Does a wheelhouse sound attractive?

I have a Rasmus and find it a good compromise

glass windscreen sorts visability forward

handles on roof sort accessability forward via wide side decks

cover on back half of cockpit has two roll up doors so you can sail indoors if really miserable

its great when a squall comes in to turn on the autopilot and just slide forward under teh cover of the hardtop
 
The sad thing is we have a raised cockpit and a wireless remote for the auto pilot so I could steer from inside if needed but it does not feel right. I need to be out there in the wind, rain and cold stood behind a wheel so I know i am sailing but occasionally the thought of wheelhouse just seems good.
 
MrCramp said:
I have got a half-wheelhouse...................known as a dog-house!! SWMBO thought that meant we could take the dog with us!!
I intend to get a cover made to fit between the dog house and the rear cabin but I think I have got the best of both worlds..
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After 50 years of sailing wet and sporty boats the light dawned and at the age of 70 I too bought a boat with a doghouse. Why it took so long to wise up I'll never know.

With an inside wheel with comfortable seat AND an aft tiller I have the best of both worlds. The one downside is the inability to see what the mainsail is doing, but that disadvantage is a small price to pay.


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Nostrodamus said:
What better feeling that being behind the wheel of your boat, sun beating down and the sails fully set.
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When you do reach more southerly latitudes your "better feeling" will be getting very sweaty and wilted in the full glare of searing sunlight. A doghouse solution is the answer, as is a permanently-rigged bimini - I have both - and impossible (and seriously unhealthy) to sail without.
 
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I gave a lot of thought to installing a wheel and engine controls in my bridgedeck saloon. In the end I decided it would be sufficient to have the autopilot repeater in reach of my chart table seat so I can dodge without going on deck.

BTW I also have a doghouse.
 
We have what H Rassy call a hard top, closed at the front and sides but open to the stern. It has opening windows in the front. When I first looked at the boat with a view to purchasing it nearly put me off. However now I can hardly imagine sailing a boat without one. Its great in the Med. summer heat as shade and we have a bimini to cover the rear of the cockpit. It was great sailing in the winter in northern Europe as a canvas cockpit cover with clear plastic window attaches.

Finally we have just completed a 45 mile stretch across the Aegean with winds constantly above 35kts gusting to 42 kts the spray was hitting the front like bullets, we were tucked under the hard top in shirts and trousers clipped on with lifejackets to hand feeling very comfortable. The wife who is a bit nervous in such conditions would never have put up with it if we only had a spray dodger like our last boat.
 
Wheelhouses...why so few, in our climate?

Very interesting thread.

I’m routinely laughed at on this forum, for trying to find ways for yachts with sheltered helm positions to show less restricted performance. I recognise that ‘raised-saloon’ cruisers manage many of the accomplishments of both styles.

I suppose that the type of yacht which is designed with a large wheelhouse, is quite often a hefty old motor-sailer anyway, and the raised superstructure has unfortunately stuck in the common thinking, as inevitably the fruit of compromise.

But…even where that’s accurate, isn’t it easily worth it? Even just in pure value terms?

I mean, in UK waters, would you rather spend the winter holiday aboard a Nauticat or a Beneteau? The first offers a well-lit 360º visibility place to eat meals, and a warm place to steer, even in a frosty gale; the other…I don’t want to think about it!

A simple, serious question for owners of yachts with unsheltered cockpits: are you honestly content with such a large investment in a toy that’s only a pleasure from April to October at best? My respects, to those who can afford such small returns.

Hardcore racers and other oil-skinned masochists may claim to relish fresh air and performance in all weathers. That won’t persuade SWMBOs and sane friends. Isn’t it as simple as motoring in UK weather - and choosing between a motorbike and a Range Rover?

It hasn’t escaped me, that X-Yachts, Sweden Yachts and Nautor Swans are about as sleekly sporty as cruisers get, and that they’re from cold latitudes. Perhaps the fact that they’re all MEGABUCKS, implies that their owners spend their winters in the Caribbean! :D
 
We deliberated over this question for quite a while & concluded that the more it works for you the more you use it. I'm done racing for now and being abandoned at the helm in inclement weather - A brief foray to mobo world for couple of years with a Botnia Targa 35 got us quite used to being able to sit and look out at our fabulous views even when the weather wasn't fine. She can be sailed from the chart table too with joystick ! SWMBO is now pushing ME to go away on the boat !!

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dancrane said:
Very interesting thread.

