Why do some yachts have a sugar scoop?

chrisD said:
The main reason for a sugar-scoop is to ensure that wavelets hitting the stern make an infuriating slap slap slap noise all night thereby ensuring that sleep is impossible in the aft cabin.
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That's definitely a draw back, I agree. When it comes to boarding on a swing mooring from the dinghy though, give me a SS any day, and I enjoy climbing back on board using the SS after a swim, and it's handy to stand on for a shower.

I wish someone would design a SS that doesn't do the slap thing though!
 
wonderbra

I've never seen one for sale, although I have searched. But yes I have improvised with swimming noodles attached to rope, which is very inexpensive and quite effective. Just a bit of a pain putting them in position.
 
I always thought sugar scoops were a fashionable way of giving an existant hull more length without much work to the mold. Not useful length, but a good sales aid. That is, until your marina says your new boat is 'x' more expensive as it is now +ft. Perhaps that is why the newer ones have swing down platforms and plumb bows. The heeling increase in waterline length long predates scoops. Overhangs were normal on mtr. classes and others in the prewar era.
DW
 
chrisD said:
I've never seen one for sale, although I have searched. But yes I have improvised with swimming noodles attached to rope, which is very inexpensive and quite effective. Just a bit of a pain putting them in position.
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Thanks...that sounds a good idea! Can't wait to try it out
 
Personally, I don't like sugar scoops. They deprive well designed boats from attaining a classic look and they end up looking naff, er...common. But that is my opinion of course. Others will no doubt differ.
A boarding ladder at the stern with a gate is quite acceptable.
The skill involved in boarding from a rubber boat and embarking on one depends on not pushing the tender out.
Swimming is not a problem either. I am able to stand on the top edge of my rudder which is as if it were an additional rung when climbing aboard.
So sugar scoop for me ? No thanks. I like a ship to look like a ship and not an item of cutlery.:eek:
 
Some of the older Hallberg-Rassys were built with either sugar-scoop or "Classic" sterns. It was very much "six of one or half a dozen of the other". The Classics had larger after-decks and more stowage astern but looked a bit old-fashioned in comparison.

My 34 has a scoop but if you view it from alongside you can see that only a few inches of length is wasted, though this is not true for all marques. The greater freeboard of modern boats made boarding from the stern desirable, though this has been superceded more recently by fold-down sterns.

This discussion is largely outdated anyway as most new designs seem to have "dinghy" sterns.
 
Boo2 said:
Does it pull down from the side then ? I'd like to see a pic if so.
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Mounts on the side, at about the centre of motion of the boat and with the backstay tackle directly above it to hold onto.

Doesn't fold down though; it lives in the stern locker and has to be brought out and clipped into sockets in the gunwale. I rig it as soon as I'm moored/anchored if there's any swimming or dinghy work likely. It folds upwards from the middle so doesn't collect passing weed etc while not being used.

The shape of my stern isn't really suitable for a ladder there.

Pete
 
prv said:
Doesn't fold down though; it lives in the stern locker and has to be brought out and clipped into sockets in the gunwale. I rig it as soon as I'm moored/anchored if there's any swimming or dinghy work likely. It folds upwards from the middle so doesn't collect passing weed etc while not being used.
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Interesting, but what do you do if you have to leave the boat on her mooring for an extended period ? Do you just leave the ladder attached but folded up, or do you take it with you in the dinghy ?

Boo2
 
Personally I would'nt have a yacht without a scoop cos otherwise I'd never get the family on and off the boat on the dinghy
 
Robwhelton said:
How practical is it to fit a windvane onto a boat with a sugar scoop?
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I've seen a few. They generally have the paddle leg going down immediately aft of the edge of the platform, with a pair of struts going across the gap to the transom further up. Certainly makes it easy to access the mechanism (standing on the platform) but may get in the way of using the platform for swimming and boarding. There's one type which claims to work when mounted off-centre for this reason.

Pete
 
Robwhelton said:
How practical is it to fit a windvane onto a boat with a sugar scoop?
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Have a look on the Hydrovane site for some examples. Clearly an issue bracing back to the transom, but as said some can be offset or go through the scoop. Have seen some that have a fancy framework that can be swung out of the way for access to the boarding ladder.
 
chrisD said:
The main reason for a sugar-scoop is to ensure that wavelets hitting the stern make an infuriating slap slap slap noise all night thereby ensuring that sleep is impossible in the aft cabin.
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Isn't that a separate thing - a sugar scoop stern can hug the water at the back just like a slab stern, and a slab stern can be slightly raised off the water, so be prone to the slapping sound.

I owned a Beneteau First 30E from the 80s which had a raised stern apparently to decrease surface area drag in light winds but increase waterline length when going at speed. No sugar scoop but very irritating slapping. My current Jeanneau from 1999 has a big sugar scoop but it touches the water like a normal stern so no slapping.

Being in the Med at the moment I like it a lot and far far easier than a ladder arrangement for people with bad shoulders, not used to boats, bit lazy etc.
 
Surely the gloog gloog gloog noise made by wavelets under the stern is part of the fun and enjoyment of being afloat and sleeping in the aft cabin? Then you know you are afloat and not sleeping in a caravan. Personally I like the sound....sends me off to nodland in contenteted mode. SWMBO agrees.
 
I have just remembered..:D
I know one silly female who does not like sleeping on board at night as she says the rocking motion makes her feel insecure.:D:D:D
 
VO5 said:
I have just remembered..:D
I know one silly female who does not like sleeping on board at night as she says the rocking motion makes her feel insecure.:D:D:D
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Isn't that just a good reason to hold her closer?:)

On our boats the SS was a "design evolution" between the closed transom and the walk through transom, first with the old Mark I deck and interior and then with the Mark II new wider cockpit. We call them the Mark I, the Mark 1 1/4, the Mark 1 1/2 and the Mark II.

Photos here: http://www.c34.org/wiki/index.php?title=Evolution_of_the_Catalina_34
 
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