then projected in a glass prism to form the projector image. Something to understad about LCD projectors is that all three colours are projected onto your projected surface all at once. The way a DLP projector functions is widely different and even the way an image appears is not the same. With DLP, white light from the lamp is processed through a rotating 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 described above reflect the coloured light on the pixels to form the image elements. The elements of the image are sent in sequence on the screen, one colour at a time. The viewer’s vision will then draw each coloured element of the image into the single total image. From LCD projectors, all colours are available all the time to form the highest brightness and spectacular colour accuracy. In DLP, only one colour is available at a time, and so causing lower colour brightness and accuracy. Some manufacturers have included a white segment into the colour wheel to improve brightness overall, but this then degrades colour accuracy.

I see in forums all the time that DLP has a higher contrast ratio and thus must be better. For those who are unsure, 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 projector is capable of. DLP projectors do offer high contrast specifications when compared to many LCD projectors. Initially, this appears to be a benefit, however, in truth, the true black level is determined by the ambient light in the room when the projector is in use. Do not be duped by contrast specifications on websites and in brochures.

When the content you plan to view has moving images, DLP projection technology also creates image marks, or ‘artifacts’. The most typical artifact that a DLP projector displays with moving images is colour break up. Colour break up is unavoidable in DLP systems because moving images change up between the time red, blue and green colours are displayed. LCD projectors do not have this characteristic because all colours are sent with the others. DLP designers have come up with 3DLP solutions using 3 chips to fix the colour break up error, but the price tag of these projectors make them hardly practical for most businesses and consumers.

Another point of difference between LCD and DLP is how they make up for the refractive qualities of light. Take yourself back to high school science, and recall when they taught you how the different colours of light refract differing amounts when passing through the same lens. The downside with DLP projectors is that they have the one same panel with the same lens to project Red, Blue and Green. All 3 colours are obviously different and refract light in a different way. Usually with a DLP projector, some extra yellow colour will come through above and some extra blue will be projected below something as simple as a single black line. During manufacturing LCD projectors can be adjusted to minimize these effects on the projected image, as each colour is projected on separate LCD panels.

The sole actual advantage (excluding price) with buying a DLP projector is its smaller total size and weight. However, this is only relevant for transport and must be traded off against the image advantages of LCD projectors. If the result of the picture quality is vital to you, then the choice is no-brainer. Choose an LCD projector! LCD projectors will consistently produce bright, colourful images with fewer image errors. If you wish to learn more about LCD technology in more detail, see this spectacular resource website: Explore 3LCD. If you have any more questions, get onto Projector Central and send me an email.

Jonathan King is the sales and marketing manager with Projector Central, Australia’s top online store for projectors. Based in Brisbane, Projector Central has been serving Australia for 15 years. For data projectors in the Gold Coast and Interactive Whiteboards, contact Projector Central today.

Yachting and Yacht Clubs

As the Dutch found preeminence in sea power during the 17th century, the first yacht had been a leisure craft used mostly by royalty and secondly by the burghers in the canals and the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Yacht racing was incidental, borne from private challenges. English yachting started with King Charles II of England during his exile in the Low Countries. On his return to the English throne in 1660, the city of Amsterdam gave him a 20-metre (66-foot) leisure boat with a beam (maximum width) of 5.6 m (18 feet), which he then named Mary. Charles and his brother James, the duke of York (James II, reigned 1685–88), made other yachts and in 1662 raced two of them from the Thames, from Greenwich, to Gravesend, and back, on a £100 bet. Yachting rose as classy for the affluent and aristocracy, but after that time the habit did not last.

The first yacht group in the British Isles, the Water Club, was instigated at about 1720 at Cork, Ire., as a cruising and unofficial coast guard association, with great naval panoply and gravity. The closest thing to racing boats was the “chase,” in which the “fleet” pursued an imagined enemy. The club persisted, for the large part as a social club, until 1765, and in 1828, by joining with other groups, it became the Cork Yacht Club (later the Royal Cork Yacht Club).

Yacht racing was first seen in some ordered fashion on the Thames around the mid-18th century. The duke of Cumberland founded the Cumberland Fleet for Thames racing in 1775. When George IV ascended to sovereignty in 1820, it came to be named the Fleet to His Majesty’s Coronation Sailing Society. The Thames Yacht Club seceded following a racing argument, to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The first English yacht association had been formed 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 setting of British yacht racing. The club at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, again at the accession of George IV. Each member was required to have boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing tests for great stakes were held, and the society life was splendid. Eventually Royal Yachting Club boats increased in size to over 350 tons.

In North America, yachting started with the Dutch in New York in the 17th century and persisted when the English took control. Sailing was mostly for leisure and found its apogee in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which traveled on the Mediterranean Sea and set a benchmark of luxury and elegance for the later yachts in that area from the late 19th century. The first persisting American yacht organisation, the Detroit Boat Club, was started in 1839. In 1844, John C. Stevens instigated the New York Yacht Club while on board his schooner Gimcrack.

Kinds of sailboats
The first sailing yachts were within the lines of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century through to the latter half of the 19th century. The design of large yachts was initially largely affected by the victory of America, which was designed by George Steers for a syndicate started by John C. Stevens, and it was the boat for which the America’s Cup (q.v.) was named after its success at Cowes in 1851. Early yachts were not designed and manufactured in today’s sense, with only a model being used. Not until the later half of the 19th century did what was called naval architecture come into being. Not until the 1920s did the application of the research of aerodynamics do for the craft of sails and rigging what it had earlier done for hulls.

