Centre cockpit sailing boats offer increased comfort and safety for long-distance cruising with a protected cockpit and improved performance in heavy weather conditions.

Center Cockpit Sailboats

Centre cockpit sailing boats offer increased comfort and safety for long-distance cruising with a protected cockpit and improved performance in heavy weather conditions.

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Center cockpit is a type of sailboat with a cockpit offset to the center, closer to the mast. Such configuration of the deck makes it easier to run the lines from sails to helm station in the cockpit. The visibility forward is usually better on  a center cockpit boat. It is also easier for the helmsman to go forward and work with sails when necessary. 

Center cockpit arrangement feels more secure than an aft cockpit, but in practice on full courses center cockpits tend to catch much more spray than aft cockpits. Also, there is a danger of hitting heads with the boom as the boom is just above the crew sitting at the cockpit table.  

Center cockpits have larger aft cabins than aft cockpits. The downside is a poor ventilation of cabins in comparison with aft cabins.   

 How are center cockpit sailboats built? 

Most center cockpit sailboats are made from glass-reinforced plastic (GRP).

This is how the manufacturing process looks in general. A plastic mold is lined with gelcoat and layers of fiberglass cloth, which are then impregnated with resin using a method called Vacuum Infusion Process. When the resin dries out, the hull is taken out of the mold. The superstructure and the rigging are manufactured separately, to be joined with the hull later on.

Center cockpits are manufactured mostly in Northern Europe, where the conditions are harsher than on the Mediterranean where aft cockpits are more common. For example, Swedish Najad and Hallberg Rassy, Dutch Contest and German Moody build composite center cockpit boats. Some producers also use aluminum to produce center cockpit sailboats, i. e. french Amel.

The most common keel type used on modern center cockpit boats  is a fin keel which is usually built from the same material as the hull.  All ocean going sailboats have ballast to prevent them from capsizing and make them more stable. The lower the ballast the better, so today ballast is often poured into the keel. The most common material for the ballast is lead as it has the best weight to volume ratio.  The keel is built separately from the hull and then attached to it using keel bolts. 

For shallow waters centerboards and retractable keels can be the preferred option. 

The mast and rigging is attached to the keel on the final stages of construction. Most modern production sailboats have bermuda sails  - one mast, the mainsail and the jib. On models designed for single handed or double handed sailing different options such as self-tacking jibs, boom furling systems or lazy jacks.