Is all design discussion like this?

it's an interesting topic since it doesn't matter how great the boat look if once inside you find it hard to live in. Your original post was a little vague, not mentioning size... under 50', over 200' megas, etc...

I think that where it gets really interesting is in the smaller size boats where you dont' have a lot room to play with and fit everything in. Take the sub 50 boats for instance. Builders like Carver, Silverton and Meridian try to squeeze every square inch inside by moving the house forward often resulting in stubby looks and barely usable foredecks, or by moving the side decks over teh saloon, with steps and sloped making it hard to single hand the boat. But at the boat show, the wive's fall in love with the interior space...

on the other hand many "euro style" designs go for ultra sleek looks and in the process push the flybridge back leaving no space for the tender, which lands at the stern, always in the way. so in my opinion the interior and exterior are closely tied together, especially in the smaller size boats.

another example.. I had a good laugh when i read the promotional material for the "new" small hatteras MY... the 56. Their marketing blurb boasted the width of the side decks, the square footage of the aft deck, the water tank capacity and how you could fit a 10' tender on the boat deck/flybridge. My first reaction was "what have they learned in the past 40 years?" since my old 53 Hatt, has wider side decks, a larger aft deck, same water capacity and room for a 13' tender. All with 2' less beam.

obviously the newer boat is faster, more luxurious but you have to ask yourself if whoever designed this new model learned anything since Jack Hargrave drew the first 50/53 back in the 60.

Interior layout comes down to juggling compromises, that's the key word, and finding the right balance for the intended use. What works for some owners don't' work for others.

galley layout for instance, and this is probably an important factor in the small yacht size range (60-80) where you will find owner/operators or owners/1 crew. do you want an open galley so that the owners can use without being left out, or do you want an enclosed galley, out of sight if you are going to have a chef/crew working in there?

where the boat will be used adds another layer of options. Aft deck/swim platform: up north with a shorter season and cold water more interior room is nice and you can sacrifice some aft deck space. the 70 footer I run is the perfect example having an aft that's about 50% larger than most 70 footer and an 8' swim platform. Ideal down here since we have both a table with 6 reclining chairs and a large settee for another 8. and we can put 3 reclining chairs on the swim platform... On the other hand, the saloon may not be as large as other 70 footers, at least for dining and we don't have a lower helm.

lower helm / pilot house... another element. Again, in the 80, 90+ segment it's a non issue but in the sub 70 range where every square ft counts it could be on the block. a pilot house is going to take a 10' LOA chunk out of the interior space and in some case that space can be put to better use and adding a skylounge is a viable option. Back to the boat i run, that's what we have... Since i was used to the pilothouse/open FB configuration, I was a little biased against no lower helm and a enclosed skylounge. It didn't take me long to realize that spending the day up there with the air con keeping everything nice and cool wasn't' that bad, along with the better views. for docking I use the remote station on the aft deck making it easy to single hand when needed.

That kind of layout will not work for everyone... this is why it's so critical to get it right when looking for the right boat, something unfortunately that' not always easy since there are so many things to consider.

But interior layout is a critical part of the big picture.

We have worked hard to get quality over quantity in the forums, just chatting about the lifestyle of the rich and famous does not belong here.

If you are an owner or interested to buy a yacht, or belong to the industry you can exchange questions and answers and others will learn by reading what is discussed.

Regarding designers discussions, I am one of the few showing my concepts in advance, which has been nice but probably not so smart as I am giving away a lot. But the best ideas I still keep for myself...