The cabin layout is what the owner sees and touches every time they use the boat. It is also the spec area where the brochure render diverges most from a usable tender. The layouts that work share a few non-negotiable rules; the layouts that fail are usually trying to fit one more seat than the cabin can comfortably carry.
The seating geometries that work
Three layouts dominate the segment:
L-shape settee aft, single-pedestal helm forward (8 to 11 guests)
Standard on 9 to 11m limos. The L-shape gives an easy social arrangement with a low table on a hi-lo pedestal, and the corner seat is the most-prized position. Helm is forward, separated by a partial bulkhead. Total guest seats: typically 8 to 10, plus a forward jump seat for the steward.
Trade-off: tight on space when guests are wearing dinner jackets and want to put a coat down. A cabin under 2.6m beam with this layout becomes claustrophobic.
U-shape settee aft, transverse bench midships (11 to 14 guests)
The volume sweet spot on 11 to 13m boats. The U-shape carries 8 to 10 guests around a fixed table; the midships bench adds 4 to 6 more facing forward. Helm is fully separated, often with a stewardess station behind it.
Trade-off: the transverse bench is the worst seat in the boat in any chop. On a programme that crosses anchorage to shore in mixed conditions, those seats stay empty.
Two-row forward facing, aft lounge optional (14 to 16+ guests)
The aircraft-seating layout. Two rows of 4 to 6 forward-facing seats, individually upholstered, with optional aft lounge if the LOA allows. Found on the SOLAS-coded limo crossover (Pascoe, Cobra) and on some Hodgdon and Vikal customs.
Trade-off: the social experience is closer to a commute than a yacht arrival. Use this layout when the brief is high-capacity transit between yacht and beach club, not when guests are expected to sit down with a drink for 20 minutes.
Headroom rules
The brochure number is rarely the operational number. Three things to watch:
- Standing headroom. Measured at the centre of the cabin, with the carpet down, with the air-con duct in. 1.85m absolute minimum, 1.95m for a comfortable cabin. Below 1.85m even short guests stoop.
- Seated eye height to window. The lower edge of the side glazing should sit 50 to 100mm below seated eye height. Higher and the cabin feels submarine; lower and the glazing washes out the seating with light at midday.
- Door opening height. A guest in heels stepping through a 1.85m door catches the headliner. 1.95m is safer.
Get all three measured on the actual mock-up before the laminate goes on.
The bar / galley question
Every owner wants a bar in the cabin. Half of them never use it. The format that works:
- Recessed cool drawer at the forward end of the cabin, accessible from a stewardess position.
- Fixed glass storage in a side cabinet, behind acoustic-damped door so they do not rattle at speed.
- No stand-alone bar furniture in the guest seating area; it costs floor space the cabin cannot spare.
A full wet bar with espresso machine and ice maker only makes sense on 13m+ boats. On smaller limos it is brochure decoration.
The aft door
The aft access door is the second-most-important cabin element after the seating. Two formats:
- Single sliding door, port or starboard. Cheaper, simpler, easier to seal. Constrains boarding to one side of the swim platform.
- Centre-opening twin doors, with retractable threshold. Allows boarding from either side. More expensive, more seals to maintain, better experience for guests.
Owner programmes that board from the swim platform 90 percent of the time and from a marina dock the other 10 percent should specify the centre-opening format. Programmes that mix marina and swim-platform boarding equally can save the EUR 30k to 60k upgrade by sticking with the single sliding door.