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Topic: Best aft cabin boats: 4 top options for maximising bedroom space (Read 54 times)
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Built: 2004
Price £394,950
Based in Carrigaline in County Cork, Cara Marine’s stock in trade was heavy-duty offshore pilot and patrol boats. So when the co*pany turned its attentions to the leisure market, the result was always going to be something special.
Interior
Almost every other aft cabin craft utilises the big square aft hull sections to create a big square owner’s cabin. Not here though, you’ll find the owner’s quarters up in the bow. At over 60ft long and 16ft wide, there’s plenty of space for a really decent ensuite cabin up front, and it leaves room for two cabins and the day heads on the lower deck back aft.
There’s a fairly spectacular galley that runs the full beam of the boat and with no lower helm (the only helm position is on the aft deck), that leaves space for a large saloon on the main deck.
Despite being in the bow the owner’s quarters are large and welco*ing with lots of storage
Exterior
An aft deck helm is not unusual with this type of boat; what is unusual is adding an open-backed wheelhouse to protect it. On a smaller vessel this might look clumsy, but this boat is easily long enough to absorb the additional height.
It puts all of the outdoor living space together, protected by a wraparound coaming that can link to the hardtop roof via removable canopies.
Performance
You’re probably starting to realise that plenty of free thinking went into the design of this boat, and we’re not done yet. The usual place for engines on this type of boat is beneath the raised main deck saloon.
Not here. Instead they’re right at the back, behind the acco*modation. Open a hatch in the deck and you’ll be able to drop into an engine room containing a pair of Caterpil*ar C12 704hp diesels which give about 28 knots flat-out.
Without a lower helm the main deck saloon has extra space for lounging and eating
Seakeeping
The reason those engines are right aft is because they’re effectively huge water pumps! This boat is jet drive, sucking water from under the boat and firing it backwards.
The benefits are a very shallow draft and superb manoeuvrability (the RNLI selected jets to drive its latest 45ft Shannon Class rescue boats for this very reason). Add in RCD Category A (Ocean) rating and it’s quite the package!
Specifications
Length: 61ft 4in (18.7m)
Beam: 16ft 1in (4.9m)
Draft: 2ft 7in (0.8m)
Displacement: 27 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 3,280 litres
Engines: Twin Caterpil*ar C12 704hp diesel engines
Location: Lymington
Contact: Berthon International
Built: 2001
Price: £119,995
We really couldn’t have an aft cabin used boat feature without including a model from Broom. Broom Boats were the absolute doyen of the aft cabin cruiser; from the Ocean range back in the 1970s right up until they ceased boatbuilding in 2018.
This model replaced the Ocean 34 and was built from 1998 to 2005 before evolving into the Broom 365 and the Broom 370.
Interior
With no lower helm, the entire length of this boat is given over to frankly palatial amounts of acco*modation for a 35ft boat. There’s a vee berth cabin forward for guests, along with the day heads and a pretty decent galley.
A couple of steps up bring you to the saloon but, as ever, it’s when you continue aft that the real payoff co*es. Back here you will find a huge square owner’s cabin with a central double berth and a very generous ensuite.
Saloon and galley are pretty good but it’s the cabins that really benefit from this layout
Exterior
Losing the internal helm has been made possible by putting a really well-protected external helm on the aft deck. There are big windscreens, wraparound coamings and canopies to protect this area.
In fact it feels more like a sportscruiser layout. Visibility is great due to its raised position but the air draft is kept lower than a flybridge boat.
Performance
CL stood for ‘coastal’, and Broom offered this boat with a variety of engine options right up to a pair of 190hp Yanmar diesels, which gave it 20 knots. But many were built with a single engine for gentler inland use.
Volvo Penta and Nanni were available, but the Perkins M135L fitted to this boat was the most popular option, giving a river-friendly nine knots maximum and four to six knots while cruising.
External helm is on the aft deck but is well protected and feels more like a sportscruiser
Seakeeping
Andrew Wolstenholme designed this one with a long keel that protects the propeller and adds useful low speed directional stability plus a large rudder that gives plenty of ‘bite’ for tricky river handling.
It’s quiet too, with that engine buried deep beneath the saloon sole. The result is a versatile and extremely co*fortable boat well suited to inland life as well as offering some coastal ability.
Specifications
Length: 34ft 10in (10.6m)
Beam: 12ft 6in (3.8m)
Draft: 3ft 2in (0.9m)
Displacement: 7.5 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 820 litres
Engine: Perkins M135L 135hp diesel
Location: Marlow
Contact: Boat Showrooms
Built: 2003
Price: £245,000
Aft cabin boats co*e in all sorts of shapes and sizes, as this Hardy 42 co*modore demonstrates. A ‘trawler yacht’ style, rather than a typical motor cruiser with a full-beam aft deck, it features a deeply bulwarked walkaround side deck that encircles the aft cabin coachroof.
Interior
You might expect that walkaround deck to impinge on the aft cabin. But though you are aware of it as it pulls the window line in, Hardy has been quite clever about building furniture that slips beneath those decks, so the lack of headroom in this area is far less relevant.
Unlike the previous three boats, all of which had access from the aft deck into the saloon, the Hardy has twin sliding doors on either side that allow access to the side decks. It’s a less direct route but it co*es with big advantages for ventilation as well as gifting the helmsman a more direct route from the lower helm to the foredeck.
The galley is down on the lower deck forward and the forecabin has a vee berth as expected, but Hardy has also squeezed in a third cabin with a single berth.
Wide side decks and a lower helm restrict the size of the saloon but side doors are handy
Exterior
Having squeezed the aft deck in a little, you might expect it to be a less useful space but in fact there’s a pretty decent U-shaped dinette up here, surrounded by canvas wind dodgers. And those walkaround decks are seriously useful for crewing duties.
Performance
With its semi-displacement hull, rather than a full planing design, you might expect some trade-off in speed in return for enhanced rough weather capability. But in fact, when we tested a 42 co*modore with slightly smaller 420hp engines back in 2003, we still managed to achieve a very credible 26 knots.
Clever furniture design maximises space in the plush but traditionally styled aft cabin
Seakeeping
This is the big news. Another Andrew Wolstenholme design, it has deep vee forward sections and a long keel to give the boat serious offshore capability. And with no planing ‘hump speed’ needing to be achieved, it has a very wide cruising speed band. There’s a good reason why the RNLI uses these Hardy 42s as its crew training boats.
Specifications
Length: 42ft 0in (12.8m)
Beam: 14ft 4in (4.4m)
Draft: 3ft 10in (1.2m)
Displacement: 13 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 1,728 litres
Engines: Yanmar 6LY2-STE 440hp diesels
Location: Ipswich
Contact: Fox’s Yacht Sales
First published in the April 2023 issue of MBY.
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