Full standing headroom - seriously over-rated or essential

[Pleiades]

Max head room for meerkats?

Sailed a Hurley 22 for many years with full standing headroom to do the washing up, stretch the back, check for shipping etc etc when standing in the companionway - but crucially, under the sprayhood. My Caprice before that and tiny West Wight Potter before that did not have the luxury of a sprayhood and that was a pain when it was too wet or rough to stick one's bonce out of the hatch. So a sprayhood and a companionway that afford ability to stand in shelter are I think very important if you are cruising as opposed to just fairweather or day sailing. The requirement to stand up is however most important when at anchor or in harbour once the sailing is over because under way a yacht will often be heeled which can mean bags of headroom if your legs give you an ability to gimbal!
If it is sufficiently rough I tend to swing about the cabin like a monkey going from grab handle to grab handle - and lack of headroom even well up forard under my flush deck is not really an issue at sea. Once at anchor however headroom to toddle about down below is nice to have - but not on a boat the size of the slug unless you want her to sprout a carbuncle and ruin her fine lines and inherent beauty of form. I suppose, at a push you could cut a few holes here and there and fit a couple of Astra domes so you could pop your head up like a meerkat every so often.....
Robin
Pleiades pf Birdham
MXWQ5

 

[richardsnowstar]

It is interesting that in a house the minimum headroom that would be acceptable is about 8 foot. But on a boat people are obviously quite happy with all sorts of ceiling height from sitting room upwards.

It would be interesting to ask if people would be happy with 5 foot headroom in their houses. This way you could get 3 floors in the same structure as a normal 2 storey house.

Personally I like standing headroom in the saloon and cabins but each to their own.

 

[alan_d]

They used to say that a cruising boat should be the length in feet of your years.

Bloody hell! Even if I could afford a sixty-five footer I don't think I could sail it single-handed. It is nice to have standing headroom in my 29 footer, though.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Wazza difference between full standing headroom and standing headroom? Presumably the 'full' implies throughout the boat. Not many of them about until you get to forty footers.

 

[sighmoon]

Happy to either stand or sit to cook, wash up, or navigate, but stooping doesn't appeal at all.

 

[Blueboatman]

Wot Parcival and Pleiades say if you're stuck on board for a week o' the wet stuff,
Mr Dylan, you don't half ask a lot of questions these days. Planning the next trip? if you was a single man and pottering around the tropics in the Sexy Slug, I can assure you that full standing headroom indoors is the last thing on your mind
ImpresSed with that winecooler idea though, plenty of bang for your buck there.

 

[mjcoon]

...although if the hatch is open they have all enjoyed the benefit of being able to accommodate the tallest crew member

Years ago a convertible sports car was advertised with the tag line "93 million miles headroom"!

Not sure whether that increased at night or not; maybe depending on whether the moon was visible...

Mike.

 

[Strathglass]

In the E boat which I raced headroom did not really matter.

It was certainly not standing headroom except for a small child - but it didn't matter we were all there to race.

My old Mylne 1 rater was an open daysailer - again (apart from the long boom) it didn't matter.

But - The boat (33ft) I now cruise with SWMBO. That is an entirely different matter.

Over six feet height in the Main salon, Galley, chart table and heads/shower. The fore and aft cabins are lower but that is ok.

If I bought a craft without standing headroom inside I would be sailing single handed most of the time.

I don't suppose I could now adapt back to lower headroom myself too readily either.

It is really what you get used to and accept as the norm. (if your age/health will stand up to it) - I will be 73 years young on tuesday.

Iain

 

[dylanwinter]

I have been thinking of that

Wot Parcival and Pleiades say if you're stuck on board for a week o' the wet stuff,
Mr Dylan, you don't half ask a lot of questions these days. Planning the next trip? if you was a single man and pottering around the tropics in the Sexy Slug, I can assure you that full standing headroom indoors is the last thing on your mind
ImpresSed with that winecooler idea though, plenty of bang for your buck there.

so far - four years into the trip I have not spent that much time lurking below waiting for the weather

I usually get in the car and drive home

I have a boom tarp - see through - that gives me a lot more space and is fine for the odd wet day on a pontoon

the umbrella is great for the odd passing shower

on a mooring or hanging from a hook in a sea loch would be a different matter

so far though I have not missed the headroom and have really enjoyed the small water sailing

Dylan

 

[Blueboatman]

Wait till you're invited for dinner aboard a Corribee. Full sitting, never mind standing, headroom would be nice!

