This Ain’t No Charter Boat

Our golden rules of our yacht design;

1) Keep weight to a minimum

2) Functionality over aesthetics

Every choice we’ve made for the fitout of this boat has involved a lot of research and comparison, from engines to cupboards and everything in between. A common problem with catamarans is the overloading and misplacement of weight within the vessel - even more so because we are building a performance catamaran.

With that in mind, we’ll be choosing to go without several common household appliances, including dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, microwave and oven. While they are a weight saving by foregoing the item itself, another aspect of weight saving is reducing the power usage - if we had all of the above, we would need a larger battery bank and inverter to keep up with all this stuff. We’re also choosing to sail without a generator, and instead have opted for high output alternators on each engine and a large solar array (using lightweight panels we can walk on).

Walking into the cabin, you won’t find too many luxuries. It will be simple, with only what we actually need. No fancy benchtops or floorings, massive TV or sound system. Even the ceiling lining will be omitted; cables and lighting will instead be run through three channels in the roof. The majority of the shelving and cupboards have a lip or a bar across the front rather than a door, not only for weight but also because it is incredibly annoying if a door gets left unlatched and stuff goes flying at sea (and the sound of doors clanging around drives me nuts!) There will only be 3 solid doors internally; one on each toilet (port/stbd) and the shower, all other rooms will be left without doors.

Internal Layout

Walking in from the deck, you’ll find the mess with a drop down table that converts into a bed for when we are on long passages, so whoever is not on watch can catch some sleep, but also be immediately available if help is needed. A U shaped navigation station is located on the starboard side, with the main plotter screen mirrored across from the helm. VHF radio, autopilot control, and iPad backup navigation will also be located here. We specifically wanted a ‘galley up’ layout (controversial, I know) because so much time is spent cooking, we didn’t want to be crammed in a dark hull all alone, and it’s easier for others to help cook with more space upstairs.

We have two berths under the forward deck, at the start of the tunnel, each with a queen size bed. Port side is the ‘owners side’, and has a small closet forward of the bed. Starboard side is the ‘guest side’, and has a head forward of the bed instead of a cupboard. On both sides, the rooms forward of the berths are sealed bulkheads. This is to allow a large sail locker one side, and a water sports locker the other. These can only be accessed from the deck, preventing the living areas from getting damp.

Moving aft from the stairs in the port hull, we have a head and then a shower. We only have one shower, and wanted it to be accessible without having to go through other’s sleeping areas. 90% of the time it’s just going to be Felix and I, and we will have hot water run to the deck shower on the port quarter, so we didn’t see the point in having another shower in the starboard hull that was almost never going to get used.

The aft section of the starboard hull will be our workshop area and storage (specifically for my camera gear!). Which will mostly be a workbench and room for tools, spare parts, and random bits and pieces.

Moving onto the deck. Perhaps the biggest headache for us was deciding our steering system. Originally we were set on having a hydraulic steering, as it’s what we both had experience with, and involved a less complicated system. With this particular design, no matter how many positions and layouts we tried, we were never 100% happy with the location of the steering wheel. If we put it inboard of the cabin top, it would be great for heavy weather, but not so great for actual sailing and not great at all for manoeuvring (restricted visibility of bow and surroundings). If we opted for the outboard option, it would be great for sailing, but you’d be in the elements all the time, and isn’t the safest place to be in heavy weather. Putting the wheel in the middle of these two positions didn’t really work either, as it restricted the passage up the side of the vessel permanently.

One option that we had seen before on another Arrow 1360 was the use of a ‘pendular pedestal’, pictured below. This allowed 3 different steering positions - inboard, centre, and outboard, and seemed to solve all our issues… except it was only available as a cable system. We did a bit more research on these systems, and found that a lot of yachties prefer this (including our yacht designers) as it allowed you to ‘feel’ the rudder better than the hydraulic system. So that’s what we are going with, it’ll be a bit of a learning adventure, hopefully one that we don’t regret! Although if we really hate it and have issues, it’s not the end of the world to switch systems.

Jeffa Pendular Pedestal

The aft cockpit will have an outdoor table, seating, and barbeque all undercover. Seating at the helm will be via relocatable pedestal chair, with a few different sockets in the deck on both sides.

I reckon our tender choice is pretty cool too - we have allowed room for a 3.3m OC Tender to sit on the back of the yacht. They are a New Zealand company that makes composite tenders specifically for yachts, and feature a soft rub rail around the sides (it’ll be pressed up against the back of the yacht, so this will minimise any marking or damage), fishing rod holders, fold up wheels, board rack across the bow, and some really neat storage and seating. Their website is https://octenders.co.nz/products-oc330/ if you are interested.

Right now, we are finalising quotes for our build and hope to be putting the order in very soon!