Smaller Nauticats - what are they like?

[westhinder]

Wheelhouse yachts are as different to open cockpit yachts as catamarans are to monohulls. The compromises they make are much more obvious than on say a Bavaria which is reasonably good at most things whereas a wheelhouse yacht is much better at some and hopeless at others. We have a young family so the safety of a 15 inch toerail and 1.2m high handrail with wide side decks is important. So is a fully enclosed wheelhouse- I know the weather this year has been pants but it's been a hell of a lot better on our boat, six weeks of sailing the south and east coast and I've only ever worn shorts and t shirt, we see cockpits with sailors in full oilskins and smile. But then they have a wonderful open space outside for sunny days. They also sail to windward, in light airs and don't roll as much in a quartering sea. So far this summer we've sailed from Norfolk to Dorset and when we're motoring or motor sailing then so are the yachts around us; when we're sailing then so are they but they do it better and faster. So what, life is choice and compromise.
The Nauticat 33 is a beautiful boat and holds its value like all wheelhouse yachts because there aren't any new ones being made and people want them. It's quite narrow for its type, 3 feet narrower than a Colvic Watson 34 for example. Irrelevant if it's just the two of you. There are so many things to love about a wheelhouse but of them all my favourite is after a day on the beach or reading on the aftdeck, sitting at anchor in the wheelhouse, the view is incredible, but we don't all have to share the space because there's a whole other saloon down below. A close second is that we share passages, from six years old to the skipper we are all in the wheelhouse, convivial and oilskin free. Lots of compromise but it works for us.

You are quite right.
I have just done a 12 day passage from the Azores to Halifax in a wheelhouse yacht, and apart from the occasions when we put in or shook out a reef, we only wore shorts and T-shirts. As was to be expected we got a lot of days on the wind, but sitting in the wheelhouse we did not mind too much. When arrived, the view of the anchorages was indeed another bonus.
I can certainly see myself moving on to a wheelhouse boat in a few years' time, when priorities will have changed.

 

[E39mad]

I think this type of boat can be put into two categories:

1) Wheelhouse motorsailers
These tend to be traditional heavy displacement long or long fin keelers which have the primary steering position in the
wheelhouse. Traditional Nauticats such as the 33 and Fishers are typical of this type. They may not sail close to windward but
they have a large diesel engine to compensate! They can sail well of the wind.
2) Pilothouse sailing yachts
Where the primary steering position is in the cockpit and has a wheel or autopilot in the deck saloon or raised area. The hull
designs tend to offer better sailing characteristics than a traditional wheelhouse motorsailer. Such Pilothouse boats include:
modern Nauticats suchs as the 32, 37, 39, Southerly range, Vancouver Pilot, Victoria Pilot, Hunter 27 Pilot, Sadler Panorama
40, Moody Eclipse, Beneteau Evasion, LM Vitesse and Westerly Riviera 35.

Depends which design suits your needs/requirements the best.

 

[Rivers & creeks]

CW, that's a wonderful commendation for wheel-house and pilot-house yachts.

Thank you, I try to be honest about their strengths and weaknesses, I find the whole "my boat is the best" thing tiresome, we all know there is no such thing.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Thank you, I try to be honest about their strengths and weaknesses, I find the whole "my boat is the best" thing tiresome, we all know there is no such thing.

I went round an LM27 today and was very tempted. It was a reciprocal visit because the owner had visited to see my boat because he's hopinging to buy one ... If he hadn't taken a deposit on his yesterday I think we might have done a swap ...