Conference unifix::sailing

    Last fall, on a particularly wet and windy Saturday, Brian Mcbride
    invited me abourd his 40' PH sloop for a day sail in Narrraganset
    Bay. This was revenge for all the awful days he had spent racing aboard
    my boat.
    
    A couple of things stand out in my mind from that day.  First, a total
    stranger inquired about buying the boat seeing it only from shore. 
    Second, the reaction from the crew of a cat boat that sailed by us in a
    race.  The gentleman, cold and soaking wet from the driving rain, said
    to his companions as he passed us "there is NOTHING like a pilot
    house".  We who were warm and dry in the PH, not even wearing foul
    weather gear, concurred.
    
    I don't recall seeing very many of them in the New England area. 
    Don't know why.  Them seem like just the ticket for the typical New
    England cruising weather - rain, fog, drizzle.  The size of boat needed
    to support the superstructure may have a lot to do with it.  Under 40'
    and it starts to look a bit top heavy.
    
    - gene

    
    
    	One of my racing crew got me thinking: Imagine hopping into a
    	pilothouse catamaran (or tri) on a cold, crummy day, firing up
    	the coffee pot, setting the main, and flying across the almost-
    	deserted harbor. I could take it.
    
    	There's a Gemini that moors 2 boats over from mine. More of a
    	aerodynamic enclosed dodger than a spacious pilothouse, but
    	that's how they make `em. Haven't gotten a ride yet, but it's 
    	GOTTA go faster than a mono- , right? Anyway, being that wide,
    	any pilothouse should make it look starshippy.
    
    	In the same vein, I've sailed a lot on an Ericson 39, which has
    	a T cockpit with the wheel up front. Great for hiding behind the
    	dodger! That's one thing I wish I had, but my main traveler sits
    	up front in the cockpit, and I have no desire to move it. Yet.
    	
    	Anyway, my dream is a hybrid, semisolid or snap-together
    	pilothouse. On a nice day, I want the boat wide open. But
    	I'd love to extend my season, and hiding behind a windshield
    	makes lotsa sense to me in December and April!!
    
    	Scott_the_schitzo_racing_cruiser
    

I, too, find a pilothouse very appealing. I don't particularly like sitting
in the hot sun on beautiful days, and a pilothouse makes it easy to get as
much or as little sun as one wants. On drizzly days, a pilothouse can turn
a dreary journey into a fairly pleasant one.

Unfortunately, most pilothouse sailboats are on the expensive side, and there
are not very many to choose from in the used market.

--RS

    Well Gene you beat me to it!  Gene summed up some of the pro's pretty
    well.  After having "owned" one for the last couple of years I can say
    that the advantages to me are all skewed relative to inclement
    conditions.  Our sailing season can be lengthened a bit because of the
    added shelter.  With the wind anywhere forward of the beam, the PH is
    dry and relatively warm.  Beating in a stiff breeze with the spray
    going well aft of the mast, having a PH is a blessing.  Aft of the beam, 
    it is like any other boat really unless we put up the canvas to enclose 
    the PH altogether.  
    
    There are at least two types of pilot houses.  Ours was a hard dodger
    most commonly associated with motor sailers.  The boat is designed to
    sail though and can move along faster under sail than with the motor
    under the right conditions.  The other type is the raised coach roof
    which generally affords steering from inside the main cabin as opposed
    to being exposed at all.  Some that come to mind ar the larger Irwins,
    Bowman 50 and 57, Oyster 53.    
    
    We also have an enormous nav station in the PH which is really nice
    since you are not jumping down the companion way all the time to take
    LORAN readings or plot DR fixes etc.  We have a chart table that will
    take a BBA chart kit full size all while you are standing watch.  
    
    At anchor in New England, it can get chilly even in July and August. 
    The PH has allowed us to sit out on deck comfortably where many folks
    have long since retreated below.  
    
    I personnaly do not care for the looks of the hard dodger type because
    I do not like motor sailers.  Even though ours seems proportional, to
    mee it is still boxy looking.  Looks aside, as Gene and Rhinehard
    pointed out, it can make miserable conditions a little more palatable. 
    I know we have not put off going out because it might rain where as
    with an open deck we might have canned it.  
    
    Availability is scarce basically since there have not been alot of PH
    boats made in comparison.  I have not noticed prices to be any higher
    but would not argue it since there are often two nav stations and
    associated gear not to mention the structural differences.  
    
