Sugar Scoop sterns

[Sailfree]

I appreciate that boat trends often follow ways to maximize potential with the then current racing rules.

Bows have now got more vertical but sterns have gone to rear fold down flaps for bathing. Appreciate that racing designs are often open.

Why did they ever go to sugar scoop?

Was it just to provide a cheap bathing platform at the expense of internal capacity for any given length?

 

[awol]

Made getting the soap-dish hull out of the mould easier.

 

[Momentary Lapse of Reason]

Good cruising feature means ease of provisioning at sea etc. Smaller boats now put premium on interior space hence maximise use of length and incorporate a fold-down for dinghy and pontoon access. If you look at modern bigger cruisers like the Gunfleet 58, Contest, Oyster etc, the sugar scoop is still there given the available length.

 

[Just_sayin']

One of the reasons we sold our Rassy was that mooring stern to in The Med was far more difficult with a conventional transom.

I see that all their latest models now benefit from getting the soap-dish out of the mould easier.

 

[Sailfree]

One of the reasons we sold our Rassy was that mooring stern to in The Med was far more difficult with a conventional transom.

I see that all their latest models now benefit from getting the soap-dish out of the mould easier.

Wouldn't a drop down stern flap keeping the length minimum be preferable?

 

[lw395]

Obviously LWL wants to be maximum.
The weight should be kept out of the extreme ends of the boat, so making the last 2ft open as a scoop is quite sensible.
If you have a large empty area like on a race boat, cruisers will stuff it with tat from Force 4.

 

[Just_sayin']

Wouldn't a drop down stern flap keeping the length minimum be preferable?

Not on the yachts I have seen, easier to damage reversing into a concrete wall and not so easy to get yourself out of the water. I saw one new boat last year that had the drop down platform but no evident mounting for a ladder!

The one ABSOLUTE benefit that I see is that an MOB/casualty can be recovered (with caution) onto a sugar scoop platform far more easily than up a conventional vertical transom. Last year we saw a guy go into the water wearing scuba gear. Not sure what happened but he was soon in difficulty. His wife stood on the sugar scoop, threw him a line and whilst he grabbed the associated ladder she slowly took fins, weight belts and finally all his gear and just placed it on the scoop and seat.

We were prepared to help, even to the point of one of us getting into our dinghy but it was handled beautifully.

 

[Trop Cher]

I keep my boat on a swinging mooring, and I love my big sugar scoop, wouldn't be without one now!
Not interested in racing, boat used for cruising only and the scoop is idea for loading and unloading supplies, dogs, etc. in safety.

 

[Aardee]

I keep my boat on a swinging mooring, and I love my big sugar scoop, wouldn't be without one now!
Not interested in racing, boat used for cruising only and the scoop is idea for loading and unloading supplies, dogs, etc. in safety.

Same here, we have a completely open stern and it's brilliant for unloading the tender and boarding from a dinghy

 

[jordanbasset]

I keep my boat on a swinging mooring, and I love my big sugar scoop, wouldn't be without one now!
Not interested in racing, boat used for cruising only and the scoop is idea for loading and unloading supplies, dogs, etc. in safety.

Certainly we would be looking for a sugar scoop again on our next boat, great for swimming to and from as well

 

[l'escargot]

...Was it just to provide a cheap bathing platform at the expense of internal capacity for any given length?

Some boat builders such as Westerly added a sugar-scoop to some existing flat transom boats and so actually increasing the internal volume and length as well as providing a bathing platform.

 

[mjcoon]

Some boat builders such as Westerly added a sugar-scoop to some existing flat transom boats and so actually increasing the internal volume and length as well as providing a bathing platform.

I can see how an addition increases the external length (which may be charged for when parking) but not how it increase internal volume...

Mike.

 

[Tranona]

Lots of reasons, but mainly driven by the growth in the Med market where stern to boarding is common, as is regular swimming off the boat. Cheap way of increasing LWL and providing the platform. Some builders have the transom as part of the deck moulding because it is not structural as it does not take rigging loads, so hulls are easier to mould and then fill with furniture etc by just walking in. Massive saving in build times.

Drawback is reduction in accommodation for a given hull length so trend now is to plumb ends and drop down transoms to preserve the boarding feature. Many charter yachts have a warning that any damage to the transom is the charter's responsibility and it is forbidden to lower the transom until the boat is moored. So for many a poor substitute for the proper thing - which as has been suggested still survives on boats where cramming in accommodation for length is not so important.

 

[l'escargot]

I can see how an addition increases the external length (which may be charged for when parking) but not how it increase internal volume...

Mike.

Well it does, the extra volume is inside the sugar scoop. When they put one on the 36' Corsair to turn it into the 38' Oceanranger, it gave enough room to turn the double berth in the aft cabin fore and aft instead of transverse.

 

[prv]

Well it does, the extra volume is inside the sugar scoop. When they put one on the 36' Corsair to turn it into the 38' Oceanranger, it gave enough room to turn the double berth in the aft cabin fore and aft instead of transverse.

As I understand it, the definition of a sugar scoop is that it doesn't have anything inside it. If it has a cabin inside it, it's a transom or a counter.

Pete

 

[l'escargot]

As I understand it, the definition of a sugar scoop is that it doesn't have anything inside it. If it has a cabin inside it, it's a transom or a counter.

Pete

If it is recessed, I would describe it as a sugar scoop. A transom is flat. Very few sugar scoops are single skin, most have some volume inside them and very few of them are vertical, so must add some additional volume.


I would describe a Corsair transom as a counter:

And this as a sugar scoop on the Oceanranger:

(So did Westerly)