Seawind Helm Position

[jmcelwee]

Hiya,

All good questions, so I thought I'd chime in. I owned an 1160 for about a year, and cruised it from the west coast of FL up to new england.

The helm positions are generally quite good for weather protection. We sailed without side 'clears', and still didn't get too wet. I would, however, highly recommend getting that set of side protection! If worried about weather from the stern, it would be relatively easy to get a stern shade or panel fabricated that you could install during rough weather or for sun protection. Having chartered many cats now, I still like the Seawind helms.

To your question regarding an interior forward-facing position, this was certainly a drawback from my experience. On long watches, or during bad weather, staying inside the saloon is very desirable, and the lack of a forward-facing position for watchkeeping is a real drawback on this boat. We ended up using a beanbag chair in the main settee area (with the table down in the berth setup) which worked fairly well. Still, larger boats that have a forward facing nav in the main saloon is the ideal setup.

Overall, I would say the one aspect of the Seawind that is overlooked compared to other production cats in the same market segment is just how easy they are to maneuver and how little (comparatively) windage they have. Our seawind was a joy to sail, easy to handle, and was great in close maneuvers inside marinas or tight quarters. The low freeboard is awesome. We've looked at all the other options from FP, Lagoon, etc, and if I had the money to buy a brand new 40 foot cat, I'd go for a Seawind again without any qualms.

Storage is a challenge on the boat, but that's the trade-off with having a small, well-sailing cat compared to the floating condos...

-Josh

[phlbald]

Originally Posted by sailjumanji

Ok, I have to correct something I wrote. Took the boat out sailing today. If sitting at the steering station, and you look up, the hardtop does not extend over your head. Not sure why I never noticed this. But if it starts raining straight down, and you don't have the side clear snapped in, you will get wet.

On the 1260 the hardtop does extend all the way across.

[sailjumanji]

Originally Posted by phlbald

On the 1260 the hardtop does extend all the way across.

Does it extend above your head when sitting at the steering ststion?

[phlbald]

Originally Posted by sailjumanji

Does it extend above your head when sitting at the steering ststion?

Yes it completely covers the Helms.