Home | Articles | Links | Projects | Columns | Designs | Boat Index

Recto-verso
An unusual monohull yacht.
Marc Van Dessel  marc.vandessel@siemens.atea.be

Specifications

Length overall

6.00 m
Length waterline 5.60 m
Length Trailering 7.65 m
Beam 2.50 m
Draught boards up 0.35 m
Draught boards down 1.45 m
Interior headroom 1.55 - 1.85 m
Displacement empty 750 kg (with water ballast filled)
Ballast 300 (water) + 50kg (centerboard)
Trailering weight 450 + 150 kg
Sail area 15 sq. M
Mast height above WL 8.5 m
Sleeps 2
Sails 4
Building complexity medium
Performance medium
Luxury very good

Description

:This design is unusual. It turns the classic division between cockpit and cabin around. Hence the name recto-verso.

Exterior

  • The cockpit is in front of the cabin, just after the mast. The bow itself is raised a bit to give protection to the cockpit. There are cockpit seats on the sides but also on the back of the cockpit. From these forward-looking seats, one can easily operate the steering wheel. This gives a very natural feeling for newcomers.
  • The cockpit floor is raised to allow self-draining. The swinging centerboard remains under the floor. This keeps the cockpit floor flat.
  • The cabin table can be mounted on the steering pedestal.
  • Just aft of the cockpit is the entry of the cabin. It is slightly offset to starboard.
  • A traveler runs on the cabin roof. It improves performance.
  • The stern of the boat is accessible in the event of problems.

Interior

  • By placing it at the back of the boat, the cabin is very wide. So no V-berth but a real nearly square berth (2.0m x2.0m). During day, the berth is transformed to a big dinette by raising the table. It seats 5.
  • Also rare in a 6m boat is a real separate toilet room. It has comfortable standing and sitting headroom.
  • To the starboard side is a galley with full standing headroom (1.85m).
  • The cabin floor is raised a bit at the dinette.
  • Storage room is at the galley and under the seats.

Stability

  • Ballast is used for stability. It is split in two parts.
  • 300 kg water ballast under the cockpit floor.
  • The centerboard has 50 kg of lead down low in the tip. The board can swing up for trailering, beaching and safety.
  • This high ballast ratio gives a smooth ride. This corresponds perfectly to the design goal of Recto-verso where luxury is more important than performance.

Sail

  • A cat rig is used. The main reason is to keep the mast as far to the bow as possible in order to keep the cockpit free.
  • The sail is kept relatively small. Performance is not the main goal.
  • The mainsheet runs from the traveler on the cabin top to the mast-base and the raised bow.

Motor

  • The choice of motor is a difficult point for this design. Because the motor is difficult to access, I recommend using an electric motor, which asks for less attention. The heavy batteries can replace a part of the water ballast.
  • Another option is to install a small inboard motor under the cockpit floor.

Trailer

  • A standard boat trailer can be used.

Building technique

  • Stitch and glue with 8 mm ply is used. Every exposed surface is to be covered with glass and epoxy.

Time to build

  • Estimated 500 hours

Cost

  • 7000$ including motor and trailer

Pro's

  • something completely different
  • excellent view; first row experience
  • appealing cockpit with seats looking forward
  • self draining cockpit
  • lot’s of interior space
  • toilet in separate room
  • king size berth (2.00 m x 2.00 m)
  • seats 5 around the table
  • water ballast gives low trailering weight combined with good stability under sail
  • easy to operate steering wheel

Con’s

  • crew has less protection against wind and waves
  • rudder is hard to reach when problems with the steering
  • medium performance (high windage, cat rig)

Drawings

recto3d.gif (51751 bytes)

rectoi.gif (40747 bytes)

rectos.gif (39055 bytes)

line.gif (878 bytes)

 

Home | Articles | Links | Projects | Columns | Designs | Boat Index