STEADY STATE

Designers and builders have spent lots of time and resources trying to understand the nuances of discomfort on yachts, both underway and at anchor. They’ve commissioned medical studies, interviewed focus groups and built full-scale mock-ups to rock and roll with test subjects aboard.

Have they solved the problem? No. Have they moved the needle? The answer is yes.

Unwanted motion is the obvious cause of discomfort on yachts, but the extent of that discomfort varies with the degree and type of motion being experienced. Symptoms range from mild distraction to full-blown and are a complex reaction of the human body to actual and perceived stimuli—visual, physiological, gravitational and psychological. When these are in conflict, it is easy for the body to feel out of balance, becoming