Raised deck style

They've come a long way, yachts with 'sheds'. The angular, boxy image of traditional pilothouse or deckhouse motorsailers, protecting their people from harsh climates like the North Sea or Tasmanian waters, has been softened, smoothed and refined, as yacht builders around the world recognise their advantages not only for cold climates, but also as protection against unrelenting sunlight.

There has been movement in two directions: upwards, as designers seek to incorporate deckhouse features into conventional flush-decked yachts; and downwards, as the designers of more traditional pilothouse cruisers seek better sailing performance and more aesthetically pleasing lines. The labels 'deck saloon' and 'pilot saloon' tend to be used for the former category, while 'pilothouse' and 'deckhouse' labels are generally used for the latter. All can be fairly lumped together under the title of 'raised deck' cruisers.

Raised deck cruising yachts have been part of the Australian boating scene for many years, obvious examples being the home-grown Zeston motorsailers and more recently the Buizen bluewater cruisers. In the past few years, however, there has been a veritable explosion of interest and activity in deck saloon craft, nowhere more evident than at this year's Sydney International Boat Show. The line-up at the Cockle Bay marina included a number of impressive new raised deck craft, including the luxurious Oyster 53, the starkly stylish Benny 53, the innovative Scanyacht 399DS and the four yachts which are featured on the following pages: Jeanneau's Sun Odyssey 43 and 40 Deck Saloon models, the Australian-built Binks Farr 51 Pilothouse and the Wauquiez 40 Pilot Saloon from France.

Reporting on the show, Trade-A-Boat's Boating Editor David Lockwood observed: "By far the majority of new-age sailors were heading for the sanctuary of the latest raised deck cruising yachts, not the streamlined racers.

"In fact, I found more pilothouse and deck saloon yachts than I've seen before. A few fleeting minutes of respite from the foul weather aboard one of these yachts, watching the rain stream down the saloon windows from sumptuous leather lounges, was enough to convince new yacht buyers of their merits.

"Shying away from flat-decked racing yachts, sailors seem prepared to forsake a few knots upwind for the comfort of a raised deck yacht. In the raised cabins is a saloon surrounded by armour-plate glass, with lounges for entertaining, dinettes around which a family can feast, and even helmstations out of the weather on some pilothouse designs.

"Push-button winches, roller-furling headsails, in-boom or in-mast furling mainsails, even joystick steering are becoming de rigueur on deck saloon and pilothouse yachts these days. Such conveniences allow a husband and wife team to set sail without needing to place an ad in the 'crew wanted' section.

"With all these modern contrivances, raised deckers are also less physically demanding than conventional yachts to sail. In fact, you can pretty much jump from a motorboat to a well-equipped cruiser of this type and set sail with a modicum of boating knowledge." The benefits of the raised saloon, offering direct access to the cockpit and shelter from the weather, plus airiness, light and excellent views of the outside world - thereby allowing everyone aboard to feel part of 'the action' - clearly amount to a persuasive formula.

Meanwhile, designers have been actively working to reduce the traditional list of disadvantages, such as the effect on sailing performance and the yacht's appearance of increased windage and superstructure weight, and the question of structural integrity in storm conditions ("Would you rather have windows or solid fibreglass between you and a rogue wave?" is one time-honoured challenge to the raised deck style).

Happily for anyone in the market for a cruising or charter yacht, the result is a proliferation of options in comfortable raised deck craft, including the four featured here and over the following reviews.