Pros and Cons of a Center Cockpit Mono

[jacob30]

Originally Posted by bob perry

Here is a anew project of mine that has two cockpits.

Very nice design! Addresses a few of the pros of both cockpits and adds a dimension of a CC space just for leisure and entertaining. Add a nice swim platform or open transom off the stern and that's my boat.

[Roaring Girl]

Loving the new design - but given what we could actually afford, our Maxi 120 CC ketch has done us well for the 7 years we've lived aboard. Being an elderly ketch she's never going to keep up with a newer Beneteau or something of that sort, but she provides a lot of room, standing headroom throughout, privacy if we want it etc. She was designed with two heads but we (and the previous owners) have always used one as a workshop which is great when cruising.

Sailing, we have come to love a centre cockpit. It feels very secure and comfortable compared to aft. To start with coming into marinas etc was always interesting and we had a policy of reminding each other to remember how much boat is behind the helm. Now we're very used to that and to how she handles generally.

We went out with friends in their 31' cat the other day and came back to the berth in a crosswind - that was really hard work getting into place! But the skipper, who knows the boat well, was fine. It's just practice.

[rourkeh]

A lot of interesting info so far on the pros and cons. We went through this debate a few moths ago before purchasing our current boat. We looked at monohulls in the 43' - 47' range and initially I was all for the center cockpit design for the "large aft stateroom" and the centerline engine/machinery space. But by the time we had crawled around a whole bunch of center cockpit boats in person I realised that the aft staterooms were not that large (I'm 6'1"), the berths were not much bigger than a lot of aft cockpit boats and on some boats they were really tight, but they look great in the pictures. I do not spend that much time sleeping relative to total time down below so an open, large salon/galley where we will spend more time ended up being more impotant. One thing I liked about cc boats is the large cockpit area for entertaining etc that can't be matched on aft cockpit boats in this size range. We ended up buying an aft cockpit 44' and in the end it is all trade offs, when we weighed the pros and cons of the boat overall the cockpit design was only a small part of the reason to buy one boat over another. Cheers

[bob perry]

I think some of you are missing the detail showing the fold down swim step that lies in flush with the transom, JAKATAN style. It is clearly shwon on the drawings.

[Mimsy]

Drawings?!?! Who looks at drawings?!?!
I stand by my statement- that is a cool design that the owner obviously spent a great deal of time of thinking through. Its the perfect design for THAT particular owner which is the whole point of going custom.

I guess most of you are more social than I. I get having a comfortable cockpit to entertain in but I put a higher value on day to day living. Having a roomy aft cabin trumps having a small cockpit in my mind. That being said, my husband loved a CC boat so much that we even had her surveyed and sea trialed. The aft cabin was the only thing I liked about that boat. The. Only. Thing. Please note that we do not own that particular boat.

We have an aft cockpit boat and deal with small cabins. It works out because my husband is happier with the performance of our boat and I feel safe and secure in her. I did not get the same feeling from the CC boat we looked at. In that particular instance the extra cockpit height coupled with low coamings and a tendency to hobby horse made me feel uncomfortable, but I am a self professed Big Chicken Baby so your mileage will vary. Went out on another CC boat and had no issues what so ever- I thought it was a great boat and I would own one of them in a heartbeat.

Bottom line is- every boat is different. There's no real way to know how you feel about any given boat until you are actually on it. You can't say "all center cockpits are great" or "all center cockpits are horrid". Every design is different and will perform differently. Thank goodness for that! Otherwise every boat in every anchorage would be the same and where is the fun in that?

[bob perry]

Mimsy:
You are so right. Each and every boat has to be evaluated on it's own merits and not lumped into a few simple categories.

[sail2wind]

We have a Beneteau 40CC and absolutely love her. We were apprehensive about the CC. The only negative is getting air to the aft cabin and yes we have breeze boosters and 2 nice size fans, unfortunately the hatch is above our feet. We have dockside A/C which is awesome, now we are looking at a gen/set. Anyone have any air flow solutions?

[goboatingnow]

I'm looking at changing to a beneteau 44cc any comments from anyone on that design.

Dave

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by bob perry

I am happy to answer any questions. If I get testy and defensive it is because for the last four months I have worked day and night on this design I know every inch of it intimately. So what on the face of it may sound like testyness and defensiveness may in fact only only be testyness and defensiveness.

You've got no need at all to be defensive. The boat is gorgeous, and anyway, who are we to criticize a legend? No one here has the least qualification for that. Very kind of you to share your work; it is truly inspiring.

[bob perry]

Dockhead:
That's nice of you to say but I;m nota "legend". "I'm just the bottle that pours the wine"

[Dockhead]

Au contraire! Bottle or wine is not important; you are certainly and indisputably a legend among yacht designers, and it is a fantastic privilege to be able to talk with you here.

And, you're not just famous and important in the history of yacht design, you also happen to draw gorgeous boats.

It is wonderful to see that someone can have such a long career and keep growing creatively. This new boat of yours is really something. I'm not calling you old, by the way

[bob perry]

Dockhead:
Thanks for the kind words.

[Joli]

Bob, are you using railing (CC) to extend seatback height or is it simply for handholds?

Originally Posted by bob perry

Here is a anew project of mine that has two cockpits.

[bob perry]

Joli:
Both, back rest and hand hold. I will have to mock it up before I am satisfied with exct height and exact length. But I think I am close now.

I tried all sorts of ways to wrap a coaming around that cc but it always looked awful. Then I remembered a 70'er I did where we had no coamings at all and just used a removable pipe frame to work as a back rest. It worked great. We left in in while cruising and took it out for racing. It wasn't even fastened in. It just stayed in. If you pulled on any one section it would bind in the other sections and stay fixed. You had to pull straight up ro remove it. This one will be fixed in place. We may do an upholstered "sausage" to pad the top rail.

[anglooff]

Stunning looking ketch Bob. Great work.

I agree that the interior layout will be unique to new owner...but would love to see photos when completed if permitted.

Regards

Alan