Centre v aft cockpit?

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Straightman21

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I have a traditional aft cockpit yacht but considering moving to a centre cockpit [more accommodation - grandchildren etc - sigh]. For those of you with experience of both, views on pros and cons, including the impact of being higher off the water in a centre cockpit re rolling would be most welcome.
 
You do not necessarily get 'more' accommodation with a centre cockpit boat - many aft cockpit boats have a pair of double quarter cabins in addition to a forecabin, whereas a centre cockpit boat of the same length might have fore and aft cabins.
How big / what type is your current yacht?
One advantage of an aft cockpit boat is that you are further away from the cold wet stuff coming over the bow when going to windward. Another is that there is usually more space on deck for stowing a rigid dinghy, compared to a centre cockpit.
Some centre cockpits are quite 'high' - the main issue here might be that you have a steeper / longer companionway ladder down into the saloon.
Centre cockpit boats often have the mainsheet taken to the end of the boom; in terms of leverage, this is more effective than having the mainsheet almost in the middle of the boom, as you often see on aft cockpit boats with mainsheet travellers forward of the companionway.
 
Straightman21 said:
I have a traditional aft cockpit yacht but considering moving to a centre cockpit [more accommodation - grandchildren etc - sigh]. For those of you with experience of both, views on pros and cons, including the impact of being higher off the water in a centre cockpit re rolling would be most welcome.
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You might like to look at this YBW Forum thread as well

Centre vs aft cockpit: pros & cons? (21 Jun 2009)

Centre vs aft cockpit: pros & cons?
 
I've had both types. I prefer a centre cockpit, slightly more gentle motion, "feels" more protected, rather easier to nip on to the deck for mooring. On the other hand, some centre cockpit boats have a very high cockpit and feel very exposed, not to mention a huge ladder down into the cabin - the Westerly Seahawk springs to mind.

The current fashion for aft cockpit boats with large drop-down stern platforms has a lot of advantages in marinas, where you can moor stern-to and simply step off the boat on to the pontoon.
 
For sailing in warm places I chose an aft cockpit boat. The main boating activities - swimming, getting into the tender and stepping onto a quayside are all much easier to do from an aft cockpit. It’s also the main room you live in (our saloon table is surrounded with sofas separate from the
walkway foreward but hardly gets used), and aft cockpits are bigger.

We also keep our 3m rib on the larger foredeck and have 3 separate double cabins plus a bunk bed cabin - none big but they are just for sleeping ( and storage).


Both aft and centre cockpits in most modern boats are shallow and high so not much in that.
 
Centre cockpit, can be wetter, you are higher up so potentially more exposed to rolling, front of boat is nearer so can be less intimidating, it encourages gentlemen of a certain age, to walk to the pushpit on night watch subsequently then found drowned with flies open. From a more practical point, the steering gear can be more complex & should it fail, you need an enormous emergency tiller ;) .
 
I chose a centre cockpit boat thinking that the kids would like the after cabin to themselves - in fact they preferred the fore cabin and I ended up in the after cabin. In a smaller boat (28 feet), I think now that it wastes space. Against that - I still have the boat!
 
I have little experience of sailing centre cockpit boats, but I find most of them rather odd, with the mast and bow just in front of you. Some of them are awkward to access and return from the side deck, and most have a long companionway ladder into the saloon. The extra height can make the cockpit roll more too. I have never had enough money to pay for a large enough boat to have a choice, other than the Moody 346 type which I only know as a guest, but would have been content with the lower cockpits of the larger HRs.

I would sooner have a mainsheet behind me in a centre cockpit than one out of reach on the coachroof. The aft fixing for the mainsheet was considered less satisfactory than a centre one which counteracted the pull of the sail, but with modern loose-footed sails this is presumably of no account.
 
Aft cockpit for me any day. I had a Moody 33 at one time, and could never get over the fact that on going down below the main bulkhead appeared to be right in your face.. because it was.

I have an old Contest 33 now, which is very pretty to look at but small by modern standards. On the other hand.. A 1980 Beneteau First 35 that I owned for eleven years was perfect in many ways really. Great sailing boat, aft cockpit, but with huge accommodation, including two cabins aft.
 
I would agree with the comments regarding size. I owned a large fifty footer with CC - worked fine for privacy with walkthrough and a real engine room under the cockpit. On smaller, more traditional shaped boats a CC wastes the widest and most useful part of the accommodation and chops the arrangement into unnecessarily small bits. IMHO
 
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