Two of the sailing yachts added to the First Impressions section of the CharterWave database for January have double cockpits–a term you should know if you’re trying to learn about yacht design differences that can affect your sailing charter.

A cockpit onboard a sailboat is traditionally the sunken-in place on deck where the captain and crew drive the boat and handle the lines, and where everyone sits while the boat is under way.

Some sailboats nowadays have what are known as double cockpits, meaning there are two sunken-in places on deck–one for guests to sit, and one where the captain and crew can do the work of sailing the boat.

As a visual reference, here’s the double cockpit onboard the sailing yacht Patient Falcon:

The photo is taken from the aft cockpit, overlooking the “guest cockpit.”

Here’s another example, shot from the same angle onboard the sailing yacht Fearless:

What I like about double cockpits is that they allow more space for you, your family and your friends to spread out without getting in the way of the crew. Put another way, double cockpits allow the crew to do the work of sailing the boat without making you feel as though they’re right on top of you.

One sailing yacht we’ve profiled here on CharterWave, called Stenella, has a triple cockpit design–offering the same benefits with even more room to spread out on deck.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with sailing yachts that have single cockpits. In fact, I quite like them personally, because I thoroughly enjoy chatting with the crew and lending a hand with the sailing duties.

But if you’re a person who is more interested in privacy onboard than being together with the crew, then you might look for a sailing yacht with a double- or triple-cockpit design. Talk to your charter broker about yachts with this design feature, and keep it in mind when you’re looking through brochures.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 19th, 2007 at 8:31 am and is filed under Charter Yachts, charter tips, Boating Terms, Photos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.