For Singlehanders / Shorthanded - how important is headroom to you?

My Centaur is just fine for me at 5ft-11in. No stooping required in the saloon. I go off for a few weeks most summers and enjoy the uncramped space. My son is 6-3 and seems to manage well enough so not sure if headroom is a major issue tho I would not like to be stooping at my age.:eek:
 
Yes headroom is vital,I can stand to cook and wash up,it would be depressing to cook sitting down 1000 times per annum. But a sit down table for chartwork is also important,as personally I like paper nav. And eating with a knife and fork. Boat is Hurley 24 with a bulging coachroof for the headroom. Cheers Jerry
 
The original OP's question was how important headroom was to a single-hander.
For me the answer is as important as having a boat designed for single-handing. As so rightly pointed out, having standing headroom will determine the size of boat.
So the question should perhaps be, "would you live aboard a boat which did not have standing headroom, if you could not afford one that did offer that".

My answer would be NO.
 
charles_reed said:
The original OP's question was how important headroom was to a single-hander.
For me the answer is as important as having a boat designed for single-handing. As so rightly pointed out, having standing headroom will determine the size of boat.
So the question should perhaps be, "would you live aboard a boat which did not have standing headroom, if you could not afford one that did offer that".

My answer would be NO.
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No for year round liveaboard definitely;you spend more time below in cold weather.You can't "go on deck to stand up",if opening the hatch means a torrential downpour instantly soaks your bedding.HEATING is even more important than headroom though!
 
At 6 ft 6 ins tall headroomos always a problem for me
Fortunately I found the Hanse 311 as good as it gets within my price range. It makes a big difference to have a loo that one can use easily. One also has to conside the length od the bunks. On my Hanse these are 7ft & that is a really big plus.
However, i still have to stoop a little & as a back sufferer stooping can be awkward.
On my last boat , a Stella, I could never stand up so just sat on thebunks & slid along. In a small boat this totally different approach can be every bit as good as stooping on a larger boat. It is normally Ok as everything os within reach. Also in rough weather one does not get slung from side to side so much as one is fairly well anchored ithe sitting position.
 
she31 said:
I tell you what I find amazing is this bloke - John Guzzwell.
20 foot "Trekka". He circumnavigated in her, solo.
What is more amazing is that Guzzwell is not a little bloke. 6'4" tall.

Different era, different mindset perhaps.
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I think John Guzzwell also joined the Smeatons on their boat before they pitchpoled it the first time off Cape Horn and then jury rigged it in for repairs. I don't think he joined them for their second dismasting however. I need to read the book again.
 
Just have standing room in the galley, anything less not be nice at all, maybe enough to change the boat. The rest doesn't matter so much. 6 years or so onboard.
 
My Hunter Ranger has a tad over 6' headroom over most of the areas that matter , which given it's only 24'6" long is pretty good.
This was one of the major considerations made when buying it.
I can't get on with sitting headroom for any significant period of time although I appreciate others can.
 
Horizontal not vertical

I'm 6'5" so standing room is a problem on most boats, single handing or not. Much more important to me is a decent length bunk.
 
Hello all. I am new here and it is a very interesting subject for me. I think it is better to continue here instead of opening another thread.

I am looking for a "go anywhere" boat for single handed offshore/blue water sailing which will keep me safe in all conditions. Not planning a circumnavigation but who knows.
I prefer the boat around 10 meters and I like Contessa 32 and its characteristics but headroom is my biggest problem because I want full standing headroom.
Naturally I find full headroom and more inside volume in new popular designs (Bavaria, Beneteau, Jeanneau etc.) but they are not for heavy weather sailing and not taking my attention.

I am 1.90m (6'3") and I will be glad to hear which boats you advice me.
 
TuKa said:
Hello all. I am new here and it is a very interesting subject for me. I think it is better to continue here instead of opening another thread.

I am looking for a "go anywhere" boat for single handed offshore/blue water sailing which will keep me safe in all conditions. Not planning a circumnavigation but who knows.
I prefer the boat around 10 meters and I like Contessa 32 and its characteristics but headroom is the biggest problem because I want full standing headroom.
Naturally I find full headroom and more inside volume in new popular designs (Bavaria, Beneteau, Jeanneau etc.) but they are not for heavy weather sailing and not taking my attention.

I am 1.90m (6'3") and I will be glad to hear which boats you advice me.
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Vancouver 32 is at the top of the list. I think it has the highest headroom in this range of boats.

Others boats to consider :

Contessa 32 (low headroom)
Contest 33 (also high headroom)
Nicholson 32
Rival 32/34 (34 is unsinkable)
Sadler 32/34

Any ideas?
 
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I end up buying a 36' Van de Stadt design steel boat and I am very happy about my decision. Thanks for not helping.

But anyway, maybe someone else will be interested and I would like to tell something about 3 of the boats which I mentioned above. I was in a Vancouver 32 and headroom is close to 1.90. It was great and it seems to me a perfect single handed go anywhere boat but its price was high for me.

I was in 2 other boats also (Nicholson and Rival) but their headroom was much lower. If you are searching for such boat, you should see Vancouver 32.

Good luck for selecting your next boat.
 
Quote from elderly owner of a small wooden old gaffer -" if you wants headroom, you goes outside"...classic!
 
I have an Albin Vega and it has standing headroom in the galley under the hatch and two proper berths which are essential as opposed to boatswith a galley down one side and a dinnette arrangement.I am 6.2.I have been reliably informed that peeing should be done sitting down.
 
zikzik said:
Well I haven't lived aboard for any length of time, but I sail nearly everywhere singlehanded as SWMBO is not very keen. I sailed an Etap 21i for nearly 5 years and my Contessa 26 for the last year. I can't stand up in either of course.

Occasional back ache reminds it would be nice to stand up now and then but it doesn't bother me much.
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Once read somewhere that its the boat that is neither one or the other thats worst.
I once sailed in a friends Contessa 26 and no headroom didnt bother me at 6 foot 2.Similarly I like the full headroom touch the ceiling throughout most of my current boat and the almost seven foot in my forpeak cabin is great.
 
When First Mate and I decided to take up sailing in 2001 as a motorsport replacement she stated-and you do not argue with her on such an issue- that any boat we bought would have standing room in the heads and at the galley. Headroon has been fine in the three boats we have been involved in, but the current one is broad in the beam and is difficult to move about in when under way in heavy conditions. A fix is in the pipeline.
 
Had a Corribee with barely sitting headroom, but very snug and dead easy to cook etc at sea. Extended rain was a pita but that is so of any small light boat unless ( aha) it has bilgekeels and you can park it ashore and step off without soggy faffing with dinghies and motion at anchor in a blow...

Bought it 'just for one summer, one wee trip', some years later I sold it in the US having been up to Canada and back, th boat simply got bigger insdie, then two up, then of course a sunny climate makes the interior almost redundant.
 
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