Pearl 38 & Diamond 35`s For Sale

[OldBerkshireBoy]

I`m thinking someone was asking a week or so back, anyway NYA  has 3 ex hire boats for sale.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Not sure which one I would prefer, the Pearl is only 3 ft longer for an extra cabin, so possibly not so spacious, plus you have to slide the roof down and fold the windscreen flat to get under the bridges, not good in the pouring rain. But on the other gand, the Diamond will likely be more spacious, without the need to drop a canopy and screen, but the visibility from the helm is very restricted unless you slide the Hatch back and stand at the helm with your head out of the open Hatch. 

[marshman]

The visibility from the helm is not really that bad closed up - its certainly acceptable for the little I use it especially as almost everyone who has an AF35 drives from the hatch!! Standing up out of the hatch is in fact very comfortable as unless you are very vertically challenged, it is just the right height to lean on and admire the polish on that bit of the superstructure!  But if it does rain, is only seconds to slip down and close the hatch.

In reality the primary benefit of that design is the twin sliding roofs, they are very good indeed

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

18 minutes ago, marshman said:

The visibility from the helm is not really that bad closed up - its certainly acceptable for the little I use it especially as almost everyone who has an AF35 drives from the hatch!! Standing up out of the hatch is in fact very comfortable as unless you are very vertically challenged, it is just the right height to lean on and admire the polish on that bit of the superstructure!  But if it does rain, is only seconds to slip down and close the hatch.

In reality the primary benefit of that design is the twin sliding roofs, they are very good indeed

When helming Lightning from inside, I always like to sit on a couple of cushions on the seat so I get a better view. It does mean however, that my head is in the recess below the sliding Hatch. 

I totally agree about standing up at the hem though, everything seems to be well placed for comfort. 

[oldgregg]

13 hours ago, marshman said:

The visibility from the helm is not really that bad closed up - its certainly acceptable for the little I use it especially as almost everyone who has an AF35 drives from the hatch!! Standing up out of the hatch is in fact very comfortable as unless you are very vertically challenged, it is just the right height to lean on and admire the polish on that bit of the superstructure!  But if it does rain, is only seconds to slip down and close the hatch.

In reality the primary benefit of that design is the twin sliding roofs, they are very good indeed

Yeah, indeed, what originally looked like a slightly flawed design actually works really well.

I found with the Diamond 43 that we used the interior helm a lot of the time, and as you say it's a matter of seconds to change when the weather dictates / allows. The more recent designs based on the Diamond 35 remove the helm moulding and therefore what is arguably the best feature.

The split sliding roof also helps with sheltering from wind / sun or to just have half open and leave the 'bank' side closed when moored.

I think there's a good reason used values are strong on them... I do have a soft spot for the Pearl as well, but the Diamond 35 might be just about the perfect 'go anywhere' boat for a couple or a family as they're spacious but only having the running costs of a 35ft boat.

[marshman]

Cannot argue much with that logic!!