Coastal cruiserr

This is a raised-saloon type of design, which seems to be in vogue these days, for good reason I suppose due to the visibility and feeling of light and air you get below. On deck the house is a bit of an obstruction, which in this case is exaggerated by putting the helmsman down in a shallow well behind the wheel. This makes no sense to me on paper. I'd have to see the boat in person to understand why this was done.

Despite the bulk of the house and the steep angle to the "windshield," I like the looks of this design. The blocky house goes well with the blocky short ends of the hull and the near straight sheer. There's enough contour in the deck shapes to make this deck look sexy from any angle other than a two-dimensional profile.

The hull shows the extra fat fanny we have come to associate with French designs. Here it buys us huge accommodation volume aft and an immense cockpit. Cockpits often get short shrift in cruising boats. This cockpit will be perfect when you are anchored but is so wide that you won't be able to brace your feet against the leeward seat while heeling (a small price). It opens onto a broad swim platform.

The deck is punctuated with teak decking to give the boat a rich look. Teak decks can become a problem down the line, but they look great when they are new, and teak does make an excellent nonskid surface. There is a well in the foredeck for lines and fenders, but the windlass is mounted at deck level. The lazarette is tiny as is the forepeak. This makes me think this boat must be aimed at charter groups primarily.

The DWL is 37 feet, 5 inches, which would give this design a D/L of 175. Beam is 13 feet, 8 inches for an L/B of 3.17. This is a beamy boat. I think this would be a very stiff boat if you went with the deep-keel option. The rudder looks dinky to my eye and appears to have been designed so as to not exceed the depth of the shoal keel. This is a good idea although in a wide-sterned boat you can pull a lot of the rudder out of the water when you heel, so extra rudder depth can be very effective for control in a breeze.

The accommodation plans all use the same saloon design with an elevated dinette and opposing built-in elevated chairs. Forward of the saloon you have the choice of a head and a single stateroom, two staterooms, or one stateroom with both a double berth and a single berth. Aft you can choose from a single stateroom with a centerline double or two staterooms. Maxed-out for berths this design can have four staterooms.

There is no dedicated nav center, although you could use the little table to port in the saloon or the desk in the single forward stateroom model.

I'm always amazed at the beautiful interior finish of these Jeanneaus. There is plenty of satin-varnished teak in this interior, and the overall look is quite impressive. Forward the hull sides are lined with teak veneer. Fixed hull ports let in more light.

This boat would make an ideal warm weather cruising boat.