Centre Cockpit V Aft Cockpit

[Nostrodamus]

Some like one as opposed to the other.

We have a CC and love the extra room it gives us inside our boat, the all round view and feel very safe. In big seas as it is very dry and being quiet small provides a good place to wedge yourself in . Once you get used to it mooring is quiet easy and it is no problem hoping out of the cockpit to tie on.

On modern day boats with a huge cockpit aft I wondered what they were like in heavy weather. They may be good for entertaining in the sun but some have no substantial aft sections and just a couple of guard rails between you and the sea. The also are so big that there is no where to wedge yourself in.

So what are the advantages/ disadvantages between the two and which is your preference?

[Stumble]

I have sailed both extensively, and like them both. My one objection to a CC is on boats less than 40' I think you trade a lot of room down below to get the cockpit forward. That being said as boat leingth gets longer it really isn't a problem.

I don't feel any less secure in a modern wide beam boat, and there ate still plenty of places to jam into and use for a deck berth. The wide sterns also tend to heel much less than a narrower transom in the same wind/sail conditions due to the higher righting moment.

Below around 40' I will always choose an aft cockpit, above that's see it as a preference not really a better/worse question.

[Dockhead]

Check the archives -- many threads on this with hundreds of interesting opinions.

I love CC myself -- I prefer the view from there, prefer the layout below with full height aft cabin, prefer the type of engine space you get with most CC boats (under the cockpit). Also, the after deck on a CC boat is the best outdoor space on board -- with an AC boat you have much less usable, walkable, sittable deck space.

But I agree with those who say that CC doesn't really work below a certain size -- probably 40 feet. Not just because of the layout below, but because you end up too close to the bow to stay dry, in a CC boat which is not long enough.

But all this has been hashed a rehashed a million times. Check the archives!

[Irish rambler]

My French girlfriend and I live on a 33' CC Motor cruiser and we both agree with Nostradamus, the usable space is brilliant and at the end of the day the aft deck is the ideal place to watch the world go by with a sundowner. But as he says there are millions of opinions both for and against, after all it's what suits you personally that counts.