E400,000 is a new MaineCat41 and a small house here, but You have scored a Bullseye with me. I have a few quibbles, though.
The forward bench in the
salon is too close to the window. It would be a perpetual head-knocker. moving the bench aft for a small 6" deep shelf would be useful for fans, speakers, or
charts, etc. and a good place to hide a
watermaker under that
A sturdy outward opening
companionway hatch would be reassuring, as would some very large drains in the
salon floor (with a simple flap for a check valve) to drain driven rain if not a pooping sea.
The
bimini top must be sturdy enough to kneel or stand on when working on the
mainsail. Needs non-skid, and
wiring chases for
solar panels and mushroom antennas.
PLEASE incorporate enough
electrical and
plumbing chases to allow easy future additions. These could be flush mounted antennas on the
cabin roof, a rain collector on the
bimini, replacement
hull transducers, a (gasp)
radar and/or N2K
weather station on the masthead, plus whatever new comes along in the next twenty years.
I hope that there is enough room at trhe
helm to mount a big multifunction display at the
helm and one at the nav station, with easy wire channels between the two. A wide door in front of a shielded
electronics bay would be very nice.
provide a way to hang fenders at virtually any position along the hulls.
Leave at least one bow locker deep enough to hang fenders and wet docklines to dry out.
And I hope there is enough room around the engines for a full removeable sound shield and access for really serious
maintenance.
Build in a place near each transom to attach chainplates for a drag device.
Incorporate a mounting for a
single pole boarding ladder, that extends at least 4 feet below the
water. Perhaps just a glue on wart (or bollock) on the bottom step.
Explore (via computer simulation) how the cat would float inverted in the hope of
rigging a few temporary berths above the inverted
water line. Make some of the less acccessible voids airtanks to float the
boat higher or more evenly when inverted. Offer
escape hatches, nonskid on the surface of the bridgedeck, and pad eyes (or just mounting sites for
lifelines, and an
emergency equipment bin accessible from both the top and the bottom. Mount the
EPIRB where it can be reached and activated from both right-side-up and inverted.
Protect the freshwater
tanks from seawater contamination, perhaps with just a check valve and a flopping pickup.
Protect the
fuel tanks from leaking inverted, and explore some way of protecting the batteries for the same reason.
Build in lightweight ladders or steps into any compartment more than hip deep.
Make the
rudder posts strong enough to hang the
boat on. Make the
emergency tiller actually useable, possibly with small block and tackle.
Make a place to store a spare dagger board and
rudder if desired.
Facilitate installing a
storm jib tacked to the back of the trampoline.
Facilitate a
bowsprit or prodder than can be positioned to port or starboard for tighter sheeting angles and to stay out of the way of the
genoa.
Facilitate an optional rotating partial wing
mast, with a top plate for masthead light and
weather transducer that doesn't rotate. It could be a torque tube from the forestay tang swivel.
Incorporate an optional copper mesh ground plane (ssb
antenna counterfoil) into your
layup schedule so that it is sealed and protected from damage, but has wide clamps for foil attachment.
And lose a pound or two while you're doing all that!