Greenheart
Well-known member
I have a head too...with a nose on it...and I wouldn't fancy sharing one loo with ten other chaps. Nor would they, if they're normal. 
Nicholson 55 - ‘Adventure’
- Thread starter Kukri
- Start date
Kukri
Well-known member
The layout did surprise me rather...one loo and 10+ berths...
I can see it was ideal for minimalistic ocean racing forty years ago, but I'm surprised if some Nich 55s haven't been converted to more private/luxurious accommodation, if only for profitable charter.
“Acclaim” was what “Lutine” was called before she became “Eager” - for her present layout see the video below. I don’t think she ever had the watertight bulkheads that the Forces 55s had fitted to meet Code 0 spec.
We don’t have a mattress in the port quarter berth - it’s used for putting things in, because it’s a bit short - but otherwise yes, that is the layout. It’s absolutely perfect for five; everyone can have their own pilot berth or quarter berth leaving the whole of the cabin free. See the “cabin of the week” thread for some pictures.
Some owners have turned the forecabin into an owner’s cabin with double berth and en suite heads/shower. Other boats have had more comprehensive rebuilds.
The forecabin in the video below gives me ideas which are well beyond my ability as a joiner...
I think that C&N offered three layouts. Some 55s were built as yawls and some have a centre cockpit and an aft cabin. Some have a transom that slopes aft and others have the retroussé version, which I think looks nicer, but you lose deck space. Certainly Her Majesty, much the biggest owner of Nicholson 55s, favoured the “offshore racing layout”.
“Lutine” and “Quailo” and maybe others had teak over ply decks, which caused Sir R K-J to ask a friend, who had just bought one, “And how are the deck leaks?” Both have been fully re-decked, beams, bulkheads and all...
Here’s a broker’s video of the absolutely gorgeous ‘Eager’. Note she is not for sale; this is an old video:
A viewing of Nicholson 55 Custom EAGER… - Berthon
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Poignard
Well-known member
Why would you need more than one lavatory for 10 people unless you have crew of incontinent elderly?
Greenheart
Well-known member
The work done on Eager is dazzling.
The same reason I expect a hotel room to have its own bathroom, rather than requiring guests to wander around knocking tentatively on shared facilities' doors. I haven't encountered such a place for thirty years.
Sensitivity isn't a race-boat designer's concern; but isn't it the reason why much smaller yachts built since the Nicholson, are usually designed with at least two toilet/shower compartments?
The same reason I expect a hotel room to have its own bathroom, rather than requiring guests to wander around knocking tentatively on shared facilities' doors. I haven't encountered such a place for thirty years.
Sensitivity isn't a race-boat designer's concern; but isn't it the reason why much smaller yachts built since the Nicholson, are usually designed with at least two toilet/shower compartments?
Bajansailor
Well-known member
Exactly. They can pee over the side.Why would you need more than one lavatory for 10 people unless you have crew of incontinent elderly?
Make sure they are clipped on first though.
Kukri
Well-known member
There’s a door on the heads, which is more than Ted Heath’s boats had...
capnsensible
Well-known member
Indeed. I sailed on Nic 55's quite a bit. More often with 12 crew. Mixed Male and Female. Sometimes RAF people too.Why would you need more than one lavatory for 10 people unless you have crew of incontinent elderly?
Was never a problem with people used to a bit of discomfort and of course less hull openings.
If the skipper was a grumpy one, fiddling with the port primary winch that is right over the quarter berth was a good leveller.
Greenheart
Well-known member
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Kukri
Well-known member
It's a grand boat, no argument.
That I think is The Ancestor - “Blauwe Dolfin” ex “Phantom of Mersea”.
An Admiral’s Cup boat when new. Genuine tree wood, lives in Zeebrugge.
Edited: here’s the advert that that snap comes from. (Only seven berths per heads compartment)...
Peter Nicholson CAMPER & NICHOLSON, 200.000 € | iNautia.com
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Old Bumbulum
Well-known member
Just imagine a yacht with a head per cabin! (though I've heard of such excesses on big scatamarans)There wouldn't be much room for the useful spaces you need!
If more modern yachts than the Nic have two heads it's probably because they are more often than bought by the incontinent elderly.
There's only on bog per 50-70 or so pax on an aeroplane, more like one per 120 on a train.
I'd say the Nic is amply supplied, especially as they'll have a bucket for emergency use on deck.
Personally I seldom use my head at sea. That's what the taffrail and swimming ladder is for.
doug748
Well-known member
Why would you need more than one lavatory for 10 people unless you have crew of incontinent elderly?
Yes. I would avoid shipping a crew of 80 year old blokes and 15 year old girls. : -)
I always wondered why boats had two heads anyway. I expect one is generally used to store the Avon and push bikes.
.
Greenheart
Well-known member
That aerial shot shows her lovely slender lines...which explain the limited interior options, if one considers voluminous (ugly) later designs.
That's a curious conclusion that I'd never heard before last night, yet twice since! ? It's hard to find another fifty-footer appointed with only one...many have three. Personally, I conclude that designers realise, most people prefer not having to share.
