Opinion needed - Owner or Charter Version

[AST]

Greetings,
Typically (or at least I think) most cruiser would rather have an owner version. But if all things equal, which cat would you prefer
1- Two identical hulls (queen berth aft, full bath forward)
2- One hull for owner (queen berth aft, full bath forward). Second hull has smaller 2 berth aft and forward with a small head in between.
This is a layout for a 38-40 feet cat.
Option 1 make the 2 hulls pretty much identical. Option 2 is what you typically see in owner version.

Honestly I have been on cats with option 2 and if you want to entertain a guest family, I always thought I wished I had option 1. So they don't have to feel they are being squeezed. Now sure option 2 will let you have 3 different berthing, but how realistic to have 3 couples sharing a 38 foot boat and be comfortable.

Would love to hear you views on this.
Thanks,

[fxykty]

I assume you meant for option 1 to be two identical hulls with berth cabins aft and forward and shared head in between? At 40’ you can see double heads on both sides, so no head sharing at all.

The larger head in the owner hull is much preferred for live aboard and why would you want someone else sharing your hull? 2 cabins sharing a head and shower in the other hull is fine for friends or family - they’re on the boat for a vacation, not for life like you (perhaps, not sure of your situation). If they didn’t feel at least a little bit squeezed they might decide to stay too long!

In a charter situation you could fit 8 people in a 38/40 foot 4-cabin boat. But it would get tight after a couple of weeks. 6 in a 3-cabin boat would also get tight after a few weeks - salon and cockpit spaces aren’t that big on a boat that size. Even for friends or family anymore than 4 gets tight on a boat that size - think storage space for clothing, gear and food.

It’s said that resale value is higher for owner hull versions, especially if most layouts in the model are 4-cabin. Would that be a consideration?

[dougweibel]

I've never seen a "charter" version with one cabin on each side. Generally it is two+ cabins per side. If you are frequently going to have 8 people sleeping aboard, as often happens on charter, then a charter version makes sense. For non-charter ownership an owners version is a much nicer setup. Most owners would be either a couple or a family. In both cases the adults get the "owner's hull" with a larger cabin and head. Kids or guests sleep in the opposite hull with less room.

We live on a 44' cat and the idea of having a charter layout versus an owner's layout sounds like lunacy. Why would we cramp ourselves 100% of the time so guests have more room the low percentage of time they are aboard. As far as making sure everyone has a "bed" we have only once had more than 6 sleep aboard and in that case one slept on the cockpit settee.

[Statistical]

Neither of those are charter version. The charter version is each hull has two berths and shared head (or even worse two heads). It is the dumbest most cramped option but the one that lets the charter company sell it as an 8 berth model which will always be more than a 6 or 4 berth model.

Personally of the two options you proposed I would take 1. People always overestimate how many guests they will have and 80% to 99% of the time the extra berth just end up as poorly designed storage spaces.

[leecea]

Since we'll never own such a vessel it's a bit academic, but as grandparents we'd need the version with an owners hull then two cabins in the other hull.

[Tin Tin]

Originally Posted by AST

Greetings,
Typically (or at least I think) most cruiser would rather have an owner version. But if all things equal, which cat would you prefer
1- Two identical hulls (queen berth aft, full bath forward)
2- One hull for owner (queen berth aft, full bath forward). Second hull has smaller 2 berth aft and forward with a small head in between.
This is a layout for a 38-40 feet cat.
Option 1 make the 2 hulls pretty much identical. Option 2 is what you typically see in owner version.

Honestly I have been on cats with option 2 and if you want to entertain a guest family, I always thought I wished I had option 1. So they don't have to feel they are being squeezed. Now sure option 2 will let you have 3 different berthing, but how realistic to have 3 couples sharing a 38 foot boat and be comfortable.

Would love to hear you views on this.
Thanks,

I don't know too many cats that have 2 rear berths and two baths forward.

ie 2 cabin boat, there is the Mahe 36 Maestro Duo that has this layout and thats about it.


Realistically it depends on logistics and location.


If you have a boat on your own dock or marina and have an extended family (with maybe kids) that loves sailing that live close by and cruise local coastal waters then the more beds the better.


If you plan to sail to remote places that don't have an airport nearby, the chances anyone will show up can be slim, and they won't stay long if they do (in our experience anyway) and its usually only one couple, trying to get two couples to come at the same time is nigh impossible. Then the DUO layout would fine.


Then again age does play a role we have seen a Leopard 38 with 4 doubles and 2 singles with 10 young people aboard enjoying their 7 day charter at a very reasonable price per head. We once buddy boated with a Belize 43 that had 11 aboard.