Driehuyzen vs Brewer

[hard-a-ground]

I have been on a Sceptre 41 - seems to be a decent traveling machine. Remarkable design insight by Mr. Driehuyzen in my opinion(where did he go?). There is also a Three Seas 40 PH design by Ted Brewer (CC Chen builder)... Seems to go by the name "Brewer 40 Pilothouse". These two boats look to be scratching a similar itch. However I have not seen the Brewer design. From the on-line pictures it appears the Brewer design may not be as handy at sea - cabin trunk. Not so good of a galley in the Brewer, and you loose the option of a pilot berth. Ahh but the view from the pilothouse... My wife is taken with the Brewer's PH windows. Any thoughts on these two boats?

There is an obvious price point difference - not so obvious is why the price difference.

In terms of use... I am thinking a boat should be competent at Carribean Island hopping, Mediterranean sailing, North-west passage, New Zealand, Cape of Good Hope.

[S/V Alchemy]

Huh. You are going to have a hard time checking all those destination boxes with one "perfect" boat. The Brewer designs in the 40-50 foot range are well-proven and popular, but as most are farmed out as designs and not "factory" builds, you really have to see one, preferably with a locally hired surveyor, to judge if the build equals the blueprints.

The boat I would choose for NWP and any Southern Cape is not the boat I would choose for the Caribbean. If I were to stay only island-hopping, I would pick a PDQ or South African catamaran. Look at my steel pilothouse cutter: it's in the same headspace as a few of the Brewer designs. That I would take to the Arctic or the Antarctic, and yes, part of that is the pilothouse. Note that many pilothouses contain pilothouse berths, a place to sleep offwatch that is nonetheless near the "action".

Sailing qualities are less important at sea. You want to be able to heave to and to have a smooth ride and fast isn't as important as keeping going. Some will argue that the ability to do eight instead of seven knots at 40 feet LOA will keep you out of bad weather, but if a storm is doing 12 knots, you're getting hit and you want a boat that can deal with that.

Check out Ted Brewer's website. He replies to e-mails, too.