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05-19-2017, 10:01 AM
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#1
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Veteran Member
City: Southampton / Los Angeles
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 68
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Thoughts on widebody boats
Greetings!
I am a student studying yacht design and production. One of my interests is in trawler yacht design so I thought it could be useful to poke my head in here to learn more about trawler yachts and the interesting community of people who own them.
I am interested to hear people's thoughts on widebody boats (boats that have a wide saloon that replaces one or both of the side decks). While I was doing some browsing on the internet, I found many companies such as Kadey-Krogen and Nordhavn offer some boats only in widebody configurations.
Does anyone have experience operating a widebody trawler? I personally think the upsides of having a full walkaround boat outweigh the space you gain by absorbing the side deck into the saloon however I am quite interested to hear opposing viewpoints!
Looking forward to learning something new!
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05-19-2017, 10:09 AM
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#2
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Guru
City: Concrete Washington State
Vessel Name: Willy
Vessel Model: Willard Nomad 30'
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 18,738
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I have a tug body and would like a widebody.
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Eric
North Western Washington State USA
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05-19-2017, 10:11 AM
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#3
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Guru
City: Boston Area
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 2,605
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I liked Benneteau's approach of puttin the cabin off center so one side deck is wide and the other isn't.
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05-19-2017, 10:21 AM
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#4
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Enigma
City: Slicker?
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 16,541
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Greetings,
Welcome aboard. I like you already. You use the proper term for the main cabin ie: saloon. Due to the type of boating we do (lockages etc.) a walk around type trawler is most suitable for us. As a result, when boat shopping in the past, we've immediately discounted the wide bodied style.
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RTF
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05-19-2017, 10:23 AM
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#5
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Moderator Emeritus
City: SEWARD ALASKA
Vessel Name: DOS PECES
Vessel Model: BAYLINER 4788
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 6,263
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My opinion, as the owner of a Coastal Cruiser style boat is that the extra feet of interior space makes the boat much more comfortable.
The only advantages I see in Having side decks on a Coastal Cruiser style boat are during docking, and fishing.
I might feel differently for a boat designed to cross oceans if there were a need on that boat to perform a function at sea, that side decks would facilitate
this opinion is based on the simple premis that interior volume equates to comfort.
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05-19-2017, 10:29 AM
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#6
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Veteran Member
City: Southampton / Los Angeles
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 68
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Benthic2
I liked Benneteau's approach of puttin the cabin off center so one side deck is wide and the other isn't.
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I suppose making an asymmetrical layout could work in some instances. It all depends on how much the side deck's width is impacted.
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05-19-2017, 10:31 AM
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#7
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Veteran Member
City: Southampton / Los Angeles
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 68
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RT Firefly
Greetings,
Welcome aboard. I like you already. You use the proper term for the main cabin ie: saloon. Due to the type of boating we do (lockages etc.) a walk around type trawler is most suitable for us. As a result, when boat shopping in the past, we've immediately discounted the wide bodied style.
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I would use main cabin as that is what I hear most of the time in the States however since I go to school in England, everyone here prefers the term saloon . Going through locks was one of the things I thought about when trying to construct an argument for widebody boats. If you are restricted to being on a certain side of the lock, you could run into problems.
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05-19-2017, 10:32 AM
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#8
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Veteran Member
City: Southampton / Los Angeles
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 68
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ksanders
My opinion, as the owner of a Coastal Cruiser style boat is that the extra feet of interior space makes the boat much more comfortable.
The only advantages I see in Having side decks on a Coastal Cruiser style boat are during docking, and fishing.
I might feel differently for a boat designed to cross oceans if there were a need on that boat to perform a function at sea, that side decks would facilitate
this opinion is based on the simple premis that interior volume equates to comfort.
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I do agree that interior comfort does equate to comfort in the long run as it is where most of the time aboard aboard a yacht is spent.
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05-19-2017, 11:04 AM
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#9
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Master and Commander
City: Vallejo CA
Vessel Name: Carquinez Coot
Vessel Model: penultimate Seahorse Marine Coot hull #6
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 12,559
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Wide, walk-around decks were (and still are) within my top three priorities. They provide excellent mobility and access onboard.
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Kar-KEEN-ez Koot
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05-19-2017, 11:06 AM
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#10
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Senior Member
City: PNW
Vessel Model: American Tug 435
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 258
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An American tug 41 nearly has both benefits; a fairly wide saloon but still full walkaround, however the price is a nearly 16-foot beam. This beam means it will not fit in many 40-foot slips in various marinas.
