Deck saloons (also known as raised saloon, deck house, pilot house), consist of a raised coach-house on sailing boats, with large panoramic and luminous windows. The more intelligent designs, such as on the Jeanneau 43 DS, have a raised floor, which give you views through these windows, from a sitting position inside. This design enables heavy fuel and water tanks to be low down in the boat, where they should be.

However, one of the main advantages of the deck saloon design, is that it is “wife friendly”, encouraging even the most notoriously claustrophobic of the gentler sex to be happy going down below. The very luminous interior and uninterrupted views of the horizon, will do wonders in preventing that “closed-in” feeling and the beginnings of sea-sickness.

Furthermore, those fortunate boat-owners who manage to be able to spend much time in their boats in the marina, will appreciate the possibility of being able to frequently glance outside to see what is going on. This is especially important when under sail and the skipper is down below, with perhaps an inexperienced crew member at the helm, so that he can keep an eye on traffic and obstacles by simple looking out of the ample windows.

On the Jeanneau 43DS, the coach-house is only about 20 cms higher than comparable “normal” boats, so there is not a significant windage problem at all.  

Flush deck boats are certainly sleeker in appearance, but they are necessarily tighter and darker inside, so the average cruising family will find deck saloons much more appealing.                                                                                            

Laurence Camillo 

Back to Home Page

    A Mediterranean Cruising Sail Boat
    Copyright L. Camillo 2003