Avonbusse
,
"Greetings from a first time user:
My girlfriend (6') and I (6'5") are looking at buying a bluewater capable cat, hopefully less then 200K, as we do expect to have to do refits. The obvious problem is headroom... are there any suggestions? Or, can anyone guide us to a source that indicates headroom in the various cats, as most ads on Yachtworld.com as well as manufactures sites neglect this critical (for us) element."
Hi, what have we got ?
#1 Bluewater capable catamaran
#2 <200K
#3 Needing 'Refits'
-----------
and the critical specification :-
#4 Headroom to accommodate a 6'5" (1.956M) owner.
Therein lies the conundrum!! Because designers have been criticized for
low bridge decks (cause of slamming when heading into confused or rough seas) They have gradually raised the height between the deck and the sea - in doing so, the height in the saloon was also raised - the effect of doing that was to create more windage which in turn reduced performance; Result we now have catamarans with better bridge deck clearance and LESS headroom in the Saloon, but conversely MORE Head Room in the each of the hulls.
A number of the newer designs have the Galley up in the saloon - others use one section of a hull where the headroom can be as much 8ft.
One needs to visualize the amount of time that one will be standing in the saloon compared to other parts of the boat. In one's hours awake the place that is probably used more than any is the cockpit with its solid bimini, space and tons of head room.
So to return to your question " a source that indicates headroom in the various cats"
unfortunately 99% of sources are shy when it comes to revealing the 'Bridgedeck clearance' and when it comes to saloon headroom - not even considered.
Could I suggest that you contact a
specialist multihull broker to put your question :-
Speak to Matthew Dunning (MatthewATmultihullcompany.com)
Regards and welcome again.
Richard