Centre vs Aft Cockpit

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Knowazark

Centre cockpits are deemed to be wet (...)

My experience is different.

Upwind any cockpit is wet, or dry - depending more on the general properties of the boat, and on how hard she is driven.

Downwind, the cc is drier.

My major criticism towards the cc is that on many designs it is located way too high up and such a cc is a hell to be in in heavy going when the boat will lurch and roll. This is, however, much more related to the freeboard and superstructure height than to whether the cockpit is central or aft.

b.

[Unicorn Dreams]

As above, as with any boat, it depends on the boat and the comditiona and how the boat is being driven.

Free board depends on the boat, there is another 43' CC tight nexr ro me at the dock that is at least a foot higher than my boat has. My free board at the midships boarding gate is 38" at the bottom of the toe rail. My profile is lower than the 38' aft cockpit that was next to us last year. It all depends on the boay, not where the cockpit is located.

As for wetness, I figure if I get wet, some one in an aft cockpit would get just as wet. If the spray reaches me up where I am, someone being aft of me is going to catch the spray as the spray is going towards the stern.

[sema2014]

Hi.. we are unexperienced sailors.. we are looking for a boat to sail for long distance during next 10 years.. I found beneteau 40 cc, with prety good condition.. but everybody is saying different stories for the cc boats.. is it good choose for us.. we are divers too.. we will be carring our compasour to fill our tanks during journey.. so I am not sure for the storage space too... could you give me any advise... thanks for the interests

[lifeofreilly57]

OK, I've owned both aft and CC boats, there are pros and cons for both, it really depends on what you want them for.
I now have knee high sea boots since the shorty bots got filled once when I got pooped in an aft cockpit boat with just enough water to get about an inch above the top of the boots, the rest of me was dry due to good foulies but my feet were cold and squishy for the next few hours, that's never happened on my CC boat.
Yes there's a bit more roll in beam seas in a CC but not enough to get cranky about.
I preferred the feel of most of the aft cockpit but that had more to do with the overall design of the hull and rig. The CC is definitely a cruising design but is an early performance cruiser design so I didn't give up that much.
Do I like the aft cabin for long term livability? You betcha, I spent enough years nose to nose with my wife in the v-berth to know that love does not conquer all, especially if you snore like a chainsaw like I do.
At one time I swore I'd never own a CC due to the higher center of effort, increased roll in the cockpit, etc, etc, but then we decided to make a plan to step off with the kids and suddenly the CC made sense.
I do agree that under 40' it becomes a really big compromise and doesn't make as much sense, but again, it's all personal preference.
I don't get any more spray in the cockpit in the CC than I did in the aft cockpit boats I've had, if your going upwind in snotty conditions you better have a dodger (soft or hard) or your going to eat a lot of salt water. So far I've found the CC to be dryer in general, but again that's a generalization and depends on the boat, some AC's are dry, some wet, I'm sure that holds for CC's too, my current one just happens to be dry.
After going to boat shows for years (new and used) and looking at everything under the sun with my wife we were able to better define what it is that both of us wanted out of our long term (and distance) boat. With that in hand it took another three years of looking to find a used boat we could afford that would fit our needs. She wanted the interior and comfort points, storage and entertaining space (hey, if your gonna live on it why not) I didn't want a barge that didn't sail well. We found both in this boat.
If you like the layout, if it fits your needs go for it. The Bendy's in the cruising range sail well enough for the most part, I'm not sure with that particular model since I haven't sailed one but have sailed other Bendy's in that size range, and they did have a decent layout from what I can remember on the CC Bendy's I've been on, so if it's right for you, what the heck, go for it.
Did you try any Bene owners sites to ask other owners? I do know that when I bought the latest boat the owner group was a good resource and they were pretty honest with the good and bad points of the boat.
I think the questions that would be more pertinent to your search would be does it have enough storage for our needs? Equipment included? Sail inventory? ETC, etc.
We are stepping off in a few years and will probably end up owning this boat for 10 or so but I do know when we're done with this phase I'll probably go back to an aft cockpit boat in a smaller size, but that will be for coastal cruising and club racing. All depends on what your doing.

[sapient sue]

Hi all the responses seem sensible to me but no one mentions crew size.
At 5ft 2in I can tell you getting into some CC's is a major exercise as my legs are just too short. I much prefer the ease of our AC.

Sue.

[robert sailor]

The concept that center cock pits have high free board are really dated. The new production boats, aft cock pits have free board so high now you need steps to board them from the side.

[lifeofreilly57]

