Driving Dilemmas
Walk around any boat show, and you’ll see a number of differences in the way designers and builders have decided to locate the steering stations aboard their cruising cats. Each position has its good points and bad, among them visibility, protection from the elements, sociability, cost and ease of vessel handling. Before you buy, it’s therefore worth thinking about which configuration will work best for you and the kind of sailing you do. Leisurely daysailing, for example, is a very different proposition from buoy racing. Same thing with, say, high-latitude passagemaking versus harbor-hopping in the tropics.
As Boris Compagnon of France’s Catana says, “A boat is always a compromise. It’s important to determine the program of the boat before choosing one or the other solution.” So, let’s check out some of the tradeoffs to these “solutions.”
DUAL AFT HELMS
Catana, Excess and Nautitech are all builders that like to place a pair of helms aft, one in each hull. Another company producing an aft-helm model is Seawind with its new 1600 model. From aft, you can see both transoms clearly, which is perfect when docking stern-to. With the wheels set down low, the center of gravity is also lower, stability is greater and windage is reduced. Andrew Thompson of
