MAI 24

[cs]

Found this design while surfing the other day.

http://www.bateau.com/images/boatpics/MT24_sketch_bow.jpg

Go Here (http://www.bateau.com/plans/power/MT24.php3)

I kinda like this. The wife said it was close to what she wanted, but she wanted to leave the cabin off and add a bimini top instead :rolleyes:

Whatcha think?

Chad

[John Bell]

Leave the cabin off and you loose most of the accomdation... Not a good idea, IMO.

I personally hate frying in direct sun, so the top is a real plus IMO. With all the windows open, it would be very comfortable underneath. The only reason for a totally open boat is fishing, otherwise I want some cover.

I do like the concept though.

JB

[Scott Rosen]

What strikes me, in a negative way, is that the side deck is too narrow to get from the cockpit to the foredeck. This is a defect seen on many modern production powerboats. You need to be able to get to the bow for anchoring, docking, etc., without the risk of falling overboard, especially in nasty weather.

The designer has sacrificed too much space on deck to get the all that room below.

The lines are pretty, though.

[cs]

John she got the bimini top idea from your boat. She really liked the way it looked.

You know Scott I hadn't thought about that, but does not the hatch in the foredeck take care of that?

Chad

[paladin]

Jay Benford has a small boat like that in his catalog...plywood I believe of about 17 feet and also a 22 footer. I'll check the motor conveyance later and have a looke-see......also Jim Betts recently published a similar craft.

[mmd]

This is a type of boat that I have done several design variations on, so feel I can speak with some authority. Yes, the side decks are too narrow. Yes, you can use the foredeck hatch for bow access. Yes, it is usually the customer that drives this type of compromise. The client almost always wants to maximize the cabin volume, and almost always is of the opinion that they will only need to be on the foredeck in flat calm water while picking up their mooring at their home port on warm, dry days in full daylight, so the foredeck hatch will do fine, thank you. Most times they are right, but on the few occasions when this is not the case the oversight is very apparent. Leaving the safety aspects - which should be glaringly apparent to anyone - aside for the moment, think of the practicality of using the foredeck hatch for bow access: It is raining heavily as you and your blushing bride and the two darling children make your way into the secluded cove that you intend to anchor in for the night. Dusk is closing in, and visibility is deteriorating. You turn into the light wind to prepare to drop the hook. The kids are below in their PJ's, playing with their colouring books and crayons on the vee-berth, you and Wifey are all togged out in your oilgear in preparation for the anchoring drill. You both have been standing in the pissing-down rain for ten minutes while creeping into the strange cove in the near-dark, and the water is beginning to find its way under your collar as it streams off your wet outerwear. You arrive at the selected spot for dropping the hook and now Wifey must get to the foredeck while you handle the helm. Which would you rather have her do? Play monkey along the slippery, rolling, six-inch side deck with poor visibility, minimal handholds, and no lifelines, or pass through the dry cabin in her streaming oilgear to stand on the bed linen on the vee-berth in her wet rubber boots to open the hatch, which by virtue of it's positioning will funnel the wind-driven rain directly into the cabin and over the kids' books and your bed. I think that it should be pretty obvious that wide side decks are required for safe and comfortable boathandling, but all too often the desires of the client for maximum interior volume takes precedence. And the customer is always right, right?

[Bruce Hooke]

From this view (from the study plans) it looks to me like the side decks are wider than they appear to be in the perspective view. Are these still too narrow? It seems to me that I've seen plenty of lobster boats with similar width side decks, and lobstermen should certainly know what is necessary in bad weather...

http://www.bateau.com/images/boatpics/MT24_plan_350.JPG

[John Bell]

Regarding the bimini on my boat: since it was installed, it's never been down while we're out in the boat. Never. Once we got some shade, we've never wanted to go without. A spending 7 hours in the sun on a hot July day with only sunscreen for protection will convince her that protection is a Good Thing.

JB

[mmd]

Bruce, most lobstermen rarely ever set an anchor and therefore hardly ever go out on the foredeck in open water. They usually tie up to a wharf which is, by definition, a protected area. The guys that I know who moor their boats off have rigged a pennant from the foredeck cleat, through the fairlead, and lead it aft along the cabin side to the cockpit so that they can pick up their mooring from the same position as they pick up their traps, without having to go forward. Also, most working fishingboats don't have fancy interiors to worry about getting wet. Most of the lobsterboats around my neck of the woods, and ALL that I have designed, have side decks at least 12" wide with substantial toe-rails.

[Tom Lathrop]

Since I have gone through the tough process of making the trade off decisions in designing a small cruising boat of this size, I will stick my two cents in. To me, it's clear that the demand for a permanent table (dinette) is what eliminates the side deck. There is just not enough beam to allow one in a boat this size and have a reasonable side deck too. In this boat, the problem is compounded by having the fore hatch much too far aft for safe mooring and anchoring from there. No Anchor well either, so rode and anchor storage must be worked out.

Six feet is just not an acceptable length for V berths. Six-four would be much better. Mine are six-eight.

There is no seat for the crew to sit to enjoy the cruise. My crew would mutiny.

I think that Sam Devlin's Surf Scoters are better designed for a boat like this and his will at least run into the semi-displacement speed range. My Bluejacket 24 addresses all these design questions and has both workable side decks and a forehatch/anchorwell that works. Of course, Bluejacket is a planing boat and not comparable to either of these in performance.

I do think the comments about the wet problem are a bit overdone. There is no reason for the crew to be in boots and all wet coming into an anchorage. They will be inside except for the actual anchoring. Standing in the hatch with a rainjacket spread over the hatch edges will allow very little water below for the short time that the hatch is open. It ain't perfect but I have done it and avoided going out side at all in the wet. Nine times out of ten, I handle both controls and the anchor. On a boat this size, it's pretty easy if there is good access through the boat to the hatch.

Still, it's a pretty boat but gives up far too much for the space robbing dinette. Probably a lot of buyers are going to like the dinette and the boat may sell well.

[A. Mason]

Al considered a forward hatch on a powerboat to be an emergency exit, not a regular working part of the boat. If something went horribly wrong with the engine area or the galley area and the occupants were below when it happened, the forward hatch would allow the occupants an optional way to get out of the boat. It was also good for additional ventilation. - Anita

[WFK]

cs
check out some of Arch davis's work
http://www.by-the-sea.com/archdavisdesign/davis_jiffy22.html

[Meerkat]

rkrough said:

We made a mockup of a vee berth on the garage floor of what would be comfortable for us. 26" wide at 6' 4" was the mininum. Is that 26" the width at the bow (foot) of the berth?