Cruising boats with large, open transoms - why?

[doug748]

I really like a lot of features of the RM Yachts, but one feature that really doesn't appeal at all is the wide open transom. What is the market appeal of this feature? I can understand that on a heavily crewed hard-driven racing yacht in the southern oceans that an open transom might be useful for evacuating waves that come over the bows - but what is the point on a (admittedly fast) cruising yacht? It just looks like a death-trap to me. The helming position (on the twin wheel boats) also looks positively perilous.

 

[maby]

If you want an open transom, you could try this chap's solution to the lack of seating. He's got landing flaps as well.

But you are never going to fit a full size windsurfer into that cockpit or pump up a reasonable size dinghy.

 

[johnalison]

But you are never going to fit a full size windsurfer into that cockpit or pump up a reasonable size dinghy.

Yes, but that's an argument for having a tiller isn't it?

 

[Ric]

Why? Because they are fantastic for swimming, launching the SUP or wind surfer, fishing and pumping up the dinghy. Also good for entertaining - we have plenty of room to throw a dinner party in the cockpit. It's probably a reflection of the changing face of "Cruising" - we coast-hop, not willingly going out in much more than a Force 4 to 5 and seldom going more than 10 miles off-shore. The boat is a platform for waterborne living rather than an end in itself.

Yes, some of the more ridiculous contemporary designs are clearly aimed at that market.

That's definitely not the niche the RM yachts are aimed at. They are marketed as fast offshore cruisers. They are great boat but the open transom is not my idea of a secure cockpit for offshore cruising.

 

[maby]

Yes, but that's an argument for having a tiller isn't it?

or twin wheels...

 

[Bobc]

Utterly ridiculous IMHO. It's just a fashion statement (trying to make the boat look like a TP52 so his mates will be impressed).

Not child-friendly or pet-friendly. Drop ANYTHING in the cockpit and you can wave byebye to it. If you do get hit by a growler there's nothing but a wire between you and Davey Jones.

Just a fad.

 

[Daydream believer]

You can always add extra wires & some netting so it is not really a big deal & it would not tick any negative boxes if i liked the rest of the boat

 

[pvb]

I don't think I'd ever feel safe in something like the RM1360 which Ric posted, it just looks far too exposed. Last year, I bought a new Bavaria Cruiser 37, with the huge fold-down "swim platform" (as if, on the East Coast!). After almost 40 years of centre-cockpit boats, the 37 feels very different, but it doesn't feel quite as exposed as I'd expected, because the swim platform is substantial and acts as a seat as well.

 

[Twister_Ken]

No doubt most of you will be horrified by this...

One of us, at the helm of my boat, somewhere in Biscay. Part of a 2100 nm trip in which no one fell off the back, and no gear was swept out of the cockpit.

Sorry to disappoint you!

 

[bbg]

When I first saw open transomed boats my reaction was the same as that of many on here. Having raced them single and double handed for thousands of miles, it now seems like a complete non-issue. I don't feel any less secure then on a fully-transomed boat. I suspect I would feel somewhat claustrophobic in a small cockpit.

 

[rwoofer]

As an ex-RM owner I can state that at the time all RMs came with a fold down transom as an option. For some reason most owners didn't go for that option. I presume the current range has this as an option as well.

 

[Binman]

Time will tell, but not for me, not for use of young children, anyone says there safe for youngsters wants there head tested. You need to wear life jacket and be secured at all times, they scare me to death.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Apart from the other merits/demerits of open transoms, I should add that it makes it a lot easier to get off the boat when moored stern to.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Time will tell, but not for me, not for use of young children, anyone says there safe for youngsters wants there head tested. You need to wear life jacket and be secured at all times, they scare me to death.

There may be a case for banning children - but why are they any more likely to fall between stern wires that they are between guard rails? (PS - netting?)

 

[prv]

There may be a case for banning children - but why are they any more likely to fall between stern wires that they are between guard rails? (PS - netting?)

Because the stern wires are in the cockpit, whereas conventional guardrails aren't. If we spent most of our time under way sitting on the foredeck then your comparison would be valid.

Pete

 

[Seajet]

When I used to race dinghies it was not uncommon, if we were getting a pasting in strong winds and had a capsize or three, for the coiled halliard ends to be dislodged and the ends go through the open self bailers, trailing the line behind; in fact sometimes handy for pulling oneself back to the still moving boat if washed out from under the toestraps.

I can just imagine all sorts of probably handy and expensive gear going straight out of the back of an RM or similar in heavy weather, and even if I valued the quick draining I must say I'd feel exposed; children & pets a definite no-no.

Like PRV I fancy the idea of a fold down transom flap, that seems the best of all worlds to me.

 

[Twister_Ken]

When I used to race dinghies it was not uncommon, if we were getting a pasting in strong winds and had a capsize or three, for the coiled halliard ends to be dislodged and the ends go through the open self bailers, trailing the line behind; in fact sometimes handy for pulling oneself back to the still moving boat if washed out from under the toestraps.

I can just imagine all sorts of probably handy and expensive gear going straight out of the back of an RM or similar in heavy weather, and even if I valued the quick draining I must say I'd feel exposed; children & pets a definite no-no.

Like PRV I fancy the idea of a fold down transom flap, that seems the best of all worlds to me.

Halyards are in bags, so don't get washed out the back, and why would you have expensive gear unsecured on the cockpit floor?

Get over it - open transoms work.

 

[prv]

why would you have expensive gear unsecured on the cockpit floor?

Because I did have it on the seat or tucked under the sprayhood, but I live in the real world and it fell or got knocked onto the floor. In a sensible cockpit that's no big deal.

Get over it - open transoms work.

What do we mean by "work" here? That implies there is some job which they successfully do, yet the only benefit I can see is the rather dubious one of styling. The point about swimming etc is a red herring, because a flap-down transom does those things just as well, or even better if you consider the extra area it adds.

Pete

 

[Twister_Ken]

Because I did have it on the seat or tucked under the sprayhood, but I live in the real world and it fell or got knocked onto the floor. In a sensible cockpit that's no big deal.

Not a big deal. In my cockpit I'd pick it up and put it back again, except I'd secure it better.

What do we mean by "work" here? That implies there is some job which they successfully do, yet the only benefit I can see is the rather dubious one of styling. The point about swimming etc is a red herring, because a flap-down transom does those things just as well, or even better if you consider the extra area it adds.

I mean work in that it works. Boats don't sink and lives are not lost because of open transoms. Does it do anything better? Well, it drains more quickly, no more gurgling down the plug hole that cockpit drains suffer from. It keeps weight out of the end of the boat. It provides more room behind the wheel which you'd lose with some sort of transom seat. It makes access to the boat easier when moored stern to - which happens throughout the Med and in some of the Baltic, I believe. As to a fold-down transom, if you like - but I'd point out that it provides a few more points of potential failureand/or maintenance (hinges, locks, struts or lanyards) and increases build cost.
Pete

 

[Joker]

It's perfect: