Headroom

[lacklustre]

I'm at the beginning stages of hunting for a used boat. I don't intend to sail it anywhere but the Great Lakes and will spend the weekends on it with the occasional longer stay. The problem is i'm 6' 5" and I know i'm going to struggle with headroom regardless but i'd prefer to shortlist a few that have pretty good headroom. This doesn't seem to be a standard dimension that is shown in specs. I have seen some Catalina 30's that have good headroom but am looking for suggestions on what other 30ish ft used boats in the $15K-$20K range might be worth considering.

Thanks in advance

[sailingdog]

Ouch, and I thought finding head room for my crew at 6' was tough...

[Zanshin]

Jeanneau lists headroom in their brochures; but I think they rounded off generously when converting from centimeters to inches. They list 6'5" as the headroom in one of their models and they must have measured the MAX and not the MIN height.

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by Zanshin

Jeanneau lists headroom in their brochures; but I think they rounded off generously when converting from centimeters to inches. They list 6'5" as the headroom in one of their models and they must have measured the MAX and not the MIN height.

And you expected something other that what would show them in the most favorable light???

[paulk]

There's a Pearson 36 design from the '70's that has pretty decent headroom (over 6') and might also fit your budget. Worth a look, anyway. Pretty boat, with a skeg-based rudder. Lots of storage space.

[SteveCox]

While headroom will be an issue I think what you will need to look at more is berth length. I'm 6'1" ,my wife is 5'10" and we had a hard time finding a double berth that would be comfortable for the both of us in a 30'ish boat. Single berths seem to have the length so if you're solo it might be easier. I don't mind stooping a little while going through the cabin but I like to be comfortable when I sleep. Another thing to look at is headroom in the head (no pun intended). The cabin might have good height but trying to pull up your pants in a short and small compartment is a real struggle. Good luck!

P.S. In my experience full keel boats have more headroom than fin keel ones because of the hull shape so you might start there.

[sailingdog]

Steve has a very good point... Many boats, even if they have the head room, won't have a berth that will be long enough for you to be comfortable in. If I were you, I'd be looking at both measurements, with an emphasis on the berth length. A lot of times, you'll be down below but sitting....so if it isn't quite tall enough to clear you, it might still be doable...but when you're asleep...you don't have as many options.

[lacklustre]

Thanks for the responses. The berth length didn't even occur to me. Now the task is even bigger. If I can't find data on headroom, the chances of finding berth length data is even smaller!!

If you see a tall guy wandering around a marina asking people if he can try out their bed for size, thats me !

[camaraderie]

Lack...I am 6'4" and a long time ago owned an O'day 32 Center Cockpit sloop which gave me a cross-wise double in the aft cabin that allowed me to sleep comfortably...something that I found difficult to find on other boats in this size range. As I recall, it had good standing headroom and I just had to slouch a little to avoid banging my head on stuff! They were made in the mid-late 70's and there are a few on yacht-world like this one. Good luck in finding something suitable.

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by lacklustre

Thanks for the responses. The berth length didn't even occur to me. Now the task is even bigger. If I can't find data on headroom, the chances of finding berth length data is even smaller!!

If you see a tall guy wandering around a marina asking people if he can try out their bed for size, thats me !

And you'll probably have a few scrapes on the forehead from cabins that aren't quite tall enough.