I’m routinely laughed at on this forum,
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Infamy, infamy! They've all got it infamy! :D


dancrane said:
I mean, in UK waters, would you rather spend the winter holiday aboard a Nauticat or a Beneteau? The first offers a well-lit 360º visibility place to eat meals, and a warm place to steer, even in a frosty gale; the other…I don’t want to think about it!
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I go sailing to sail. If I want somewhere comfortable to eat meals I use a hotel or my home or - God Forbid - a caravan. And who wants to go cruising in winter round the UK when the days are short, cold and wet?

dancrane said:
A simple, serious question for owners of yachts with unsheltered cockpits: are you honestly content with such a large investment in a toy that’s only a pleasure from April to October at best? My respects, to those who can afford such small returns.
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I sail all year round but toys bare toys. If you have to worry about the return or the costs you should not be owning the toy.

dancrane said:
Hardcore racers and other oil-skinned masochists may claim to relish fresh air and performance in all weathers. That won’t persuade SWMBOs and sane friends. Isn’t it as simple as motoring in UK weather - and choosing between a motorbike and a Range Rover?
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Do you really want SWMBO on board 24/7? Honestly? I am happy to sail with my beloved during summer ( Mast upright like a church steeple, flowers in vase and gin in the fridge) but in winter I race and want a good thrash to windward with the lads on board. Bit of male bonding and agression.

dancrane said:
It hasn’t escaped me, that X-Yachts, Sweden Yachts and Nautor Swans are about as sleekly sporty as cruisers get, and that they’re from cold latitudes. Perhaps the fact that they’re all MEGABUCKS, implies that their owners spend their winters in the Caribbean! :D
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Which of course is the answer. Rather than mess up the boat by adding a garden shed on top, go somewhere warm and give it a good thrashing. The boat that is. :D
 
Bosun Higgs said:
Do you really want SWMBO on board 24/7? ...in winter I race and want a good thrash to windward with the lads on board. Bit of male bonding and agression.
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Thank you, Higgs; no-one could have more effectively explained why it's so great to have a wheelhouse, and ladies on board!

Wouldn't you acknowledge that several slick contemporary deck-saloon cruisers don't sacrifice much windward performance, while allowing the option of steering from the heated interior, when it's foul outside?

As to using the boat all year round - the reason (which you yourself identify) why so few do, is the comfortless business of steering whilst outside...plus the dim, gloomy saloons of yachts designed for bright Mediterranean or tropical sailing.

I think you're cut from hardcore-racer material - kevlar, I expect - determined to exude testosterone by persevering against frightful weather, in mindless, manly, unnecessary defiance of conspicuously comfortable alternatives! You like it more, the worse it gets! :D
 
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How much timed doing what?

I have a sneeky suspision that if you were sailing, the cool weather would be less significant...go further south the back to northern Spain when it is too hot down south..

Anyway how much are you enjoying it so far?
 
Tomahawk said:
I have a sneeky suspision that if you were sailing, the cool weather would be less significant...go further south the back to northern Spain when it is too hot down south..

Anyway how much are you enjoying it so far?
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The weather is a bit of a pain but we have had chance to go further south but it is not what we are about. If we enjoy a place we stay and try to get to know it properly and what the town and people are like. We don't mind if we move 20 meters or 2000 miles in a year. What is more important is are we enjoying where we are. Having said that I have not managed to get the brit out of me and still like a good moan about the weather.
If anyone is interested our latest blog is here.

http://www.cygnus3.com/index.php?p=1_51
 
Enjoying your blog..

Glad to hear the trip is going well.. I do follow your entries as we will be following you in September..

We have a bimini instead of a wheelhouse, having read of your comfort I think I will make sure it fully encloses the cockpit before we leave..

BTW..I remember your thoughts about earning a bit if cash from sailing.? the bit about having to write on time to meet publishers deadlines..? Imagine having to meet the deadline after the Austrians left you ? On reflection I think you have got it well sussed..
 
Tomahawk said:
Glad to hear the trip is going well.. I do follow your entries as we will be following you in September..

We have a bimini instead of a wheelhouse, having read of your comfort I think I will make sure it fully encloses the cockpit before we leave..

BTW..I remember your thoughts about earning a bit if cash from sailing.? the bit about having to write on time to meet publishers deadlines..? Imagine having to meet the deadline after the Austrians left you ? On reflection I think you have got it well sussed..
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Thanks Tomahawk.. we do enjoy writing the blogs and there is a beer in the fridge for when you catch us up.

We do have a bimimi but it is more for sun protection rather than any kind of shelter. If we get the chance I would convert it to something that had removable sides/ back so it could be used as more space in winter and to keep some rain/ wind away. We were foolish not to do it to be honest and it should have been well up the list.
Having said that today for the first time in a month it is not raining, the sun is shining but of course there is no wind. In weather like this what better place to be than behind the wheel in the open air... well that is until it rains again!
 
I cruise in my boat with my family. If i want to race, and occasionally do, I borrow back a dinghy or go racing on a racing yacht funded by someone else.

We're all just being honest about what we use our boats for when we consider whether a doghouse is worthwhile, and in our climate i wouldn't be without my half hard top.

arguing you can't race or feel the wind with a covered steering position is missing this the point and arguing for the sake of it. The forum carries on as usual!
 
Also, a wheelhouse should have windows that lean back in like a fishing boat.
What is the point in putting windows in it if they cannot be seen out of with a little spray or rain.
 
How about one of these: Souriceau

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There's a dual tiller, one in the cockpit, one down below, 360 deg lookout through the goldfish bowls... this guy from V&V explains further (in French): [clicky]

'Not big enough!' I hear you say?... then go mad and upgrade to the 'Aviateur' stretched version
 
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