Because most of all sailboats had been individually built, there was a desire for handicapping boats as this was previous to the one-design class boats were designed. Thus, a rating rule came into being, which is found in the International Rule, taken on in 1906 and edited in 1919. Today, one of the fastest flourishing areas in sailing is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are built to single requirements in length, beam, sail area, and other areas (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing these boats can be held on an even keel with no handicapping necessary. A great example is the uniform International America’s Cup Class taken on board for participants in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

For the time that yachting belonged largely for the aristocracy and the affluent, money was no object, and the size of boats developed, in both length and weight. The promotion and preference of smaller boats happened in the latter half of the 19th century from 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 hardiness of less sizeable boats. Later in the 20th century, particularly after World War II, smaller racing and pleasure craft became more common, down to the dinghy, a preferred training boat, of 3.7 m. In the late 20th century, yachts of less than 3 m were setting sail single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kinds of power yachts
After the decade 1840–50, during which steam began to take the place of sail power in market vessels, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were increasingly employed in pleasure boats. Large power yachts were furthered to a high element, and long-distance travel became a favourite pastime of the well off. The first power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; these then gave rise to yachts powered by the wholly submerged screw or propeller type of propulsion. As well as naval and merchant vessels, auxiliaries possessing both sail and power were the yacht fashion for a number of years. By the latter half of the 20th century, several yachts were still auxiliaries, but the majority were exclusively power yachts containing gasoline or diesel engines.

In the last decade of the 19th century there was a push in the manufacture of bigger steam yachts. In particular of these was the Mayflower (1897) of 2,690 tons, containing triple-expansion engines, twin screws, and a compartmented iron hull, and was operated by a crew of at least 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 was used in active service during World War II.

As bigger and more reliable internal-combustion engines were developed, many large craft were using them for power. The creation of the diesel engine, with heavy oil for fuel, was furthered during World War I. During the decade following, big power-yacht building grew, climaxing in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. In that period the biggest auxiliary yacht manufactured was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The construction of larger power craft fell away in 1932, and the fashion thereafter was toward smaller, less pricey craft. After World War II, lots of small naval vessels were bought by private owners for conversion to yachts. In the late 20th century, yachting has become a internationally loved activity enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen individually manning and keeping their own small leisure craft. The popularity of craft and sailors is increasing steadily, not only in the traditional areas on the beach but also on inland waterways and lakes.

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Proportional, Progressive, and Regressive taxes

Taxes can be distinguished by the impact they have on the placement of income and wealth. A proportional tax is the kind that applies the same relative onus on all taxpayers—i.e., in the case where tax liability and income grow in equal levels. A progressive tax is recognised by a greater than proportional rise in the tax liability relative to the growth in income, and a regressive tax is characterizable by a less than proportional increase in the related burden. Therefore, progressive taxes are thought of as fighting the lack of equality in income distribution, but regressive taxes are believed to have the result of an increase in these inequalities.

The taxes that are usually thought to be progressive include individual income taxes and estate taxes. Income taxes that are nominally progressive, however, can become less so within the upper-income group—in particular if a taxpayer is allowed to lessen his tax base by declaring deductions or by excluding some particular income components from his taxable income. Proportional tax rates which are applied to lower-income groups can also be more progressive if such personal exemptions are declared.

Income measured over a given period might not definitely provide the most accurate measure of taxpaying status. For example, transitory growth in income may be saved, and during temporary declines in income a taxpayer may elect to provide for consumption by decreasing savings. So, if taxation is held in comparison with “permanent income,” it would be less regressive (or more progressive) than if made comparable with annual income.

Sales taxes and excises (excepting luxuries) are mostly regressive, because the dissemination of individual income consumed or spent for a specific good decreases as the rate of personal income grows. Poll taxes (also termed head taxes), calculated as a flat amount per capita, clearly are regressive.

It is hard to determine corporate income taxes and taxes on business as progressive, regressive, or proportionate, principally because of the uncertainty regarding the ability of businesses to shift their tax expenses (see below Shifting and incidence). This difficulty of dictating who bears the tax burden rests fundamentally on whether a national or a subnational (that is, provincial or state) tax is being decided.

In regarding the economic effects of taxation, it is necessary to distinguish between various concepts of tax rates. The statutory rates are those dictated in the law; usually these are marginal rates, but sometimes they are mean rates. Marginal income tax rates signify the fraction of incremental income taken by taxation when income grows by one dollar. Hence, if tax liability rises by 45 cents when income rises by one dollar, the marginal tax rate is 45 percent. Income tax statutes usually contain graduated marginal rates—i.e., rates that grow as income increases. Structured analysis of marginal tax rates must review provisions in addition to the formal statutory rate structure. If, for example, a particular tax credit (reduction in tax) lowers by 20 cents for each one-dollar growth in income, the marginal rate is 20 percentage points greater than indicated in the statutory rates. Since marginal rates signify how after-tax income is changed 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 understand the marginal effective tax rate to apply to income from business and capital, since it may rely on considerations such as the structure of depreciation allowances, the deductibility of interest, and the provisions for inflation adjustment. A basic economic theorem grants that the marginal effective tax rate in income from capital is nil under a consumption-based tax.

Average income tax rates signify the fraction of total income that is required 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 rises with income. Average income tax rates usually increase with income, both because personal allowances are granted for the taxpayer and dependents and because marginal tax rates are graduated; on the other side of things, preferential treatment of income received mostly by high-income households could swamp these effects, producing regressivity, as indicated by average tax rates that decrease as income grows.

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