Capable wheelhouse cruisers

Picture this: we were beating to windward with a chill Force 4-5 right on the nose as the tide whipped up a nasty chop, chucking dollops of Solent straight into the cockpit. Few others had chosen to sail that day, but we were taking part in a group test of 32-footers. No-one was having much fun – apart from us.

The test teams were supposed to transfer from one yacht to another, to make comparisons. But ours showed no desire to jump ship, lurking below when the transfer boat approached. The reason was simple. All the other boats had wet and windy open cockpits, but we were in a Hunter Horizon 32 wheelhouse cruiser. So we could choose between getting wet and cold in the cockpit (like the others), or abandoning the tiller and moving to the wheel inside.

So we sat in the wheelhouse and watched waves slide past the panoramic side windows while the windscreen wiper made short shrift of flying spray. The helmsman lounged behind the inside wheel, while we played the mainsheet when heavier gusts hit – having diverted the sheet through the ‘back door’. I attended to the galley (for hot and cold drinks) then whenever we needed to tack, I poked my head through the back door, threw off one jib sheet, winched in the other, and returned to the wheelhouse. Meanwhile our twin keel Horizon 32 left many of the other boats in its wake. We were having great fun – the others weren’t.

‘We sat