Cockpit
Boats are either rear cockpit or center cockpit. The center cockpit gives more room below but its design will push the boom higher up the mast. Rear cockpits allow for a lower boom thus have better overall stability/performance. A center cockpit should experience more motion since it is higher on the boat and it would be closer to bow wave splashes. Some center cockpits on shorter boats are designed with interior room as the sole objective which leads to a wedding cake appearance. My opinion is that rear cockpits are best for boats under 52’ LOA. Once over that size, it is difficult to see in front of the bow. For both types a hard dodger offshore is critical to protect the crew on watch from the elements.
Tank Capacity
With a water maker, water tank capacity is not as critical as fuel. Having enough fuel to motor at least 1,000 nautical miles should be the goal for an offshore cruiser. This range allows for moving out of the way of a potential storm system mid ocean if sitting in a low wind environment. Most production boats do not have near enough fuel for this range so their crews utilize jerry cans. My view is to get a boat with enough diesel capacity so one does not have to transfer fuel midocean from cans lashed to the deck that lowers the boats stability. Another concern is obtaining diesel in remote locations. More tankage allows you to stay in remote islands longer.
Water Tight Compartments
With the proliferation of shipping containers drifting in the world’s oceans, adding water tight compartments to a cruising monohull is a great safety benefit to mitigate the impact of hitting something. If holed or rolled by a big wave, setting off an EPIRB and awaiting rescue in a floating boat vs a life raft gives you tremendously better odds for survival and possibly saving the boat. If you read many survival stories, the situation tends to go downhill with more injuries/fatalities when the crew is forced to get in the life raft. Unfortunately, only about 95% of the cruising boats out there have compartments due to the additional cost and loss of interior space. Of those that have compartments, most only have a forward collision bulkhead. The best scenario would be to have forward and stern bulkheads giving a total of three watertight compartments. One of the previously unmentioned benefits of catamarans is they have forward positive buoyancy bulkheads and should be unsinkable if holed forward. Catamarans have sunk though that have water egress in the stern areas (primarily around outdrives or rudder post holes) where the water level reaches the bridgedeck.
Rig
Main reefing – There are three types of reefing systems: 1) slab, 2) in-mast furling, and 3) in boom furling. If the boat is under 45 feet or the crew is plentiful, the slab reef is preferred. In-mast furling can be reefed at all points sail which is a great advantage but has no battens so upwind sail shape/performance is terrible. In addition, in mast furling adds weight aloft which negatively effects stability. You know my opinion from the catamaran discussion that good upwind performance is something that is important on the safety list for cruising. For shorthanded crews, we believe the in-boom furling is a good tradeoff. With it a large main can be reefed by one if required in the cockpit and the sail shape with full battens is like that of slab. The disadvantage to boom furling is it can be an expensive upgrade.
Mast- Masts are made in two materials: 1) Aluminum and 2) Carbon Fiber. Carbon fiber is lighter and stronger, so stability and performance are enhanced. Unfortunately, it is much more expensive. Some say that carbon is more susceptible to lightning damage, but research shows this hypothesis to be inconclusive. A carbon mast is corrosion resistant and should last longer than aluminum. Replacement masts in aluminum are easier to obtain. Another factor for some is if the mast height above the water is under 65 feet. Most cruisers travel the ICW and this is the max height on the fixed bridges. We do not plan to cruise that much on the ICW so sub 65’ height is not a requirement.
Standing Rigging – Rigging comes in three forms: 1) Wire, 2) Rod, and 3) Synthetic. Wire is the least expensive and most widely used. Rod is expensive but lasts longer and provides the best performance. Synthetic (primarily Dyneema) is lightest and has high performance, but current opinion is it has shorter longevity.
Foresail plan – Shorthanded cruisers do not want to go on the deck to change or hank on headsails. The preferred setup is a genoa forward and jib staysail with both sails on furlers. You want to be able to deploy a whisker pole downwind to keep the Genoa with max area. The staysail is the heavy weather sail and can be reefed as a storm sail. Running backstays are needed when the staysail is deployed to keep the mast in column. Some boats manage the staysail with a built-in jib boom. We believe the jib boom takes up space needed for the dinghy and could be dangerous sweeping the deck unexpectedly if any crew is forward.
Spreaders – Most production boats made today have swept back spreaders primarily to lower cost (less chainplate points). This configuration is not desired in downwind trade passages because it keeps the crew from trimming the main properly and increases sail chaff.
