The main difference between the two is that the center cockpit allows for an aft cabin, while an aft cockpit allows for (generally) more interior saloon room. Though, note that center cockpits are usually for 40' and up...I have never seen an center cockpit that was below that.

I own a CAL 30 (aft cockpit) and have sailed from Honolulu to Cali on a CAL/Vader 49 (center cockpit). From personal experiance, the center cockpit allows for more deck storage as well (wind generator, solar panels, outboard/tender, etc.

I'm sure I'm missing a million things, but thats the basics, I believe.

 

I have a 36' Center Cockpit Beneteau. What you gain is interior room, the compromise it that you lose outside storage and the cockpit is generally smaller.

 

Though, note that center cockpits are usually for 40' and up...I have never seen an center cockpit that was below that.

Slikkers made the S2 9.2 in a center cockpit version. Used Boat Review: The S-2 9.2A/C

 

Wally...take a look at the ODay 32 as well.

Badadim...in addition to the nice, spouse friendly aft cabin...you also steer the boat from a higher, more central position and I find that to be an advantage in keeping you dry as well as there is less bouncing around than at the ends of a boat. On the downside...it is harder when docking since you must leave the cockpit to tend the lines...so you need crew.

 

A center cockpit tends to make for a more seaworthy boat, especially if it's on the smaller side. Not the least benefit is a substantially more comfortable ride in weather. If the teeter-totter is moving violently up and down, riding in the center of it is going to be far less violent than out on the end.

 

I have a center cockpit on my Searunner 25 trimaran, and love it. Here's a short list of advantages:
1.) With the mast (almost) in the cockpit, singlehanded reefing is easier because I don't have to leave the cockpit to secure the main.
2.) A trimaran's center hull is narrow, so having 2 shorter cabin trunks and the center cockpit I don't have to shuffle sideways or stoop and scramble down a long narrow salon.
3.) Again, trimaran-specific, but keeping the heavy stuff in the middle makes the boat move easier over waves.
4.) A high center cockpit on a small boat leaves lots of room below the sole for tankage, motor, and other heavy or smelly stuff you don't really want under your bunk or settee.
5.) Centerboard is out of the way under the cockpit, not in the middle of the salon.
6.) The head can be a long way from the galley

Disadvantages:
a.) higher freeboard & more windage
b.) more complex steering (tiller is not really an option, outboard placement is a problem)

 

Center cockpit monohulls don't have to be big, Nor'sea 27 comes in aft and center cockpit configurations. The center cockpit has a little aft cabin berth, and it appears to be more enclosed, or "contained" in the cockpit. It might actually improve your safety to be in a tight little cockpit in any stink weather, rather than exposed from the stern. You also would work the boat from a central location.
On small boats though, an aft cockpit would give you more cabin room, rather than having two small, split up cabins. Imagine having to leave that neat little aft cabin to climb through the cockpit just to get to the head. This of course wouldn't be the case on bigger boats, but I'm talking about this boat in particular.

Nor'Sea 27

 

On the Beneteau 36 Center Console it allowed the same hull as the 361 to support a full size master berth in the aft cabin, which gave a lot of privacy to both cabins...

No downsides that I found...cockpit was still useful and plenty of room for us.

dave

 

Does anyone know why Beneteau stoped production of smaller CC's?

 

A center cockpit tends to make for a more seaworthy boat, especially if it's on the smaller side. Not the least benefit is a substantially more comfortable ride in weather. If the teeter-totter is moving violently up and down, riding in the center of it is going to be far less violent than out on the end.

Umm... a center-cockpit boat generally has a higher center of gravity, and is generally a bit less seaworthy than the aft-cockpit version of the same boat.

 

Bene's are production boats. Production runs are where they make their money. Little changes, sometimes almost in number only, are OK.

My guess is if Bene stopped making a smaller CC it was for only one reason: They did not sell enough! The reason they did not sell would be up for discussion, but I certainly don't think that the production people would abandon a market if it existed in any volume.

 

Umm... a center-cockpit boat generally has a higher center of gravity, and is generally a bit less seaworthy than the aft-cockpit version of the same boat.