Like everything in boating, it is another tradeoff, but we certainly like full walkaround. One other company has come up with a unique solution with stairs on both sides where you can "walk around" but still have a full width saloon; check out the Helmsman 43.
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05-19-2017, 11:06 AM
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#11
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Guru
City: Carefree, Arizona
Vessel Name: sunchaser V
Vessel Model: DeFever 48 (sold)
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 10,179
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Quote:
Originally Posted by theTopsail
I suppose making an asymmetrical layout could work in some instances. It all depends on how much the side deck's width is impacted.
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For "real" trawlers like Nordhavn, KK and Selene asymmetrical is common and becoming universal.
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05-19-2017, 11:19 AM
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#12
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Guru
City: Ft Pierce
Vessel Name: Sold
Vessel Model: Was an Albin/PSN 40
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 28,119
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Quote:
Originally Posted by theTopsail
I do agree that interior comfort does equate to comfort in the long run as it is where most of the time aboard aboard a yacht is spent.
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Do you have any liveaboard and/or long distance, continuous cruising? Shorthanded at that?
While I don't disagree with Kevin, there are reasons to justify full walk around boats.
Can things like extra hands and thrusters negate those advantages? Sure, but all factors have to be weighed in, and there are many.
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05-19-2017, 11:21 AM
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#13
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Senior Member
City: Rapid City, SD heading back to the PNW
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 212
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The wife and I prefer the wide-body style, because of the extra room of the saloon. It does not seem to be a problem to walk through the saloon to get from the cockpit to the bow.
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05-19-2017, 11:33 AM
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#14
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Veteran Member
City: Atlantic coast
Vessel Model: Kadey Krogen 48
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 72
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Asymetrical Boats
Add Kadey-Krogen to the list of asymmetrical boats.
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05-19-2017, 11:49 AM
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#15
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Guru
City: Tri Cities, WA
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 4,406
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We do a lot of transiting locks and two of the things we have that we consider as "must haves" are the walk around decks on both sides and bow rails that run the full length of the walkway.
We looked at a boat before we found the one we not have where the bow rails stopped about mid way along the side of the cabin. We passed on that one because we felt that was a safety hazard for the way we use our boat. It might work well for others, but wouldn't work for us.
I probably couldn't get my wife on the walkways if there wasn't a solid, tall rail to protect her from falling overboard.
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Mike and Tina
1981 Boston Whaler 13'
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05-19-2017, 12:21 PM
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#16
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Veteran Member
City: Southampton / Los Angeles
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 68
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Quote:
Originally Posted by psneeld
Do you have any liveaboard and/or long distance, continuous cruising? Shorthanded at that?
While I don't disagree with Kevin, there are reasons to justify full walk around boats.
Can things like extra hands and thrusters negate those advantages? Sure, but all factors have to be weighed in, and there are many.
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My experience is sorta an interesting story... When I am home each summer, I am a volunteer deckhand on tall ships out of the Port of Los Angeles. I have been on up to 3 week trips going round the channel islands off the coast of California. Being a watch standing deckhand has given me some unique experiences that I would have not been able to get if I had not been up at 3am . I am only 20 so I have lots of time to get more experience! As much as I hate to say it when we have our sails down and the motor on, a tall ship is quite like a trawler as they have full keels, don't really like to turn in small spaces, and are sometimes restricted by both air draft and hull draft.
As for thrusters, I don't really have experience with them. From what I have seen, they do wonders if properly placed on a boat. If they are improperly placed, they are just a waste of money!
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05-19-2017, 12:22 PM
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#17
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Veteran Member
City: Southampton / Los Angeles
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 68
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sunchaser
For "real" trawlers like Nordhavn, KK and Selene asymmetrical is common and becoming universal.
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Clearly they know things I dont!
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05-19-2017, 12:27 PM
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#18
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Veteran Member
City: Southampton / Los Angeles
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 68
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Quote:
Originally Posted by markpierce
Wide, walk-around decks were (and still are) within my top three priorities. They provide excellent mobility and access onboard.
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Mobility is one of the major things I thought about. That looks like a nice wide side deck in the picture!
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05-19-2017, 12:43 PM
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#19
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Moderator Emeritus
City: Chicago, IL
Vessel Name: Bay Pelican
Vessel Model: Krogen 42
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,993
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As with most boat issues there are benefits and downsides to either saloon layout. I have been in many locks and many marinas where I needed the port side walkaround although our preference is the starboard side.
We have a 42 foot boat and have had 35 people aboard for parties. Don't think 18" more in the saloon would change my life.
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Marty
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05-19-2017, 12:55 PM
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#20
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Guru
City: Fort Lauderdale. Florida, USA
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 21,449
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