Skaw 38, the 11-meter wide 5-foot cruiser with XXL interior (and foil)

Cruising on a round bow scow boat, designed as an oceanic open, can you? According to Nantes-based design firm Berco Design, you can, as French designers have just unveiled the design of the Skaw 38 (11.30 x 4.90 m), a round bow boat designed for cruising.

You only need to look at the beam, which is almost five meters (a normal 38-foot cruising boat does not come in at four meters), to realize what an out-of-the-ordinary boat it is. But thought out to the smallest detail.

Skaw 38 – Interior XXL

The hull of boats with round “scow” bows, wanting to exaggerate, could almost be described as rectangular. The maximum width does not continue unaltered all the way to the bow, but let’s say it narrows a little at the hull ends. This makes such a boat extremely spacious inside, with unimaginable bow volumes.

Modern cruising boats have picked up on this trend to some extent, increasingly increasing bow volumes, but none come with such an extreme choice.

The Skaw 38’s interior is designed to be like a single open space, with the boat’s full-beam deckhouse equipped with long windows that run from sheer to aft and brightly illuminate the space. In the bow, one can opt for one or two cabins: the modularity of the interior makes possible configurations easier.

With this solution, interior spaces are equivalent to those of a 50′ monohull or 42-foot catamaran. Not bad really. Just think that in the saloon sofa can sit, comfortably, 12 people.

Deck

The cockpit, where the double wheelhouse is located, is asymmetrical (we explain more below), wide and protected by a rigid hard-top, a solution borrowed from the catamaran world, which opens at its rear. It can be covered with solar panels to maximize the Skaw 38’s energy autonomy.

There is only one passage to the bow on the starboard side. This decision was made possible through the use of foils, which allow the boat to sail flat and the use of furling and self-tacking foresails. Reduced access to the front deck allows for a much larger covered cockpit that provides better forward visibility while protecting the entire cockpit. The helmsman’s station is protected and provides all the visibility needed to steer the sailboat, from inside or outside the fully glazed bimini.

The transom opens up, transforming into a swim platform, while a very large sunbathing area opens up forward of the boom (which ends in front of the deckhouse, as in larger boats).

It also has foils!

The design of the boat, conceived by a team that includes Mini Transat winner Benoit Marie, includes foils. Lateral C-shaped foils increase speed and stability when the boat is sailing flat.

This shape, with a constant radius, allows the foils to be fully retracted without increasing the width and thus the overall footprint of the boat. In addition, the C-shape makes the foils self-adjusting. When the boat accelerates, the lift increases and the boat is lifted, but when the boat is lifted, the projected area of the foil decreases, thus also reducing its lift. This results in relatively constant lift and a stable boat that is not in danger of lifting too high.

The addition of these foils is not intended, therefore, to lift the boat completely out of the water, but rather to make it more stable while providing more sail area. As speed increases, the foil begins to lift a significant amount of the boat’s displacement, reducing the wetted area (drag) and providing a huge increase in righting moment (thrust)-these positive spirals allow cruising speeds between 15-20 knots, in full control and comfort.

To complete the “appendages,” the pivoting keel (from 3.10 m down to one meter) allows the boat to be moored almost anywhere.

What do you think of the Skaw 38? Does it represent the future of production cruising boats?

Skaw 38 – Data Sheet

Length f.t.: 11.30 m
Length at float: 9.40 m
Maximum beam: 4.90 m
Displacement: 4.50 t
Draft: 1.3/3.1 m
Sup. mainsail: 65 sqm
Sup. jib: 40 sqm
Sup. gennaker: 120 sqm

• Learn more about the Skaw 38