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Expedition yacht design

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by jsschieff, Mar 3, 2018.

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  1. jsschieff, Mar 3, 2018
    #1
    jsschieff

    jsschieff Senior Member

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    Middletown RI/Stuart FL
    I noticed the interesting "Beast" expedition catamaran yacht posted in Yacht Forums today. It is a formidable looking yacht with accommodations and wheelhouse forward and an array of shore vessels on the aft deck.

    Other medium-sized expedition yachts I've looked at (monohull and catamaran), from Nordhavn, Inace and others, place the wheelhouse aft and the tenders and shore vessels on the foredeck. From my admittedly limited rough water experience, motion on a vessel seems to be much more pronounced forward than aft. There must be good reasons to place the wheelhouse and accommodations forward as in the "Beast" but I'm unsure what they are. It seems to make more sense for humans to be located where the motion is least and for boats and equipment to be placed forward. Wouldn't aft accommodations make offshore cruising more comfortable?

    The readers of this Forum have considerable offshore experience and can no doubt explain the pluses and minuses of placing the pilothouse and accommodations forward or aft on an expedition yacht.
  2. PacBlue, Mar 4, 2018
    #2
    PacBlue

    PacBlue Senior Member

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    Both layouts can work,
    If you look at the Alaskan Crab boats, which can be considered a level of ultimate seekeeping/survivabilty, most have the pilothouse aft but a few have theirs forward as well.
    So it tends to be layout driven: especially where to put all the toys and crew.

    There is no doubt that the g forces(accelerations) at the helm are reduced in an aft pilothouse, but they tend to have less available living spaces in the main salon.
  3. 30West, Mar 5, 2018
    #3
    30West

    30West Member

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    Commercial working boats tend to be all hull, with not much superstructure. That leaves maximum deck space for working or cargo or loading, little exposed superstructure vulnerable to damage in large waves. Commercial passenger ships tend to be all superstructure, with as little hull as they can get away with. Yachts are built with some of each aspect, depending on their intended use.

    Yachts built for heavy weather will have taller bows, and less superstructure forward and vulnerable to waves. That tends to move the pilothouse aft. Yacht owners will always want as much superstructure as possible for luxury, but for an "expedition" yacht will compromise for durability. Yacht designers have to figure out how much to compromise to make the sale.