On 80 plane-trips since 2000, I haven't used the lavatory more than twice. That encouraged me to wait instead - not an option on a yacht.
There certainly are some oddly privacy-obsessed designs...this Nauticat has five bathrooms in only 44ft...
I reckon the Cherubini 48 has a pleasing balance of berths and bathrooms. Definitely not a racer, so different priorities from the Nic 55. But there's no need to step more than five feet from one's berth along a heaving floor in darkness, and it offers a bucket-free solution if one set of plumbing fails. Fancy sharing a bucket with 10+ crew for a fortnight offshore?
That's a curious conclusion that I'd never heard before last night, yet twice since! ? It's hard to find another fifty-footer appointed with only one...many have three. Personally, I conclude that designers realise, most people prefer not having to share.
On 80 plane-trips since 2000, I haven't used the lavatory more than twice. That encouraged me to wait instead - not an option on a yacht.
There certainly are some oddly privacy-obsessed designs...this Nauticat has five bathrooms in only 44ft...
I reckon the Cherubini 48 has a pleasing balance of berths and bathrooms. Definitely not a racer, so different priorities from the Nic 55. But there's no need to step more than five feet from one's berth along a heaving floor in darkness, and it offers a bucket-free solution if one set of plumbing fails. Fancy sharing a bucket with 10+ crew for a fortnight offshore?
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john_morris_uk
Well-known member
Perhaps this is an example of where a bit of military discipline and pride over cleanliness is an advantage. The heads on Adventure when I was skipper were always squeaky clean. They never smelled, rarely got blocked and there was a rota for cleaning them.I have a head too...with a nose on it...and I wouldn't fancy sharing one loo with ten other chaps. Nor would they, if they're normal.
Greenheart
Well-known member
That's sound thinking John, though less likely to be applicable to several families with junior members, all sharing the same yacht. ?
I don't believe I've ever left a crapper in an unwelcoming state for the next visitor, but one can't assume as much for other parties. And frankly, ventilation throughout the interior earned yesteryear's yachts a pretty stinky reputation. I'd sooner have my own throne and ducted venting.
I don't believe I've ever left a crapper in an unwelcoming state for the next visitor, but one can't assume as much for other parties. And frankly, ventilation throughout the interior earned yesteryear's yachts a pretty stinky reputation. I'd sooner have my own throne and ducted venting.
Blue Sunray
Well-known member
Indubitably, but there's a reason Pongos are so called and I believe that civilians can be even worse. If one's job entails it one can live in a hole underground and using plastic bags/clingfilm for ones waste for weeks on end. However that doesn't mean that its a suitable solution for a leisure pursuit. Any bloody fool can be uncomfortable but it is not often compulsory (unless one is said BF).
john_morris_uk
Well-known member
Good points well made.That's sound thinking John, though less likely to be applicable to several families with junior members, all sharing the same yacht. ?
I don't believe I've ever left a crapper in an unwelcoming state for the next visitor, but one can't assume as much for other parties. And frankly, ventilation throughout the interior earned yesteryear's yachts a pretty stinky reputation. I'd sooner have my own throne and ducted venting.
As it happens we have two heads in our current boat. I like the en-suite heads and shower that we have in our cabin.
Kukri
Well-known member
A yacht broker of my acquaintance was instructed to sell a nice boat by an extremely well known British sailing couple. Media, not military. They left the heads blocked...
I am happy to confirm that when I acquired a JSASTC MOD 55 the heads compartment was indeed spotless. It was perhaps unfortunate that the blanking plug on the base of the Jabsco had been “borrowed” and not replaced; fortunately, I made this discovery before trying to use it. One does understand that the Forces can never get spares, but the part costs less than a fiver. The spare seat was a nice touch, though...
I am happy to confirm that when I acquired a JSASTC MOD 55 the heads compartment was indeed spotless. It was perhaps unfortunate that the blanking plug on the base of the Jabsco had been “borrowed” and not replaced; fortunately, I made this discovery before trying to use it. One does understand that the Forces can never get spares, but the part costs less than a fiver. The spare seat was a nice touch, though...
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Kukri
Well-known member
“Starboard!!” ?
Which reminds me; in the middle of the starboard primary winch base is a two inch camlock coupling attached to a two inch bronze pipe ending in a seacock, for an emergency fire pump, “which in our case, we have not got...” Nor have we got anything like enough bilge pumping capacity to deal with the volume of water that a pump to match that lot might deliver...
I think someone, quite possibly an MCA someone, may have been interpreting regulations by the letter...?
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LONG_KEELER
Well-known member
I would be comfortable with one head on a boat like that.
There have to be rules though and visits have to be kept to a minimum.
No crosswords, no surfing, no mobile phones , singing dancing etc and sounds
muffled where possible.
There have to be rules though and visits have to be kept to a minimum.
No crosswords, no surfing, no mobile phones , singing dancing etc and sounds
muffled where possible.
Biggles Wader
Well-known member
I think the trick is for the ten+ crew not to share the crapper but to take it in turns
