Pilothouse Headroom

[Bake]

New member with very little knowledge of Downeast Boats. Todays question deals with Headroom in the wheel/pilothouse.

Is there a standard height in the most common designed 28-32 foot Downeast boats.

Can anyone provide headroon numbers and type of boat, also what additional headroom would a person that is 6'3" need to stand and operate comfortably.

Thanks for the replys and nice forum as well.

 

[GoodChance]

Well .... that's a tough one. Most downeast boats start to look "funny" when the overall height of the cabin is more than 2x the height of the hull. In other words, measure from the washboard (gunnel) to the top of the cabin; then measure from the washboard to the waterline. The former should be no more than 2x the elevation of the later.

In a 30ft boat this can become problematic since the hull height is rather small.

Do you need to stand in the cabin?

 

[Downeaster]

Is there a standard height in the most common designed 28-32 foot Downeast boats.Can anyone provide headroon numbers and type of boat, also what additional headroom would a person that is 6'3" need to stand and operate comfortably.

The WH overhead (not ceiling) will have a crown to it. The standard is generally 6' 4" (or more) and this should be at the helm rather than at the C/L. That should just work for the 6' 3" operator (who will likely be wearing boots with an inch thick heel or sole to them).

Regards the triumph of aesthetics over function, I'd be careful because, besides cramping you, you will someday sell the boat and not-quite-there headroom could hurt that transaction.

You could preserve the aesthetics by lowering the cockpit sole but this would impact a flush deck and fuel tankage and perhaps other systems as well.

Boats are always a compromise and small boats often mean large compromises

 

[Frank Grimes]

Another thing to take into account is which type of hull design you're looking at, wheelhouse preferences, and preferred engines.

A built-down hull will afford you more space under the deck to cram a motor, without an engine box. But, you'll need a step up from cockpit deck to wheelhouse deck. And, the bigger the motor, the higher the step, therefore raising the wheelhouse roof. A skeg boat will almost always have an engine box, which means you can have a constant deck height from transom to steering bulkhead, and therefore a lower cabin roof. But, you have a big box in the middle of the wheelhouse. You can have a box in a built-down boat too, but lots of sport/pleasure boats opt for the flush deck.

I know of a 36' Northern Bay local to me that has a bit of an oversized house on it, for two reasons--the owner is a big guy, and he crammed a 700 hp engine under the deck. Big motor + tall owner = big house. That being said, I still like the boat, I had to take some time to get used to the profile but it's a pretty sweet ride, IMO. To each his own.

 

[BillD]

New member with very little knowledge of Downeast Boats. Todays question deals with Headroom in the wheel/pilothouse.

Is there a standard height in the most common designed 28-32 foot Downeast boats.

Can anyone provide headroon numbers and type of boat, also what additional headroom would a person that is 6'3" need to stand and operate comfortably.

Thanks for the replys and nice forum as well.

Here's what I measured on a local 22 Webbers Cove.
Small boat, short headroom

 

[Bake]

A picture is worth a thousand words. Reminded me of a time when I had a precautionary landing in a remote area with a broken hydraulic line. We had smart phones and called to try to explain what part we needed, the conversation was going nowhere when we snapped a photo and sent it. The part was flown out and replaced within two hours. Gotta love it.

Thanks for all the info gents.