boats with easy access to motors and elctrical

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by cottonsail

Two boats I have owned had very good and excellent engine access. The Beneteau First 405 had the engine under the centerline sink with good access panels all around. My current boat, a Swallow Craft Swift 33 has unbelievable engine access.

Unbelievably good I assume? [emoji6]

[P3sailor]

Most vessels I've sailed on have terrible access to engine, systems, and electrical. The best I've seen is the Amel Super Maramu, not without issues but the nicest I've sailed on.

[Simi 60]

Engine room access?
Full headroom and sit on a milk crate to work in ours.

[Joh.Ghurt]

Originally Posted by Seapig

To that end, are there any multihulls that are designed to allow easy access to the motors and other systems (electrical, plumbing, A/C etc.)?

I suspect the answer is no but I am curious.

If you want good access, you need to look into offshore racing boats. As those are very spartan on the inside, access to systems is a lot easier.

I don't know about multihulls, but for single-hulls the Open 40 is easier to work on than most other ships of the same size.

[BlackHeron]

Avoid anything with a hull liner. That makes access to everything extremely difficult.

The cat I have the most experience with is the Lagoon built by Beneteau. Engine access is pretty good, just lift the sugar scoop and it is right there like opening the hood of a truck. In rough seas it is a bit of a bother though. Might be impossible or just highly dangerous getting back there, and a wave could possibly swamp the engine room while you are in there. Some cats have the engines under the berth in the aft cabins.

[Heath68]

Without doubt the best i have seen ever in a multi was on the Neel 51. Full height headroom in both the electric room and the separate engine room with yards of space around everything. Very impressive place that full sized bikes can also go..
https://youtu.be/GGlcmqRF4EI

[Fore and Aft]

The Lagoon 380 I surveyed on Friday had good access via a hatch in the transom steps. Plenty of room, but Simi 60 has the right idea out of the weather and a seat as well. If he is real lucky maybe some air conditioning and a wife to pass a coffee down as well.
Cheers

[Tom and Maje]

Both the older Leopard 40 and 46 have easy access to both electronics and engines.

Maje

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Heath68

Without doubt the best i have seen ever in a multi was on the Neel 51. Full height headroom in both the electric room and the separate engine room with yards of space around everything. Very impressive place that full sized bikes can also go..
https://youtu.be/GGlcmqRF4EIAttachment 239800Attachment 239801

Oh yeah...the Neels are interesting boats. I was aboard one a few years ago...impressive access.

[catalystcat]

The St Francis is great. Even has a flat floor section in the bilge, removable panels everywhere, and pre-installed conduit.

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by Seapig

I recently spent 10 days helping a friend with the electrical on his boat.
Access to the engines and the wiring required a combination of circus level acrobatic skills and joints in places where most humanoids don't have joints.


To that end, are there any multihulls that are designed to allow easy access to the motors and other systems (electrical, plumbing, A/C etc.)?
I suspect the answer is no but I am curious.
SP

It seem to apply not only to multies but to monos as well.
On my 40ft yacht the engine is mounted under the center cockpit., if you are taller then 5ft you have serious difficulties to reach the starter motor or alternator unless I remove the exhaust manifold.
The simple plumbing has been permanently built-in under a non removable cabine sole, deep in the bilges.
I put this problem down to bad design without a thought of future repairs or maintenance.
Same goes for seacocks.
As a boat builder I work on all kinds if vessels and it's quite ridiculous what I come across at times.
Production boats are the worst regarding this, but hey, most are sporting an impressive company name.

[SailingFan]

Well, I can recommend that any here who are considering an older H27 to avoid consideration of removing the oil pan without pulling the SB8 out of the little shoebox of an engine compartment. The hull liner is part of the issue. The 2 inch space for dropping the pan is another, but the bolts along the sides and back of the pan are all but inaccessible. I should have lifted the engine OUT to change that pan. My hands were too big, so my brother in law pulled the bolts and dropped the pan, I used some epoxy to rebuild the part of the pan that had corroded away from a saltwater leak in the cooling hose, and to reinstall we found we are surely best off to pull the motor, and do some other things while we reinstall the pan. It took us only about 4 hours of combined gymnastics to decide we were insane and should have pulled it all in the first place and saved ourselves far too much pain afterward. I could have rebuilt the engine while it was out in the time we have wasted so far to only have the pan pulled and NOT reinstalled. Cherubini made nice hulls and a great layout for this relatively small monohull, but he apparently was not as fortunate in options for powering these vessels if it was his idea to use the SB8 and the hull he designed- I do not know if it was his idea, though, or maybe he had no other options..

[Seapig]

I have recently spent some time on a Leopard 47. The engine compartment in the sugar scoops is big enough to hold a barn dance, but because it is shaft drive the engines are forward under the bed. So while there is access from the "engine compartment" the engines aren't in it.
The plumbing occupies a thin space between the two heads which is so crammed with hoses that one can barely put a hand in to access the waste stopcock.
I will give it credit for better access than most for the electrical but it is a long way from easy.
I understand these boats are made for the charter trade and so having a head that doesn't have to be shared with strangers is more important than servicing those heads but surely a couple more inches wouldn't kill "the look"
In my admittedly limited experience, monohulls have better engine access than multi's but none of them seem to care much for easy electrical access. Next life I am going to build a boat that is designed around system access and then put the living spaces around that. Unfortunately I am far too old to start that kind of project now.

[Bill_Giles]

I spent many years maintaining fighter jets: nothing a boat can throw at me in terms of access can be classed as tricky, awkward or even difficult. That said the top of the mast is in a class of its own.

[Seymore]

Westsail 32s have excellent access to the engine and the electrics. The cockpit sole and the main companionway stairs are removable, fully exposing them. The wiring runs are under the ceiling and similar trim.