Prefer Center or Aft Cockpit?

[Randy]

You might check with Bob Kingsland here on the forum, he spent years building one of the most beautiful steel boats I've seen and he's superb with steel & design.

[Rhosyn Mor]

Realised that the pic I posted wont enlarge, here is the link to picasa piccies of Rhosyn Mor 38 foot CC Jeanneau ketch
Picasa Web Albums - Nicholas - Drop Box#

[James S]

Originally Posted by boden36

Interested in your comments. I am about to change our 36 ft cutter from centre to aft cockpit (Steel boat so not too involved). I find the aft cabin too difficult to access, and the centre cockpit catches all the spray. In addition, the aft cab is full width, and often if she catches a wave on the weather deck, that water gets dammed up by the cabin and spills into the cockpit. I built the cabin for our daughter when she was a little girl, and she's 28 now.
Does anyone know of any good sites dealing with the basics of cockpit design? Regards, Richard.

I changed an aft helm to a center cockpit.

Steve & Linda Dashues book has some basic cockpit design info....can't remember the name off hand....Cruisers Encyclopedia or something like that....lots of good stuff and worth the cost.

[boden36]

Thanks Randy and James for your comments - I might try to find the Cruisers Encyclopedia. All I really need are some rules of thumb to check my own ideas against. Regards, Richard.

[mesquaukee]

Center cockpits are my preference.
Never have to worry about getting pooped. All that water slopping about finding its way down the companionway.
Single handed docking being so very easy as the loop in the aft end of the forward spring line is waiting beside the cockpit ready to be dropped on the bollard as we ease up to it. No need for all those mad dashes for and aft.
Nice roomy aft cabin an oasis from any noisy activity in the forward cabin. Separate entrances are to me a must for privacy.
More intimate galley salon area (see above).
Easily assessable and roomy engine space so should anything go wrong it is easily repaired.
Volumes of space in the engine space for storage. The weight being in the center of the boat where it belongs and not in the ends.
Stern cockpit boats are definitely prettier to look at.

[slap]

The current trend in boats with wide sterns means that an aft cockpit boat can have good sized aft cabins and have a very large cockpit. The interior is less chopped up, and there usually is better storage for bulky items like bicycles. An aft cockpit boat has a lower center of gravity, and less windage. While there is more pitch motion in an aft cockpit, there is less roll motion in an aft cockpit. While a center cockpit is higher up, it is also closer to the spray from the bow. Emergency steering may be more difficult on a center cockpit boat, and the steering system could be harder to fix.

[roger.waite]

Yes. There is a school of thought that says centre cockpit designs below the higher 30-something feet tend to cut up the internal spaces a bit much. And Bash's comment about staying dry cuts in big time when you are only 20' from the wet end.

That said, there are a lot of very happy customers in both configurations. Good friends like the sense of security of their 38' centre cockpit, which is enclosed in a cover to set mobility constraints on / rules for the small child they have on board. Shorter centre cockpit designs in NZ often have (need?) good spray protection ...

[camaraderie]

I've owned a few of each type of boat and much prefer the CC design for cruising but really think it only works well in boats over 40'.
For cruising and living aboard, which is 90% at anchor...the aft stateroom is great and the CC is a great place to hang out...with a good enclosure it is like a sun room and lets you sail and be comfortable in all kinds of weather. It is also more comfortable at sea since the motion at the END of the boat is significantly greater than at the middle.
I find the midship steering position is easier as you have full view of the entire boat in close quarters. On the downside...when coming into a slip, the helmsman cannot help catch the aft lines on the pilings/cleats so your crew must do that.
It is interesting to see how much higher CC ownership is among full time cruisers than among the general sailing population. With good reason.

[bstreep]

As noted above, it's a compromise - and you have to decide what your needs are, compared to what's available.

With a CC, you WILL need a dodger.

As noted above, the helmsman is worthless during docking

Yes, it's easier to see when docking a CC, but harder to see when sailing

Aft cockpits are more fun to sail.

More windage with a CC

The newer aft cockpit boats generally have bigger, roomier cockpits.

Even with the new wide ended aft cockpit boats, the aft palace STILL feels like a cave.