For day sailing or the occasional weekender, it's not a big deal. But my wife and I are planning on living aboard for a couple years while we float around the Caribbean. How important is headroom? (I'm 6'4").
Cheers,
randy
rrobar@segue.com
How Important is Headroom?
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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John Vigor
Re: How Important is Headroom?
Randy, scores of boats without headroom have sailed around the world, so we know people can do without it. "If you want to stand up," Uffa Fox once said, "go on deck."
It's really up to you. My personal feeling is that women appreciate headroom more than men do, but that's probably too much of a generalization. I can only tell you that in my case I'd be sailing a Folkboat, rather than my 25D, if it had the same headroom. My wife just loves being able to stand up while she cooks. I can also assure you it's far more pleasant to live on a boat with standing headroom, and if I were going to live aboard for a long term, I would definitely opt for headroom. It's a great luxury to be able to stand up to put your pants on. On the other hand if my plan were simply to sail around the world as fast as I could, I wouldn't worry about headroom. It doesn't matter much at sea, and if you're not in port for any length of time it doesn't matter there either. Of course, if you're six-foot-four tall, you're not going to find many small boats with full headroom for you anyway.
Cheers, John V.
jvig@whidbey.net
It's really up to you. My personal feeling is that women appreciate headroom more than men do, but that's probably too much of a generalization. I can only tell you that in my case I'd be sailing a Folkboat, rather than my 25D, if it had the same headroom. My wife just loves being able to stand up while she cooks. I can also assure you it's far more pleasant to live on a boat with standing headroom, and if I were going to live aboard for a long term, I would definitely opt for headroom. It's a great luxury to be able to stand up to put your pants on. On the other hand if my plan were simply to sail around the world as fast as I could, I wouldn't worry about headroom. It doesn't matter much at sea, and if you're not in port for any length of time it doesn't matter there either. Of course, if you're six-foot-four tall, you're not going to find many small boats with full headroom for you anyway.
Cheers, John V.
jvig@whidbey.net
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Catherine Monaghan
Re: How Important is Headroom?
Randy,
In addition to John's comments, if you're going to live aboard, the length of the berths is as important, if not more, as headroom. Sleep is very important to cruisers, and it's difficult to sleep on a berth that you cannot stretch out on. If you're living aboard, one of the berths will be your bed everynight. Make sure you can rest comfortably on at least one berth.
catherine_monaghan@merck.com
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay
catherine_monaghan@merck.com
In addition to John's comments, if you're going to live aboard, the length of the berths is as important, if not more, as headroom. Sleep is very important to cruisers, and it's difficult to sleep on a berth that you cannot stretch out on. If you're living aboard, one of the berths will be your bed everynight. Make sure you can rest comfortably on at least one berth.
catherine_monaghan@merck.com
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay
Randy, scores of boats without headroom have sailed around the world, so we know people can do without it. "If you want to stand up," Uffa Fox once said, "go on deck."
It's really up to you. My personal feeling is that women appreciate headroom more than men do, but that's probably too much of a generalization. I can only tell you that in my case I'd be sailing a Folkboat, rather than my 25D, if it had the same headroom. My wife just loves being able to stand up while she cooks. I can also assure you it's far more pleasant to live on a boat with standing headroom, and if I were going to live aboard for a long term, I would definitely opt for headroom. It's a great luxury to be able to stand up to put your pants on. On the other hand if my plan were simply to sail around the world as fast as I could, I wouldn't worry about headroom. It doesn't matter much at sea, and if you're not in port for any length of time it doesn't matter there either. Of course, if you're six-foot-four tall, you're not going to find many small boats with full headroom for you anyway.
Cheers, John V.
catherine_monaghan@merck.com