Lots of questions

[Mabel Gee]

The missus and I fell in love with sailing over the past 2+ years in SoCal after a few years sailing on a Capri 14.2 and a MacGregor 25 on inland lakes. We are retiring in a couple of years and want to buy a boat to cruise south, spend a season or two in Sea of Cortez and if we truly love it head on down the Mexican coast. We anticipate spending the winter months cruising and summer months at our home in the northern Rockies. It will be just the two of us with intermittent visits by adult children and friends. We have a gazillion questions that I will put to this forum as time goes by and I thank you in advance for your time and honest answers. So here goes: the concept of an aft centerline bed looks really comfortable. However, there aren't many models with this feature outside of the center cockpit (CC) boats. One example is the Catalina 400 but that seems like more length than we need/want. Any strong opinions about cabin layout? In terms of sailing and handling, what is the difference with a CC? Why are there so few as compared to stern cockpits? Again, thanks in advance.

[JPA Cate]

Welcome aboard, MabelGee,

You will be getting a lot of answers from CC proponents. Our point of view is different. We llike aft cockpits. For me, the idea of a large island bed was very attractive, especially for ease of getting in an out of it. Looked at some CC boats, but decided other things were more important to me. To me, CC boats feel all chopped up.

Sleeping is only on off watches and at anchor anyway, a small portion of your waking hours. So, why spend so much boat volume on sleeping space, when, firstly, for coastal cruising or passage making you need secure sea berths, that support you and hold you safe and comfortable in a seaway, and secondly, you could have more of the stowage you need, or better galley space, or a nav station. IMO, you need sea berths that keep you parallel to the center line of the boat on both tacks.

You say you will have guests. Usually the aft doubles are well separated from the V-berth, so you don't need a CC for "space."

To me, CC's feel claustrophobic. As far as the sailing part goes, aft cockpits are much dryer, tend to have lower dodgers, and are easier to do trim from (can see the telltales), and sheeting angles for sails seem to work out better. This is all opinion, and so will the other side's be, it is really up to you to decide what you're going to want, and you might consider an interim boat for the purpose of deciding your preferences.

Ann

[rgscpat]

I dunno but I've been told... some people have said that center cockpit layouts work better in larger boats, say maybe 40-plus feet-ish.