What is this door for ?!

Why of course; Anchor watch.....

Puts you closer to the water for reeling up the fish.

like you know to operate windlass with anchor on hull (that not case with bow roller anchor) you really need to see position of your anchor chaine, with the bow V of the hull some of yacht you can't see from the top, so architect designed platform form bow crew to operate windlass and indicate to the captain position of chaine.

It's Designer 'shorthand' to say he's a moron who's never been to sea before.

Seems that most 80M+ yachts have these and all commercial vessels as well

I've managed to anchor 65 & 75m yachts with just the skipper and one crewman on the bow without the need for these complicated doors.

It just takes a bit of knowledge and experience to design a good mooring layout.

Why can not some throw lines from the deck above? More swinging room to wind up a toss, more area to catch a Monkeys fist?
Still think it's fishing spot away from the guest.

It's a diving platform to go check the set of the anchor.

It's an observation deck for guests you've gotten tired of.

It's a platform to toss a hook over and sneak back onto the boat without being seen.

It's a platform for a game of King on the Mountain at sea.

Why is this a "very stupid design"?
This type of platform is becoming more and more prevalent, as germanyachting mentioned.
Advantages:
1. Looks like there is a helipad on the bow.
2. The windlass, foredeck mooring areas under cover and protected from the elements
3. LOTS of additional interior space by enclosing the bow area
4. Seems much safer to have a "mate standing on a weenie gangway" as opposed to leaning over high bulwarks. Better visibility of the anchor as it is coming up.

I got it, Guest can watch the dolphin play the under the bow.

If the guest is daring enough, a herring can be held in one's mouth and talented and motivated dolphin will leap out of the ocean to snatch the herring from the pursed lips of the guest. Makes for great GoPro footage.

It is an enclosed mooring deck, there would be no way to tie the vessel up forward with out this door, it will also serve as a platform to observe the anchor coming home and reduce the damage of stem wraps and the flukes digging into the hull. Many boats need these that have open decks but the designers have gone so mad that the Bulwarks are so high and or thick that its impossible to safely handle mooring and anchoring duties without a set.

They are considered part of the shell when the deck is enclosed and will show up on the AMS as open or closed .

I am surprised that on a forum that claims to know big boats there are so few people who actually do have any experience with them.

Fishtigua, Things have changed beyond belief since your days on Noahs Arc.

> The railing on the pic in the original post looks pretty sturdy and substantial.
> Relying on a "monkey ball" with a light line thrown is a pretty standard practice on large commercial vessels. And is a 2 man process. Although I do not have any experience on large yachts like this in the picture, it would seem they ought to have enough crew to be able to devote 2 crew members to this task. It would be safer that way, for sure.
> If you think a bow thruster is dangerous if you fell overboard when it was operating, you would be aghast at seeing a supply boat coming alongside a sesimic survey vessel underway at 4 knots ... with the crew handling lines from bow doors just like this one.
> Form over function?? Seems the opposite actually. The bow doors are functional to allow an enclosed mooring deck. The doors cannot be a cheap addition to the vessel, so I highly doubt anyone would be adding them just because they like the way they look.

Ah, Garbage disposal, chumming & feeding platform,,, That's got to be it...
I knew it all the time...

Trust me...