27.12.2010
Visiting the pontoon (4): the cockpit
The cockpit (the protected area on deck from where the skippers handle and steer the yacht) has moved into centre stage over the last two generations of IMOCA Open 60s. Here it is definitely a case of personal preference.
Skippers are continuing to move towards a trend for steering from outside, rather than inside. As such, the cockpit has been developed whilst protecting the area with more highly developed roofs.
Michel Desjoyeaux prefers an evolution on the classic central roof which can be rolled back, so he can steer totally protected or not; whilst Jean Pierre Dick and Alex Thomson have gone for two separate driving positions both with their own roof, in the words of the skippers, a 'bubble' (Dick) or a 'pod' (Thomson). From both 'cubicles' there is easy access to the central pit which is totally unprotected.
Four types of shelter
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Jean-Pierre Dick's "bubble" on Virbac-Paprec 3. |
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| Michel Desjoyeux has developed an extendable roof on Foncia. | |
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| Alex Thomson's "pods" on Hugo Boss. | |
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| A classic cockpit, broad and fairly open, seen on Gaes Centros Auditivos. |
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