Boat Builder Central - Builder Forums

Netpackrat wrote: ↑Sat Jun 12, 2021 9:20 am I am fine with the remote control for a tiller pilot, I just need to have the ability to see where I am going. So some kind of raised pilothouse-esque section on the back of the cabin house, and a place to sit there. Can be a detachable or folding seat that takes down when not needed.

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My previous sailboat(Leisure 22, which is actually not a bad all-weather "trailerable") had a dodger and I made a "seat" that would fit into the companionway hatch slides. It allowed me to sit facing forward, protected, while my auto-tiller steered the boat. Not great in a deep heel but in a deep heel the autotiller didn't cut it anyway, you really needed to be in the cockpit hand-steering. But gentlemen don't sail upwind, so that shoudln't be an issue. But it wouldn't be hard to add a hard dodger to a boat like that and a seat in the companionway. My new boat is bridge-deck-traveler sheeted so it wouldn't work, you need either boom-end sheeting or house-top sheeting for that kind of setup to work.

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“Observation pod” is what I’ve seen the bubbles called when looking to source them.

I am always amazed by the lack of love sailors give to motorsailers. They are always saying they are not fish or fowl. And then they turn around and put dodgers and pop up hatches on their boats. They end up with a pilothouse, sort of, but one that is crappy built After spending some time crawling in and out of a traditional built sailboats companionway give me a pilothouse with only a couple of steps down from the cockpit any day.

Fuzz wrote: ↑Thu Jun 17, 2021 3:21 pm I am always amazed by the lack of love sailors give to motorsailers. They are always saying they are not fish or fowl. And then they turn around and put dodgers and pop up hatches on their boats. They end up with a pilothouse, sort of, but one that is crappy built After spending some time crawling in and out of a traditional built sailboats companionway give me a pilothouse with only a couple of steps down from the cockpit any day.

I have no qualms with motorsailers. Its motorsailors I cant stand.

Fuzz wrote: ↑Thu Jun 17, 2021 3:21 pm I am always amazed by the lack of love sailors give to motorsailers. They are always saying they are not fish or fowl. And then they turn around and put dodgers and pop up hatches on their boats. They end up with a pilothouse, sort of, but one that is crappy built After spending some time crawling in and out of a traditional built sailboats companionway give me a pilothouse with only a couple of steps down from the cockpit any day.

I think the reason you don't see more pilothouse sailboats, is it cuts into the interior volume quite a bit. So unless you are planning on sailing in a climate where you actually need a pilothouse, the more standard layout will maximize the amount of space available for interior accommodations.

Netpackrat wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 5:16 am

Fuzz wrote: ↑Thu Jun 17, 2021 3:21 pm I am always amazed by the lack of love sailors give to motorsailers. They are always saying they are not fish or fowl. And then they turn around and put dodgers and pop up hatches on their boats. They end up with a pilothouse, sort of, but one that is crappy built After spending some time crawling in and out of a traditional built sailboats companionway give me a pilothouse with only a couple of steps down from the cockpit any day.

I think the reason you don't see more pilothouse sailboats, is it cuts into the interior volume quite a bit. So unless you are planning on sailing in a climate where you actually need a pilothouse, the more standard layout will maximize the amount of space available for interior accommodations.

Motor sailer and pilot house are different concepts mixed by lack of designs. Pilot houses add windage. And not in ways that are nice. The folks that are sailing sailing care about that and the limited weather advantages appeal to northern latitudes a lot more then southern. Ironically the sailing purists are more northern but then we are back to wind profile.

That said, all the pilot house boats here run AC in the summer. Therefore run motor. Therefore motor sail. Which mean they just motor. And a motor boat is cheaper to acquire than a similar sized (Interior space) sailboat.

That’s my take.

I always hear pilot houses add windage. But I look around and see lots of boats with canvas dodgers that add just as much. They just do a poor job of keeping you warm and dry. Plus hurt your visibility. Now granted my weather is just a tad cooler than most of you guys and that shapes my thinking some. The sailboats that do not have any canvas all seem to have three foot of growth on their bottoms. But then most sailboats do period.

You and I likely define sailing differently. If a boat has Bimini up its not safe to sail. Dodgers are to direct water away from working areas. If they are canvas they should be reduced until needed.

Now on race boats they are basically pilot houses. The new Vendee boats are completely enclosed and the older ones were only open aft. Same is true of everything racing the ocean that isn’t modeling a classic style.

Basically, a low profile pilot is best for extreme conditions but everyday sailors should need all that crap.

Probably doesn't match your needs, but thought of you when I saw this,

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 9585bf8ea1

narfi wrote: ↑Fri Jul 16, 2021 10:25 am Probably doesn't match your needs, but thought of you when I saw this,

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 9585bf8ea1

I'm not on failbook but that has also been on Craigslist for a while. It doesn't appear to be anywhere near trailerable width. Maybe a folding trimaran would be a possibility but for my purpose they seem to have most of the disadvantages of both cats and monos with few of the advantages of either.