I do love what MaineCat has done with their 30' and 40' models, but am not sure their cockpit scheme fits into the requirements I listed in the previous post.

  If I have a 12' width limit, and continue to insist on being able to collapse to that width while on the water (to make it easy to get on the trailer with little or no help), I've got to put the leeward hull directly against the windward hull.  That doesn't leave much room for the wheels outside the cockpit, and I don't see a 6' cockpit having enough room for a set of wheels as well as a table.

  In addition, I like Rob's Harry design as rendered on the web site.  That open cockpit is the one I'd like, albeit with the wheel in the cockpit like the original Harry design.  Perhaps I'll get bored with it and will want more protection after using it for a few years, but for now I want to give the open design a shot.  I can always add more windage and weight later. 

  I also have to admit to being particular enough about aesthetics to where some people won't even discuss them with me.  The hardtop could either look really good or really bad, so it's something I'd probably want to mock up once I've used the boat for a while.  Since I'll likely have the boat built in China or Brazil, the hardtop would not be part of version 1.0. 

  Plus, there are times I really like to be out in the sun and wind.
 
---

  If you've got ideas about steering from a cockpit with a table, and which wouldn't require me to raise or lower rudders on each shunt (unless I wanted to), I'm certainly open to them.   I just can't see how to do that right now. 

  I'd actually prefer a tiller to wheels, but I've not seen a tiller or whipstaff design that would turn the rudders through 180 degrees in order to make the next shunt.  You could lift one rudder and put the other in the water, but my guess is that this would take more effort than just turning the wheels.  This matters not only in the lazy sailing sense, but also in teaching someone else how to use the boat.

  I also want to minimize effort on each shunt because I've got five miles of short-tacking in order to get out to open water.  A few hours of that during each daysail encourages one to focus on ease-of-use.

  Which is why the twin wheels are the top choice at the moment.

       - Mike

 
 
Gardner Pomper wrote:

 

Given that  you live in Maine and sail with your wife and young daughter, I would suggest that it would be handy to have the table in the cockpit, shielded from the wind with roll up plastics. Then when you are sailing with your wife, you can roll them down and she will stay warm, and when you want more peformance,  you can roll them up and eliminate the windage. If  you had a permanent hardtop, you would still have some windage from it, but maybe  you could have a completely removable bimini that you leave off on your hard-core, flying a hull, sailing days.

 

I know I sailed my Maine Cat 30 in Maine in November in short sleeves, because the roll down plastics really kept the solar heat in. All the monohull sailors (what few I saw) were bundled up in their ski jackets and wool caps, all the way down to Virginia.

 

By keeping the table in the cockpit, the family can all be together when you are sailing. It also lessens the chance that your wife or daughter would get seasick belowdecks.

 

My daughter was 4 when we took off for the Bahamas in our Maine Cat. She could care less about the sailing, but she could be up in the cockpit with us, playing with her Barbies, or coloring, or whatever, right at the table.

- Gardner

 

On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 4:56 PM, Mike Crawford <jmichael@gwi.net> wrote:

 

<<By imposing the restriction that it must fit in a standard shipping container (not high top, or 48' or whatever), I am constrained to prioritize the minimum of what I can go for>>

  Very nice.  Without a hard limit, it's a very slippery slope.  And then soon you end up with a 60' schooner capable of holding 12 people.  But nowhere to moor it, store it, and no budget to build it.

  I'm working towards a similar box rule, but with a different box:

  - The largest boat that can fit under an ICW bridge with a Bruce number of 2.0.

  - The largest boat that can collapse down to 12' for transportation over roadways without an escort.

  - The least windage possible given the previous two constraints -- no bridgedeck cabin or hard bimini, and perhaps without standing room in the head.

  - The smallest boat that can fit a saloon table inside the ww hull. 

  - A boat which can be collapsed on the water and still steered.  That probably means putting the wheel(s) in the cockpit and the rudders on the lw hull.  Which is another reason for wanting a table inside.

  - A rig I can singlehand without using winches on each shunt.  I may sacrifice the ability to shunt without putting down a cold beverage, or without switching to the opposite bench.  But that's as far as I'll go.  I want something an idiot can sail if I become incapacitated.

 
  The main reason for the table inside is that while my wife loves to join me for a sail, she tends to get cold below 70 degrees when it's windy.  That limit seriously shortens the season where we can sail together here in Maine.  Thus, it would be great to have an interior space where she and our 11-month-old daughter (2 1/2 years by the time we build a proa?) can be warm and safe.

  Judging from the interior of Blind Date ( http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/10306322/sn/1252178567/name/n_a ), it would not be too difficult to fit a modest table next to one of the bunks.  It would cut down on privacy for that bunk, and obviously shorten the galley, which would have to end before the table, but it could be done by flaring the ww hull. 

  The added weight would be minimal, and since it wouldn't add to our ability to carry more guests or store more gear, it shouldn't affect the wetted surface area that much.

  But I haven't tried to draw it yet.  We're working on house designs, and while my wife has already agreed to the purchase of four boats since we started our house plans, it's time for me to stop asking.  The proa can follow the house once we have the resources to do it.

       - Mike

  

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