Bestevaer 49ST

[Seaworthy Lass]

Better view of the hand rail on the pilot house top. One of the new cockpit locker lids can just be seen here as well:


http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/...sy4jn66cy.jpeg

[Seaworthy Lass]

No one has spotted that we have no companionway overhead sliding hatch. I haven't yet seen a yacht without one of these.

We consider them more annoying than beneficial when the pros and cons are weighed up. One of the bonuses is that climbing in and out of the boat will keep us agile in our too fast approaching old age .

It does make it more practical in our case as there is only one step down to the pilothouse floor and this step is at the same level as the cockpit floor. We trialled the entry/exit manoeuvre out in some of KM's existing boats with the hatch closed and we don't think we will miss having a hatch.

Note the decent overhang at the rear of the pilot house. This creates a very useful mini dodger. There is a continual handhold around the entire overhang as well:


http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/...sjmsegt2i.jpeg

[Juho]

If the step to the pilothouse is at the cockpit floor level, how will you stop water flowing to the pilothouse when a large wave enters the cockpit? Maybe a watertight door, or some sort of washboards for stormy weather.

Maybe you have also a small threshold to stop rain water flowing in.

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

No one has spotted that we have no companionway overhead sliding hatch. I haven't yet seen a yacht without one of these.

We consider them more annoying than beneficial when the pros and cons are weighed up. One of the bonuses is that climbing in and out of the boat will keep us agile in our too fast approaching old age .

It does make it more practical in our case as there is only one step down to the pilothouse floor and this step is at the same level as the cockpit floor. We trialled the entry/exit manoeuvre out in some of KM's existing boats with the hatch closed and we don't think we will miss having a hatch.

Note the decent overhang at the rear of the pilot house. This creates a very useful mini dodger. There is a continual handhold around the entire overhang as well:

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Juho

If the step to the pilothouse is at the cockpit floor level, how will you stop water flowing to the pilothouse when a large wave enters the cockpit? Maybe a watertight door, or some sort of washboards for stormy weather.

Maybe you have also a small threshold to stop rain water flowing in.

The latter is right, except it is a fairly high threshold we will need to step over (it is just a bit lower than the cockpit seats). We also have washboards that will slide down and be counterbalanced, making drawing them up to any position easy.

We found having the step in the pilot house the same level as the cockpit floor makes it much easier to move in and out without an overhead hatch, as you don't need to alter the amount you are stooping.

[Van Der Beek]

I like the length of the extended hand rail keeping it nice and safe, I gotta say I'm not a fan of those tangs though, I like a clean deck but that's irrelevant not my boat and admittedly they can come in handy.

The dinghy looks to be on the small side but at the same time it leaves room on the side deck as you said, perhaps worth the trade-off of having to do some extra trips when restocking etc.

I gotta say that the framing looks great too, she will be one sturdy girl.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Van Der Beek

The dinghy looks to be on the small side but at the same time it leaves room on the side deck as you said, perhaps worth the trade-off of having to do some extra trips when restocking etc.

Dinghy size is another of the dozens of compromises that need to be thought about, but this decision wasn't one of the difficult ones. It only has to cater for two.

One vital thing driving the size chosen wasn't so much the need to fit it on the deck, but that the dinghy plus motor need to be light enough for me to drag ashore when beaching it. It would severely restrict my independence if I could not do that on my own. Given our preference for quiet anchorages, I very rarely find a quay to tie up to.

Provisioning isn't a big deal. Carefully packed, a few trolley loads fit in when there is only one person on board.

An added bonus of a small dinghy is that there is less dangling out the back when it is hung on the davits, as it will usually be.

SWL

[packeteer]

I had noticed the lack of sliding hatch, but thought it was normal with their design

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

No one has spotted that we have no companionway overhead sliding hatch. I haven't yet seen a yacht without one of these.

We consider them more annoying than beneficial when the pros and cons are weighed up. One of the bonuses is that climbing in and out of the boat will keep us agile in our too fast approaching old age .

It does make it more practical in our case as there is only one step down to the pilothouse floor and this step is at the same level as the cockpit floor. We trialled the entry/exit manoeuvre out in some of KM's existing boats with the hatch closed and we don't think we will miss having a hatch.

Note the decent overhang at the rear of the pilot house. This creates a very useful mini dodger. There is a continual handhold around the entire overhang as well:

Interesting.... What is the height of the opening?

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by packeteer

I had noticed the lack of sliding hatch, but thought it was normal with their design

It was one of our requests that was not queried , so hopefully it will function OK.

I think a sliding hatch is such a conventional feature that few people stop and think whether all that complexity is actually required when the opening is fairly large. Bending a bit to step in and out is not a big deal.

It will make getting the interior in slightly harder, but not unduly so. We have a loop on the pilothouse ceiling to use for engine removal if necessary and this will also aid with installation. One nice thing compared to lots of production boats is that everything is installed after the cabin top is fitted, meaning we should also be able to get everything out if needed later.

SWL

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Interesting.... What is the height of the opening?

1.2m (4')

[packeteer]

1.2m with the step down??

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by packeteer

1.2m with the step down??

The opening of the entry to the pilothouse is about 0.35 m above cockpit floor level (the threshold we will need to step over) and the size of the opening is about 1.2 m above that. This makes the top of the opening about 1.55m above the level of both the cockpit floor and the wide step in the pilothouse.

The top of the pilothouse is 1.62 m above the cockpit floor. Just low enough for me to be able to peer over . They checked our heights.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

1.2m (4')

Thanks.....would you not be concerned about getting something a bit wider than 4ft inside in the future ?
Say a new mattress?

[packeteer]

hmm, seems a little tight for the 6+ footers amongst us. will be interesting to see how it goes in practice.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Thanks.....would you not be concerned about getting something a bit wider than 4ft inside in the future ?
Say a new mattress?

A mattress is going to be our biggest item and we need 6ft for the largest, but mattresses do roll (ours won't be sprung).
The dining table won't do through without the top on, but the hatch would not have helped there. All counter tops and pieces of fitted furniture and most importantly the engine will go through. We can't think of anything else. Our interior won't be complicated.