    Hope this helps,
    
    Brian 

As has been discussed, pilot houses do have advantages. They also seem 
to have some disadvantages:

  1. They usually aren't very good looking (at least in the size sailboats 
     I can dream of owning and I never dream of owning an ugly boat). 

  2. Their large windows and doors are likely to be terribly hazardous 
     in bad weather offshore (should you sail offshore).

  3. The extra weight high up may reduce stability and increase the 
     chances of capsizing (should you sail in dreadful weather). 

  4. The extra windage may reduce sailing performance and may make handling 
     under power in cross winds difficult.

  5. The forward visibility is likely to be severely restricted when 
     sailing from the cockpit (not a safety feature).

  6. An inside steering station uses space that would otherwise be 
     available for living space, stowage, etc.

  7. It also seems to me that unless you have electric winches and sail 
     furling, you'd still need to go outside to tend to sail handling 
     and sheet trimming, which rather negates some of the benefits 
     of having a pilothouse. 

On the other hand, I am intrigued by the rigid dodgers and canopies on
some of the recent BOC designs. These seem quite practical for single
and shorthanded sailing. If I replace the flat lexan in my companionway
hatch with a small bubble, I could sit inside and keep watch just fine.
Low cost and probably not too unattractive. Relocating the traveler
would be a bother, though. Finally, dare I say it, why bother with sails 
and all that if you want to stay inside? There are some quite nice 
trawler yachts around -- and they even go dead upwind with no fuss.

    Moody's do I nice range of Motor Sailors called Eclipse. Currently they
    have a 33ft and 43 ft ,next month they launch the 38ft. They are quite 
    elegant to look at and get round most of the reasons that I normally do
    not like Motor Sailors. ie you can steer them from the outside position
    and see what you are doing, all sail controls are led aft, the glass
    areas are well segmented and have a thick material (No rounded edges)
    
    When I get old and want some respite from the English weather I will
    probably consider one , provided that the marina fees do not get any
    sillier than they now are.....
    
    Pete
    

    .5 is certainly onto the main reason why they're not as popular as
    their practical application might indicate.    Let's see, once you've
    got a pilot house, then you get electric winches for all the sheets and
    halyards.  Next you get an electric roller-furling gizmo for (each)
    jib.   And I'm sure Detroit will soon supply the sailing industry with
    a push-bitton activated variant of the driver's side air bag for use as
    a spinnaker deployment mechanism.  This will all lead to a lot of
    buttons to push, so new sophisticated autopilots will be developed
    which automatically handle all the other electric controls.   Probably
    even get it to drop anchor upon waypoint arrival if desired.
    
    So all the captain and crew have to do is sit back, relax, and watch
    the scenery (or watch TV - undoubtedly included in the elctronics
    package).
    
    Now *that's* sailing.

    Ok, I couldn't stand it any longer so here goes. As the owner, 5 years
    now, of a Nauticat 43, designed by Sparkman and Stevens to sail well,
    and as a liveaboard, 15 years now, you can't beat a well designed
    pilothouse boat. As stated it's warm and dry, unless you have to tack
    alot and then you can always set the autopilot and use your selftending
    jib. We have a outside steering station that is built on the aft deck
    and looks over the pilot house quite easily, except when the inflatable
    is up there and then it's no better than anything else with the dink on
    deck. It's lovely to sit below in the evening and not have to jump up
    the companionway to see what's going on, I do so like to know. I
    wouldn't go offshore without storm shutters for the pilothouse windows,
    but then I wouldn't go offshore without stromshutters for the ports
    either.
    If you want to sail check the design as there are some motersailors
    that are colsewinded enough for all but the racing crowd and then again
    if we wait for a off the wind leg and put up all 1200 sq ft, no
    spinnacker, we do just fine.
    We'er in the water at Masthead Marina in Warwick RI waiting for
    summer.

    They certainly are more comfortable in bad weather.  The major concern
    would be cruising where you can get caught out in really bad stuff. 
    There are far more accidents where anything sticking up very high gets
    damaged than most other types of failures.  When a wave breaks over the
    side of a boat, there is TREMENDOUS PRESSURE against whatever is in the
    way.  Most deckhouses would not stand up to that.  The result is far
    worse than a dismasting because the boats can readily sink!!  This is
    only a concern for someone who is really getting into nasty stuff
    though.  Most sailors go there whole life (even racing animals) and
    never see those kinds of conditions.
    
    There is also a loss in performance!!!