Half tonner advice please!

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cath907

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Since many of you seem to have a wealth of knowledge on different types of yacht I was hoping you could help me.

The cockpit design of most half tonners (such as the nicholson half tonner etc(picture on yachtsnet website) don't have any seats and are basically flat with a pit. While i see the benefit for racing (helm in cockpit, crew on the rail) does this mean the boat or one similar is unsuitable for cruising?
My concern is that no seats mean it is awkward for people to be on the leeward side when the boat is heeled without almost sitting in the water if they lean on the guardwires, and on the windward side they would slip down into the pit unless they were facing outwards sitting on the rail. It seems a little uncomfortable for social cruising....
Can you shed any light on this or suggest someone I could ask? I am looking at buying a half tonner locally.

many thanks
Catherine :)
 
not too bad

hi cath,

i have had a golden shamrock half tonner for the last 4 years.

The cockpit layout is great for sailing and trimming. The leeward side is unusable but the wide windward side deck becomes an excellent seating place with plenty of room.

The crew pit - forward of the tiller is a fairly safe and secure environment, although not always dry.

The layout works well for sailing, however when it comes to marina lounging we are not ones to sit around the cockpit table. However you do get invited on to many other boats.

It can be cold, even in the summer. A sprayhood is not practical for our layout, but would be a great improvement if something could be made.

if you are in the chichester area, feel free to drop in and have a look and a chat, send me a PM and i will send over my number

There is one thing to bear in mind, the boat is built for sailing - it gets you there faster than most and give you more time to relax the other end. Sailing and trimming becomes a joy due to the layout and you are always wanting to race other boats of a similar size, we usually win
 
Half-tonners did tend to rely on crew weight to keep them on their feet and I don't think you can entirely forget about weight distribution when cruising.

Best bet is just to get the crew to stay on the windward side of the cockpit with their backs against guard rails. There should be an extra 'seat' behind the tiller too for whoever was doing tactics or runners when racing.
 
Earlier half-tonners, eg She 31 and derivatives, have more conventional cockpit seating. These types can make good cruisers, with good build quality and excellent performance.
 
My quarter tonner has a very similar cockpit layout, and works fine for most cruising use. Close-hauled and well heeled most people would choose to be on the windward side, but when the boat's flatter there are more options.

Boats like the Nichloson half tonner and Golden Shamrock also tend to be quite dry, even going to windward in a blow, so although the cockpit offers less protection than with a She 31, Contessa 32 or similar, that doesn't necessarily equate to getting wetter when you're underway.

The wide side decks, and the fact that everything is on just two levels, makes it easy to move around on deck, without having to clamber over seats, coamings etc.
 
cath907 said:
While i see the benefit for racing (helm in cockpit, crew on the rail) does this mean the boat or one similar is unsuitable for cruising?
Click to expand...

It's an unanswerable question really. Some people cruise in Wayfarer dinghies, others require the facilities of a 50 footer. Are you the sort of person who will happily camp in a bivvy bag or so you need THF?

Personally I wouldnt want to race in the Nic half tonner ( and it is a race boat really) never mind cruise one.
 
Most raciing boats from about the 80's onwards were built with no compromise for comfort. They had the bare minimum of facilities down below required by the rules at the time.
As for cockpit layout then you will need to sit on the deck on the high side. Be careful if you have small kids who may be nervous. A cruiser with a nice deep cockpit feels much safer for little ones. I found this out with my own little ones, who now won't go near the boat.
With a half tonner you will get a lot of boat for your money and you will get to your destination before all the others in more comfortable boats. You will need to be careful with the rig though. I had a 3/4 tonner with frctional rig and running backstays. If someone got the runners wrong the mast would fall down. Gybing could be a nerve racking experience. This can obviously be a bit of a problem for cruising with only a few people on board.
As one of the earlier posts said these boats were designed to have a gang of heavies sitting on the rail to keep them on their feet. You can get round this by reefing earlier than you would in a cruiser.
As an aside the ton cups started with the one ton cup way back which was raced for yachts with keels weighing one ton. When the idea of a level rating series for IOR boats was started, in the seventies I think, the trophy was dusted off and raced for by boats that all rated the same under IOR. I think it was originally 27.5 feet but I may well be wrong.
Later on they expanded the idea to smaller and larger boats so the quarter, half, three quarter and two ton cups were born. Lots of very well known designers first made their names in the IOR level rating arena such as Bruce Farr.
 
Twister_Ken said:
A one ton keel - not on your nellie!

Covered several times previously, here for example.
Click to expand...

There is a very good thread to be found on another forum, mostly about quarter tonners but covers all the "ton" classes and shows the IOR ratings for each. These rating lengths changed over the years as well. You will find the links to a book you can download there as well written by Gary Baigent which is excellent. I'm Ramona on that forum and I sail a quarter tonner, my next boat will be an 80's half tonner.

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/sailboats/old-quarter-tonners-magic-bus-24492.html
 
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