Having wrote that, I owned one 'just for one summer'.

In all other respects it was so delightful and seaworthy that I kept it for 6 years, travelled on it quite far, daysailed and fed 4 in the generous cockpit, nosed up creeks that were hardly on the chart, made a berth infill fee two. That boat did nit owe me a single penny when I did finally sell!
Bxgger full standing headroom.
Ps I used 'not an umbrella but a cafe parasol as the Bimini

 

[Salty John]

For full time cruising the one feature I wouldn't compromise on would be headroom. On 32' Adriana we had just under 6' for two thirds of the cabin and I wouldn't have liked to spend 3 years cruising with anything less. My 41' ketch was voluminous with standing headroom throughout the main cabin and stateroom - luxury!

My little Compac 19 doesn't have standing headroom and that's fine for weekending but for full time cruising it would be miserable.

 

[Signed Out]

No leaks? Seriously overrated?

Fancy gizmos? Essential?

Dishwasher? Needed or not?

All comes down to money, no? On the slippery sliding scale of folk being slightly different from one another.

Not sure if mine's got sitting headroom with cushions and headlining in, but bare it's fine... Not sure I can actually stand in companionway though until I've got the engine cover done and in place. Will be interesting to see.

 

[mikeinkwazi]

Older and wiser?

Happy to either stand or sit to cook, wash up, or navigate, but stooping doesn't appeal at all.

Just made an offer on a Folkboat, while still owning a gaff Cutter with FULL standing headrom which is up for sale.
May regret this? (at 72 cannot do bending!!)

 

[V1701]

Well I have full standing headroom in the saloon on my Vega but I'm a shortarse (5'7", so one inch to spare). Not really bothered that I can't stand up in the forward cabin, but living aboard I want to be able to stand up in the saloon...

 

[fergie_mac66]

W 22 5foot 11

Our Westerly 22 has the floor boards taken out as a result we have 5ft 11 ish towards cabin hatch and 5 foot 9 towards front of saloon (ha ha we have swinging doors)
and still only 2 foot 10 draught wouldn't be without standing headroom in winter

 

[Poignard]

If you have a bad back you will be very glad of standing headroom so that you can stand up and have a stretch!

 

[charles_reed]

Answer to the OP - in my spec for my current boat was the need to have standing headroom - having owned a sitting headroom boat I wantedto squat no more.

So as has been said, you pays your money and takes your pick but for me standing headroom is an essential.

 

[sighmoon]

And on the subject of sitting headroom - some are better than others.

Mirror offshore, Andersons, and others have no side decks, so the sitting headroom is where you'd actually sit down. Our Hurley had side decks too small to be walked on, but wide enough that only Mary Antoinette could have sat back in the cabin.

 

[maby]

Full standing room was an important consideration for us. Vixen is just 33 foot, but she gives me (6 foot) full standing room from the mast all the way back to the aft cabin changing area, and I only have to bend slightly in the forward cabin.

Like most of the boat questions posted here, there is no simple answer. If you are a dedicated racer, you probably want to keep the windage down and will accept limited headroom in exchange for better handling and performance. If, like us, you are looking for a compromise between performance and comfort, with the balance leaning to comfort, then good headroom is very important.

 

[Lodesman77]

When looking for a boat one of my requirements was to be able to do cruises of at least a fortnight, and I decided that what was perfectly acceptable for a weekend would probably not be so good by the middle of the week - so headroom went up on the list.

My advice here would be to find a boat designed by a very tall bloke - the Stag 28 was designed by Peter Milne who was well over six foot - and my main cabin has 6'4" headroom which I find really nice. But for all it's luxury it has to be paid for - high topsides/coachroof make for a very wind rode boat, especially with a shallow keel, so you pays your money and you takes your compromise...

.