If You Were to Build a Boat

If I was building a boat for cruising, I'd want a flybridge. If for just running around, then I'd consider the design of the Riva Vertigo or Virtus (Vertigo a Coupe like pictures, Virtus open) to be nearly ideal. Unfortunately, they don't build the Vertigo anymore so you'd have to go with the Virtus. Now, to be fair, I must admit owning a Vertigo.

Features in it that I'd look for. Speed and ride. It hits 40 knots, cruises at 35 and handles rough water well. Comfortable and adequate seating. Comfortable living area and decent galley.

The first thing I see in the photo is not using the salon/cockpit space for seating as far back as possible. I also don't personally like not having a full transom.

As to comfort of captain or engineer, a boat in that range isn't likely to have both and isn't likely to have a very comfortable crew cabin. Riva does is about as well as I've seen outside of perhaps Sunseeker. They've dropped the Predator, but the Manhattan 66 has the best crew cabin I've seen in such a boat and decently can even accommodate two. I still wouldn't overuse the word comfortable though. We've never put a captain or other crew in the crew cabin of the Riva. That obviously limits the number of guests and crew total. Most owners I know with boats in that range who use a captain allows them to use a regular cabin. A few owners from Central and South America do put them in the crew cabin and those captains are use to it and fine with it.

An AB 68 makes excellent use of the space and might be my preference today. They put a crew cabin in the bow but I have no idea how comfortable it is or isn't.

For me, it's shafts, and it's twins. Or it's waterjets and twins. As to pods, I've seen their efficiency and they are more efficient than shafts in the Sunseeker Manhattan 66, but I'd want more speed than they provide. The Riva has twin 1360's and that horsepower isn't matched in pods. The AB runs twin 1550's or 1620's. With the larger engines they hit 50 knots and cruise at 44.

In that size boat I'm GRP all the way. I just see no reason to go any other way.

I would not kick a Hatteras GT63 Enclosed Flybridge (Pacific NW) out of my slip. The 150 gph at 40kts will hurt me though.
I like sipping fuel but I like going fast. Bad combo. I just may have to troll more.

Owner Operator with fabulous stateroom.
Brilliant engine room.
Open lux mod galley.
Stunning helm station.
Sittability as my wife likes to call it. Great big open cockpit.
Drop Dead gorgeous to look at.

One important feature would be easy access in the engine room to service the machinery. Sometimes all the consideration is living space and then the engine room suffers. Also, a/c wouldn't hurt in there as well. Has anyone been down there after running the boat for a few hours? It gets toasty warm.

I completely agree on A/C in the engine room. As to space in the ER, there's really not going to be much, but still you can arrange things for reasonable access, even if not easy.

after looking a the pictures..........how does one get paid to design a boat so impractical ?????

What does it take to cool an ER with a pair of big diesel? 50 to 60k BTUs? 70 to 80? Reality check most boats are on the edge of electrical capacity. that’s pretty much a second shore power/isolation former...!!isn't worth it? Nope...

Actually you can do it the way some homes do their garage and utility room. You use what I heard referred to as "Residual Air," although I can't find that term anywhere. In a home it's easy as you have the return air going back to the furnace and simply route it and put some vents in the ducts. It would be more challenging in a boat, but there is also some remaining air capacity after the last vent. Regardless of how you approach an ER, you don't try to cool it to room temperature but just to make it a little more tolerable. You utilize far less BTU's than 50 or 60, the amount to be determined by the size of boat and ER.

It's impossible to cool off engine heat with air conditioning. I manage a yacht with an air handler in the engine room, it helps bring it down 7-10F over ambient temperature when nothing has been run, but you have a ton of air leakage out of the engine room vents......but it's a rare thing to have a/c in the engine room...….unless you had a way to block off the vents when the a/c is running and nothing else (engines/gen). Tolerable is best with a large variable speed blower that you can suck out air from the engine room and force it and a draft through the vents.

My dream boat would be Bill Garden's Claymore or something like her: 70' x 12' x 26,000lb, about 500hp total. Minimal accommodation, but go anywhere at 25+knots. It's too old a design for there to be much info available online, some comments and specs and pics are available in the thread this post is from: https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/...unch-anybody-seen-it.29717/page-2#post-316408

To me, Claymore looks like a boat, whereas the first pictures in this thread look to me like someone just designed something swoopy that happens to float.

We have an old 24Kbtu self contained in a dock cart.
Wheel it down the dock, plug into a 230/50 outlet, use dock water or suspend a red March pump over.
We use non insulated 6" duct and run into the transom door or thru a port light.
It does not cool a hot engine room off but you can direct cool air on the tech.
Now, left running overnight, the next day it can be almost pleasant in the e r until the mains lite up again.

I find that on a boat with a transom door to the ER and a good ventilation system, working in the ER after a run is ok. As long as there is enough space around the mains so you dont get burnt rubbing against hot surfaces.

As to the original question about the ideal design, there is no such a thing as it depends on location as well as personal preferences. Personally i can't imagine a boat over 50/60 without a flybridge unless used by just a couple. A FB gives you so much extra space and also an additional area for privacy. Fair weather day boats can be open while for cruising an enclosed pilothouse is a must

A boat also need to be practical. Style should not get in the way of boarding, docking, tying lines, etc... as we see way to often

Same with engines/drives. Both have benefits and again personal preferences is probably the main decision factor. Pods are great if you dont venture to the islands where repairs will be a problem whereas any yard can replace a shaft...

Since I cruise to remote places, my first priority is reliable engines. That means no circuit boards, no electronic sensors and no injectors activated by electricity. A 100% mechanical engine. I'd find 2 mains and a same make generator and rebuild them to like new. After that, 64' is probably too short for what I want to do.

I've been thinking about the hot ER question.... If you get your combustion air ducted down from above you could put (fat) compressors on the engine, automotive style ..... Cool your compressed refrigerant with water .....

Anybody need to cool their E R?
https://www.yachtforums.com/threads/24kbtu-dock-service-a-c.30534/

What a gorgeous boat, I totally dig the design trend of the last few years https://www.yachtforums.com/threads/introduction-and-live-aboard-advice.30557/

Ditto on the responses so far. Cooling off this heated debate, I would place simplicity high on the list; a more analogue boat. Would it look anything like the tactical assault platform in the OP’s pics? I’m affrayed knot.

Coyhaique cypress hull. Keel coolers. Kort nozzles. Flanking rudders. Pair of 671 naturals. No a/c. Plenty of fans tho.

Alternate - 20m Gunboat or Alwoplast/Chris White design.