When searching for a cruising boat, centre cockpit was one of a list of desirable features for us.
I had owned a succession of 4 aft cockpit sailboats prior to
buying our
Pearson 385, 18 months ago.
I had confined my search to walk over centre cockpit boats since we wanted to stay below 40’
LOA, thinking at the time that this was the only way a CC worked below 45’. I learned I was mistaken when I set foot on this boat.
The walk thru requires only a slight
head dip (we are both 5’10”), and the roof slope is gradual, no head banging overhead beams. The rest of the boat varies from 6’ to 6’4” head room.
The cockpit will allow anyone under 8’ tall to stretch out lying on the seats. Room to lay down in the cockpit was on our list.
Settee sleeping space is a little more cramped at 6’2” each side.
Galley is U shaped, and the cook isn’t trapped in front of the
stove, an important
safety feature, I feel.
13 opening port holes and 4 hatches total, 5 portholes in the aft
cabin, with 1 overhead
hatch, so ventilation is pretty good in the aft cabin, and the rest of the boat as well. I spent over two weeks mostly anchored out on board in
Alabama,
Mississippi, and Tennessee in August and September. I slept in the aft cabin exclusively on this trip.
Another plus is the rectangular, standard size mattress in the aft cabin, so no crazy expensive fitted bedding.
The machinery space is much easier to access, like opening a cabinet door. This means you have no excuse for not checking fluids before every engine start.
No lazaret in cockpit, but a 2’x4’x3’ deep aft deck
storage and seat make up for this somewhat.
The coamings are a bit low in the cockpit, to reduce the wedding cake effect. This also reduces comfort , so backrest
cushions and stadium seats help there.
I haven’t experienced any big seas in this boat yet. I was in 4’-5’ choppy waves in the Gulf, running from an approaching
hurricane, and found the motion at the helm to be very gentle. In an aft helm boat the helmsman is lifted and dropped by the wave motion, where in the centre the motion is a fore and aft rocking motion. My mate is prone to
sea sickness, so this helps greatly.
The access to the side decks from the cockpit does suck, particularly if using the enclosure, but even without, the
bimini frame gets in the way. That being said, I was able to
single hand her through the Tenn-Tom waterway and Tennessee rivers (13 locks) it just takes developing a plan to handle her.
One perceptional difference I observed was with an aft helm, manoeuvring off of a lock wall or dock, the opposite stern swing seems less apparent. I forgot how much boat was behind me once or twice…
The boom is high, damn high, about 7’ above the cockpit sole, which is great until you need to access the top of the stack pack. This feature also moves the centre of effort higher, so that’s a negative.
Obviously I love this boat, and I think Shaw did a fantastic job of balancing the compromises of the form for the size.