About cruising boats.

[dunedin]

But the vast majority of sailors don't sail at night, and for those that occasioanally do, a canvas sprayhood is good enough.

Spot on - or at least "the vast majority of sailors ..... who are buying new yachts".
And when on the occasional overnight delivery trip almost certain to be on autopilot - as let's face it a modern gyro stabilised autopilot can steer a consistent course much better than any tired human in the dark
The only thing I would say is that the small glass windscreen at the bottom of the spray hood that HR, XC etc have is really good. Ideal height to improve vision when on lookout sitting warm and dry in the hatch way with coffee in hand

 

[dunedin]

Re "helm seats", again this is nice but probably not a deal breaker for a cruising boat.

Generally hand steer either
(A) for fun when sailing - in which case sitting on the side coaming to see sails, ideally with twin wheel setup, or standing to manage the waves surfing downwind
(B) for tricky pilotage or berthing - when standing is typically best

On the other hand, for me even if I could afford it I would never consider one of the Amel's with a fixed small wheel on one side only within the fixed dodger. This is a rubbish place to hand steer in either of the above situations - poor visibility of sails, poor feel and no wind in hair experience
And as noted if cold / wet or passagemaking under engine the autopilot is better anyway

 

[Sybarite]

But the vast majority of sailors don't sail at night, and for those that occasioanally do, a canvas sprayhood is good enough.

I don't like being cold and wet during the daytime either...

 

[Bobc]

The only thing I would say is that the small glass windscreen at the bottom of the spray hood that HR, XC etc have is really good. Ideal height to improve vision when on lookout sitting warm and dry in the hatch way with coffee in hand

Interesting you should say that. I hate canvas sprayhoods (can't see round them and can't see through them) so was thinking of getting a mate to fabricate me up a windscreen.

 

[Tranona]

It's a bit of a chicken and egg situation. If enough people want these features the price will come down.

Personally I am surprised that so few people want effective shelter. I for one do not enjoy being cold and wet on a night watch, yet I still want to have contact with the elements to have a better feel for them rather than keeping watch from Inside the boat.

Because I also like the idea of having the instruments at hand when helming, I prefer the idea of a solid dodger. On the older Amels the radar for example is mounted at the chart table but it's angled so that it is visible from the helming seat.

Many of the features (such as your desired shelter) add real cost, so even if more were produced cost would not necessarily come down.

Not sure why you should be surprised that few seem to share your enthusiasm for fixed shelters. As I pointed out earlier, there have been many boats on offer in the past with such a feature, but none have achieved volume sales. Even in today's market for larger ocean cruising boats where a shelter is easier to arrange, few buyers seem to choose it, although at least two builders place a strong emphasis on it.

The answer, I think lies in what a number of posters here have said. The flexibility and versatility of a good sprayhood, possibly with a fixed windscreen, and an autopilot meets their needs. Perhaps one also has to recognise that sailing in adverse weather is not a popular pastime for most, and boats are bought with a view to fair weather sailing with a nod to being tolerable on the odd occasion when out in the cold, dark, wet etc.. On the other hand if you plans include poor weather sailing as a matter of course, your decisions on both boat and equipment may well be different.

Long winded way of saying that people choose boats that meet their perceived requirements and try and achieve a balance of features so it should not be a surprise that they choose something different from your choice - or wish list.

 

[prv]

The only thing I would say is that the small glass windscreen at the bottom of the spray hood that HR, XC etc have is really good. Ideal height to improve vision when on lookout sitting warm and dry in the hatch way with coffee in hand

As the proud owner of a Swedish-style windscreen, topped with a sprayhood that comes down in nice conditions but provides good shelter in inclement ones, I would agree with that :encouragement:

It also provides a good protected position for an instrument console, a sort of continuation of the hatch-garage instrument row, where I have my main plotter, AIS display, switches for various deck equipment and lights, etc:

(Not the best photo since I was just on an evening potter in Southampton Water where most of those things were unneeded and remained covered.)

Without a windscreen to nestle under, I think such pods would be at risk of being kicked when the sprayhood was down and people moving around on deck.

While looking for the pic above, I also found this one of the pod moulds, which give a better idea of their shape:

The curved face is the forward side and made to snuggle right into the angle between windscreen and deck; at the closest point there's just a 10mm gap to be able to pass a cleaning cloth through and to avoid any rattling.

Pete

 

[Monique]

Our final boat is a... Amel Super Maramu.

 

[KellysEye]

>Apart from the large chart table (which is virtually redundant now anyway with modern electronics - discuss)

That's true if you are a weekend and holiday sailor who doesn't go far. Long distance sailing you have to carry charts as a backup to the chartplotter. On that basis when we kitted out the boat for long distance sailing we didn't buy a chart plotter we viewed it as a waste of money. We had a large chart table.

 

[prv]

That's true if you are a weekend and holiday sailor who doesn't go far. Long distance sailing you have to carry charts as a backup to the chartplotter.

Some people put this the other way round. If you are a weekend and holiday sailor who doesn't go far, you can afford to buy a comprehensive paper portfolio of your cruising area and keep it up to date. If you're sailing long distances you will need far more charts, they might not be as convenient to obtain, and keeping a global portfolio up to date is not feasible for leisure vessels. Whereas global coverage with electronic charts is far more convenient and a lot cheaper (or free for the many cruisers willing to download pirate CM93s).

I like using paper charts, I have full and up-to-date coverage of the central Channel and the West Country and I use them every trip. But if I was fitting out for a circumnavigation or similar, I would resign myself to giving up paper and going fully electronic with appropriate duplication and backup.

Pete