Seeking information on small pilothouse cruisers.

[Jono as 2234]

Not sure which country you are in, but look at a South Coast 36. Oz built, great sea boat, decent aft cabin. Mine had circumnavigated the Pacific twice. Getting a bit old now, but a survey will sort that. Not the fastest, not the closest sailor, but great for live aboard and ocean crossing.

[rancher44]

Please look at fisher sail boats . I have been looking at those boats for years.

I think you would be very impressed.Major sea going boat

[Spider0804]

Thankyou for all the replies.

Naturally I have not sailed these, so my thoughts are going purely off of the hull and rig data so if I stand to be corrected please let me know. I also do not know the fiberglass layup of the various boats and would need to investigate sturdiness, so that is a factor.

Cape Dory 300 ms - Looks like a large hard dodger almost instead of a pilothouse, also seems more like a coastal boat.
South coast 36 - Center cockpit not a pilothouse, neat layout for a 36' boat though.
Corbin 39 - Too large for what I am after, I have looked at one in person and they look amazing with the flush deck...just too much boat to take care of.
Sceptre 41 - Like the corbin this is too large.

Fisher's - 25 and 30 are almost a motorboat with a sail attached and look to be apocalyptically slow, 34 is slow. 37 is kinda slow.
Nauticat 33 - Slow

Rawson 30 - Little bit slow but looks to be a great little boat otherwise.
Pacific Seacraft 32 - Great.
Victoria / Frances 34 - Great.
Endurance 37 - This is an endurance 35 with a cutter rig, seems great.
Tayana 37 - Looks great, though the pilot house versions seem rare, might be a bit too big.

I am a single person with no desire to have a family so the larger boats are really wasted money in maintenance and larger sized gear to me, the smaller the better.

A small amount of space is not an issue to me.

I plan to have a boat within the next 1.5 years, my thoughts are if I start looking now I can find a good deal and pay storage until I get there instead of trying to find something at the last minute.

I appreciate the suggestions so far!

[jpendoley]

Pearson 365 Pilot HOuse if you can find one

[Junk Viking]

Reinke S10 / S11 or 11ms
REINKE TYPYACHT - KONSTRUKTION

True off shore cruiser, some steel, some aluminium.
Not fast, often not pretty, but cheap, safe and capable.

Really a Deck Saloon, many with raised settee and a 360 degree view from sitting inside.

Often good deals on very well equipped cruisers on the used market.


Sirius 310DS or 35DS for the ultimate luxury cruiser in the class.
If nothing else, a very good source of inspiration for what is possible in this size.
https://www.sirius-yachts.com/

[holtjp]

I just read an interesting article in Ocean Navigator magazine about a circumnavigators experience with a Tayana 37 PH. Nice looking boat and a good discussion of pros and cons.
https://www.oceannavigator.com/benef...lothouse-boat/

[Spider0804]

Originally Posted by Junk Viking

Reinke S10 / S11 or 11ms
REINKE TYPYACHT - KONSTRUKTION

Sirius 310DS or 35DS for the ultimate luxury cruiser in the class.

https://www.sirius-yachts.com/

I probably should have specified when I say pilot house I am looking for the inside steering station more than anything.

S10 / S11 no such luck, same with the Sirius.

[Jake Tanley]

Originally Posted by Spider0804

I probably should have specified when I say pilot house I am looking for the inside steering station more than anything.

S10 / S11 no such luck, same with the Sirius.

Sirius can incorporate an inside steering station at the Nav desk. Either fly by wire or a traditional wheel (on the 35' and up).

[Rohan]

Originally Posted by Spider0804

I probably should have specified when I say pilot house I am looking for the inside steering station more than anything.

Then I just want to point out that you can add a cockpit enclosure to almost any sailboat and it does the same job. That's especially true if it's a center cockpit boat. There are not many pilothouse sailboats, especially in small sizes. So this an option to consider because it would greatly expand your range of choices.

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by Rohan

Then I just want to point out that you can add a cockpit enclosure to almost any sailboat and it does the same job. That's especially true if it's a center cockpit boat. There are not many pilothouse sailboats, especially in small sizes. So this an option to consider because it would greatly expand your range of choices.

I don’t think I have ever seen a homemade cockpit enclosure on a sailboat that was completely enclosed, Though I guess you could build one that was.

Seems like it would be pretty hard to heat.

Al, S/V Finlandia

[Spider0804]

Originally Posted by Rohan

Then I just want to point out that you can add a cockpit enclosure to almost any sailboat and it does the same job. That's especially true if it's a center cockpit boat. There are not many pilothouse sailboats, especially in small sizes. So this an option to consider because it would greatly expand your range of choices.

I am pretty dubious that an enclosure built onto a center cockpit would stop water from coming in from all angles and be fairly easy to heat.

I could maybe see it on something built from factory with a hard dodger like a Rasmus 35 but have not seen examples of this done...probably for good reasons.

For finding my boat there do not need to be many, just one aggressively priced pilothouse with decent sail ability and seaworthiness within the next 1.5 years.

Recently there was a Saturna 33 for 28k that I wanted to go poke at but it was gone before I could even move on it.

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by svfinlandia

I don’t think I have ever seen a homemade cockpit enclosure on a sailboat that was completely enclosed, Though I guess you could build one that was.

Seems like it would be pretty hard to heat.

Al, S/V Finlandia

Just an addition to the above:

The purpose of a Pilothouse sailboat is to be able to sail inside warm and dry!

Al, S/V Finlandia

[Spider0804]

Originally Posted by svfinlandia

Just an addition to the above:

The purpose of a Pilothouse sailboat is to be able to sail inside warm and dry!

Al, S/V Finlandia

Can you comment on the sail ability of your nauticat?

The 35 looks like it might be alright.

Wondering about how well you are sailing to wind and in light airs in real world conditions.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by svfinlandia

Just an addition to the above:

The purpose of a Pilothouse sailboat is to be able to sail inside warm and dry!

Al, S/V Finlandia

But dont you still have to go outside to adjust sail trim, etc?

I don't think I have seen a pilot house with inside winches.

But I have limited exposure.

I also assume inside steering more or less means hydraulic steering.

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by Spider0804

Can you comment on the sail ability of your nauticat?

The 331 looks like it might be alright, the 35 too.

Wondering about how well you are sailing to wind and in light airs in real world conditions.

She is definitely no racer, but she sails well downwind and on a broad reach. She will reach, but she is slow.
She is a full keel and built strong and heavy for use in the North Sea.
Since I am usually in no hurry she sails fine for me. If I am in a hurry I fire up the 75 HP Perkins engine and it pushes the big prop on the boat very well.
My girl is old school being built in 1983. I think that you could compare her to a similar aged Fisher.
I am sure that the newer Nauticats like the 331 and 35 will do much better at sailing.

Al, S/V Finlandia
As I said above, the purpose of a Pilothouse sailboat is to be able to sail inside warm and dry when the weather is snotty outside.

Al, S/V Finlandia