Pilothouse Envy

[Polux]

There are boats with a raised chart table/pilot station with a good overall visibility that don't compromise sailability. Till know the bigger ones had only 13.5 meters but there is talks about a 53/54 ft yacht





Another one that is certainly not a motorsailor but a fast yacht is the "old" CR480DS:

[Dockhead]

Now it seems to me that the ideal pilothouse sailboat is a --

Chris White Atlantic 57 cat. I think I'm in love.

Heresy, I know, and against my own tastes. I do not like catamarans -- they are just not my taste for a whole raft of reasons. However, I have to admit, that I have not been able to find a monohull with such a bouquet of virtues:

1. Narrow, easily driven hulls; very high cruising speeds.

2. Dual propulsion -- redundancy. And with lovely independent dual fuel systems and fantastic tankage (about 800 liters for motoring range of probably 1200 miles)

3. Modest, easily handled rig. And carbon!

4. Very light displacement -- only 14 tons loaded.

5. Fantastic, spacious inside helm position.

6. Fantastic, spacious, inside separate chart table with view over bows.

7. Perfect dinghy stowage.

8. Salon with panoramic views.

9. Plenty of space for solar panels.

10. Excellent sailing cockpit, and within easy reach of inside helm station.

11. No heeling.

and, surprisingly:

12. Very modest cost compared to high end monohulls.


Drawbacks:

1. It's a cat, with that unpleasant motion in a seaway.

2. Huge beam -- where do you park it?

3. No feedback when getting overpowered -- so disconcerting to mono sailors.

4. Horribly unaesthetic plasticky interior -- acres of white gel coat inside.

5. Cave-like accomodation in the hulls -- as good as the salon is, so bad are the cabins.

6. Ugly as sin to look at.



All in all, if you want (a) to sail fast with little effort; (b) to have a salon with good views instead of being down in a cave; (c) to have a good inside helm station with good visibility; (d) have a good way to ship a good dinghy -- I don't think you can match this combination of virtues in a mono.

I'm not really in the market to change my boat, but this sure provides some food for thought . . . . Wow, what a boat . . .

[Eleuthera 2014]

Some compromises are available... Our own Amel SM does not have a pilothouse but it has a hard dodger.. and after fitting quality canvas all around, we usually spend our night sleeping on the lee side in the cockpit. Easy motion and near the action.

A Jongert would do it for us also

[SVNeko]

Sounds like you want a Kanter Bougainvillea...

[Eleuthera 2014]

Hard to find... Amel is good for us. We'll keep posting regarding the adv/disadv of our setup as we go RTW

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by Eleuthera 2014

Some compromises are available... Our own Amel SM does not have a pilothouse but it has a hard dodger.. and after fitting quality canvas all around, we usually spend our night sleeping on the lee side in the cockpit. Easy motion and near the action.

A Jongert would do it for us also

Hello.
Please post a photo showing the enclosure.
I have not seen one yet on an Amel SM, and would like to see how it looks. I do like the hard dodger and the cockpit of the Amel.

[Eleuthera 2014]

Hi SH,

What you do not see here are the additional panels which close off the entire cockpit. We've also selected interior mosquito nettings.

... with many thanks to the owners of Esclarmonde for giving us the ideas.

Fixations are a hard rubber band into which we thread the webbing straps... not metallic projections to cause injury.

[Panope]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Now it seems to me that the ideal pilothouse sailboat is a --

Chris White Atlantic 57 cat. I think I'm in love............

Dockhead,

I think the visibility from the inside helm station is lacking. The pillars between the windows are really wide and the walls surrounding the companion-way door would be very much in the way of visibility.

This complaint of mine is probably not applicable to offshore passages (something I am not familiar with) but for coastal work in shitty weather, that helm station would drive me nuts.

I would be forced to steer from the (forward) cockpit. A place that offers zero protection from the elements (no dodger).

Steve

[Polux]

For the guys that are looking for a fast and very nice fast boat that can be sailed from the interior and has a nice view from the saloon, I like this one...and probably not only me, look at the price. Luffe still makes it. I wonder how much will cost a new one

Luffe 43 Ds, EUR 299.000,- to sell | boat24.com/en

And I like this one too, even if i would like to have the first one but not this one. Not fast enough but even so amazingly fast for the weight and type of keel. I sailed side by side with one, 10 years ago and I still remember how surprised I was with its decent performance in very light winds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yGBKwRezJU

[Lennie]

My wife really likes the pilothouse and we both thought our next boat would be a Nauticat 43. We looked at all we could find but the ones in our price range were in need of some work. After spending a lot of time and money refitting our 81 Pearson 367 I really wasn't looking to do that again. So after looking at every boat for sale in north America we found a Jeanneau 43 deck salon that my wife fell in love with. Not a pilot house but similar to the Nauticat with the raised salon and lots of windows. The boat sails well and it's not 30+ years old and needing updating. The Pearson sold really fast so we are a survey and sea trials away from owning the Jeanneau!

[Polux]

When Jeanneau DS (Deck saloons) were really deck saloons

At that time there were some others that were discontinued, nice boats, the Dehler 41ds and the Arcona 40ds and both good sailing boats too.

Dehler 41 DS for sale, Sailing Yacht for sale - White Whale Yachtbrokers

2000 Arcona 40DS Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

[JJ77]

There are better looking cats than the A57,also with inside steering and a doorway to the mast and a very nice interior...

60ft,made in Finland,designed by FRERS.
Ocean Quality Systems Oy | Gallery


That kanter bougainvillea 63 is very nice btw..

Oh you all have a salty 2015!

groeten,
JJ