Question about cockpit?

[Don Flowers]

I wil be purchasing a C30 in the near future, hopefully, and was wondering why some of the vessels have a cockpit that is opened more at the helm. Some of the boats have straight cockpits while others are t shaped. I think the idea is to give more room as one passes around helm. My question is, why are some straight while others are in a T shaped configeration. Is it the year of manfacture or what? Thanks for any help. Don Flowers Rockport, Tx.

 

[RonD]

Various reasons

I'm not sure I read the question correctly -- so I'm assuming you mean open stern as opposed to a closed one.1. The modern design trend is to have a swim platform off the stern -- the "sugar scoop" transom with a fold-down ladder. That requires an open stern.2. As you point out, it does tend to give more room around the helm, providing you don't install the "jump seat" that usually comes with the boat.3. The cockpit does drain quickly in a downpour, or after being pooped by a boarding wave.

 

[Gary Kunkel]

T-shaped vs. straight cockpit

When we bought our 1988 Catalina 30, we specifically sought one with the "tee" shaped cockpit. It's my understanding that this began around Sept. 1986 with the MKII configuration. These boats were designed to accommodate wheel steering, while earlier models were originally designed for tiller steering (and have a straight cockpit) then converted to wheel steering. The t-shape does give more room to pass around the wheel and the hump in the rear seat is comfortable when the boat is heeled (you just sit on the higher side). See the link below to the Catalina 30 owners association for more about this. Others may be able to provide more info.

 

[Ron]

C30 cockpit & such

Don,Just like cars, models change over the years to keep up with current trends. The Mark I had the straight cockpit up till 1986. In 86 Catalina went to the Mark II which had the T-shaped cockpit. Sometime in early 90 they started producing the Mark III with the walk-thru transom. Here's a link that shows some of the history of the different models.http://www.catalina30.com/C30Yacht/C30%20Yacht.htmRon86 C30 TRBS