That *can* be the case, but if the tankage and the engine is directly below that cockpit, and the main mast is directly forward, all the heavy stuff is either on the line of the keel near the center of the boat or actually right *at* it.

Some aft cockpit boats feature mid-cabin "engine boxes", which give 360 degrees of access and put the engine where it should be: the middle of the boat below the CE of the sails.

But this screws up most people's cabin layouts. On a center cockpit with an engine bay below, it's a "feature"!

 

I think the center cockpit boat needs to be 40+ feet for the scale to be aceptable. Otherwise the aft cabin starts to look like a coffin.
pigslo

 

Also, on some center cockpit boats, especially the smaller ones, the access to the aft cabin is somewhat tight, or in the case of some boats non-existent. I think that an aft cabin that is not easily accessible to the rest of the boat without going through the cockpit is pretty barbaric.

 

For most well designed sailboats CG is not the first concern regarding seaworthiness. A cockpit full of water may in fact ultimately lower the vessel's CG at the cost of the not inconsiderable reduction in her seaworthiness. (g)

Taking into account the factor of crew fatigue as a matter of seaworthiness, the center cockpit recommends itself in weather. If you'd like to examine this I'll set my teeter-totter up in the backyard and we can do some testing. Lunch will be served......afterwards.

 

Dawg...our O'day 32CC had a non-connected aft cockpit...we sheltered the cockpit with a bimini/enclosure keeping the kids up front and us in the back and had the kind of privacy you don't get on a 32' aft cockpit. We did not find it barbaric...I do howver find a mono-hull with training wheels rather barbaric! (G)

 

Question for Cam,

I have only sailed in one small CC. I think it was a S2, but really am not certain. It seemed to be a very wet ride in rough weather. Closed to the bow, etc..

Is that normally true of the smaller CC, or was this boat the exception?

 

Wally...take a look at the ODay 32 as well.

Badadim...in addition to the nice, spouse friendly aft cabin...you also steer the boat from a higher, more central position and I find that to be an advantage in keeping you dry as well as there is less bouncing around than at the ends of a boat. On the downside...it is harder when docking since you must leave the cockpit to tend the lines...so you need crew.

I have no personal experience with them but I had always heard that CCs were wet.

 

This coming from the guy selling his sailboat to buy an RV-the ultimate in monohulls with training wheels..

Dawg...our O'day 32CC had a non-connected aft cockpit...we sheltered the cockpit with a bimini/enclosure keeping the kids up front and us in the back and had the kind of privacy you don't get on a 32' aft cockpit. We did not find it barbaric...I do howver find a mono-hull with training wheels rather barbaric! (G)

 

The motion in a center cockpit can be more pronounced, it being higher off the water. Single handed docking can be difficult but the plus is they tend to be better protected from the eliments,

 

Tommy...well...like anything else, when we talk about design we are talking in generalities...There are some CC boats that are NOT particularly dry, there are some that look like midship condos an have a poor motion in a seaway.
I've never sailed on an S2 so can't directly comment.
In general though...I think CC's in smaller boats probably represent a compromise in some qualities for the benefit in space and privacy below.
As you get over 40 feet, the CC can be better integrated into the boat design (though it is not always done! ) and you get more benefits and less compromise.

 

Any opinions on the general characteristics of the O'Day 37 CC? I'm looking for a little more (a lot more) room, with two young kids and a wife.

 

Hog
The O'day is imho, one of the best looking center cockpit boats of its, or similar size, the down side is no axcess to the rear cabin under the side deck, but it does have a real head and shower aft.

 

Hawg...dittos...a great platform for coastal cruising and vacationing with kids.
We had the smaller 32CC O'day and I often lusted after the 37 and the extra room! I cockpit enclosure is a great addition to join the two halves of the boat and make access to the kiddies easier in bad weather.

 

Even with a cockpit enclosure though ...if I read this thread correctly... that would leave the 2 little kids with un-supervised access to the deck in a totally separate part of the boat. I'm not even a parent but Absolutely Not would be my answer.