On the question of freeboard I think it depends on the maker/design, I've seen them run the gamut in that respect.
Ours is in the middle, not as tall as others in it's class but not the lowest freeboard either. Depends on the designer.
WHen I brought our boat to a dock recently to have it hauled the boat in the slip next to it was an OC 42 (designed by Hank Hinckley) which had freeboard as low as the aft cockpit boats in the marina but still enough head room. Nice lines and layout on that one.
As for handling the boat? I've sailed mine single handed or with my wife since the kids are way too young to assist and it's doable since it's rigged for it but the loads on a 47' boat are high, it requires a bit of effort when it comes to cranking winches. My wife can handle it but she's got good upper body strength and can crank a winch with the best of them, her legacy of crewing on race boats.
If the boat is rigged right for shorthanded sailing I don't see a problem but of course the bigger the boat the bigger the loads. I do know there's a distinct difference between a 40'-42' and the 47'. How athletic are you? I know my limits and am honest about it, I'm not as athletic as I was in my 20's or even my 40's so I judge accordingly.
All depends on how it's rigged and whether the winches are sized correctly, as for whether a certain individual can handle a boat of a certain size? It all depends on the individual. A number of cruising couples have gone to electrically or hydraulically assisted winches on bigger boats to help handle the loads, which is fine, but adds another level of complexity to the systems aboard, I personally like to keep sail handling as straightforward as possible, if the motor or other systems fail you can still sail it. Nothing ever fails at a convenient time. Again, it's a personal choice.
I tend to go conservative when short handed, it avoids a lot of issues, but that applies to any boat whether a CC or AC, it's all about size. If I make it to my mid 70's I don't think I'll be single handing this boat.
So many choices!!!!!!!
For us the CC fits our needs at this time. I've no bias either way, I like them both for what they are, my choices are driven by the need at the time.

[skipmac]

I would respond almost verbatim what lifeofreilly57 said. Sue mentions access for short people. My wife is only 2" taller and has had no problem getting in to aft bed in our last two boats. In fact it was much higher to get into the v-berths in both. I think this is a factor of individual boat design and not a general characteristic of CC/aft cabin boats.

One other benefit for me. With only a couple of exception that I can think of, until you get close to 50' boats the layout for aft cockpit boats going aft to forward is always: cockpit, salon, v-berth with sometimes pilot berths aft. This leaves the v-berth as the main sleeping area or making up a bed in the main cabin every night. 90% of the cruising boats I see the v-berth is sail storage so you have to move the sails to sleep and I hate having to create a bed in the main cabin every night. I want a bed that's a bed and not a convertible or a dual purpose storage area. When I'm getting off watch and I'm tired and wet I want to dry off and get in bed, not make a bed.

One more thing, at sea sleeping in the v-berth is impossible if the weather gets rough.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by sapient sue

Hi all the responses seem sensible to me but no one mentions crew size.
At 5ft 2in I can tell you getting into some CC's is a major exercise as my legs are just too short. I much prefer the ease of our AC.

Sue.

Hi Sue,

Have you looked into Sperry platform boat shoes? What about a pair of high heeled sneakers?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by sema2014

Hi.. we are unexperienced sailors.. we are looking for a boat to sail for long distance during next 10 years.. I found beneteau 40 cc, with prety good condition.. but everybody is saying different stories for the cc boats.. is it good choose for us.. we are divers too.. we will be carring our compasour to fill our tanks during journey.. so I am not sure for the storage space too... could you give me any advise... thanks for the interests

Finding storage for a compressor can be a problem on most sailboats. I have seen boats the are sailed only by a couple where they converted the forward v-berth into storage and workshop and used the aft cabins for sleeping. If you plan to have more than two on the boat or have guests then this might not be a good plan.

[bytownboy]

I have a cc and love the aft cabin , large engine room and walk thru with great work bench. Also love the great headroom throughout. On the downside though is the lack of cockpit lockers - just one small one.

[Cheechako]

There are lot's of pros and cons... but basically it depends on what you like... probably a lot to do with interiors. If you like a big aft cabin, dry cockpit and large walk-in engine rom.. CC is for you. If exterior looks is important to you, an AC is for you.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by bytownboy

On the downside though is the lack of cockpit lockers - just one small one.

Forgot that point and it can be a big one. Current boat I have one on deck storage locker, no cockpit lockers and I really miss the storage.

The last CC cockpit boat I owned had no walkthrough, up and across the cockpit to go from cabin to cabin. I didn't really mind this at all and it allowed great big cockpit lockers and a CC layout.

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by old gaffer

...I'm particularly drawn to both the Norseman 447 and the Westerley 43...

I can't help with the Westerly but have done a bit of work and sailing on the Norseman 447 (they made both center and aft cockpit versions). The Norseman is a Robert Perry design that he did for, and with a great deal of input from, two of the finest people I have ever met, Harvey and Wally Freeman, Norseman's founders.

The boats were built at arguably Taiwan's very finest boatyard, Ta Shing. They have stunning good looks and interiors. And they hold their value extremely well. They sail OK. The low cockpit seat backs on the cc need a work-around, a common shortcoming of many cc boats.

[malbert73]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

I can't help with the Westerly but have done a bit of work and sailing on the Norseman 447 (they made both center and aft cockpit versions). The Norseman is a Robert Perry design that he did for, and with a great deal of input from, two of the finest people I have ever met, Harvey and Wally Freeman, Norseman's founders.

The boats were built at arguably Taiwan's very finest boatyard, Ta Shing. They have stunning good looks and interiors. And they hold their value extremely well. They sail OK. The low cockpit seat backs on the cc need a work-around, a common shortcoming of many cc boats.

Both have great traits. For same length, the main salon may appear larger and more airy on aft cockpit, at expense of expansive aft cabin in cc boat. Aft deck is nice on cc boat.

My biggest objection to many cc boats are 1. low cockpit coamings/seat backs, which usually are an attempt at aesthetics while maintaining standing/walking headroom in corridor to aft cabin. The brewer 44 seems to hit a great compromise in cockpit depth and below deck accomodation. It looks from pictures that the corridor to aft cabin is crouching headroom, which is a nice compromise IMO to deepen the cockpit without making the boat look like a layer cake.