Let me begin with a sort of disclaimer. I am an enthusiastic PDQ 34 owner, and very much admire Ted Clement's work on their sailing and power catamarans. I met Ted when we were touring the factory and checking out the construction of our particular boat. At that time we discussed the design of a mid-forty foot power cat, and probably for that reason he sent us renderings of the 41 design a couple of years ago. When I first saw it, I too was struck by the innovative bed placement, and felt he had finally gone too far in tormenting the traditional shapes of spaces aboard the boat. I have mellowed considerably since, and now recognize the wisdom in his choices. Most significantly, the Admiral finally saw the photos recently, and at her suggestion we spent a whole weekend working out whether one of the 41's should displace our current sidewheeler project. Denny said (under the header PDQ 41 drawings): Deep into the structural drawings phase of LEVITATION, my custom power cat... I, in fact, did specify a bridge deck master cabin.... The boat is going to be a live aboard for a couple... It is not intended to be a dock queen for weekend parties where a huge saloon and cockpit are needed... The galley is up with a dining nook and there is adequate space for a seating area with a couch-bed and a couple of recliners... A day head off the saloon handles the guests needs... A master bath in the starboard hull handles the master cabin and a smaller bath in the port hull handles the family visits... Gary responds: As you no doubt found in the design work you describe, a queen sized bed is a pretty big thing, and adding walk around access to both sides and the foot of the bed makes a shape and size requirement that simply will not fit in the hulls, at least with semi-displacement slender hulls, on the order of four feet wide on a forty foot long hull. Recall that PDQ is perhaps the very poster child in development and design of the slender hull semi-displacement style of power catamarans. I do recall Ted saying at that time that the walkaround queen was the most popular item on the laundry list of desired features, and that it was on his mind to try to squeeze one into a forty plus foot design. Of course, the narrow tunnel/planing hull school of design offers much greater opportunities for walkaround queen beds down in the hull, and for the folks who want that sort of boat there must already be lots of opportunities. and Denny continued: There is a single pilot house above the saloon with a remote steering pendant out in the cockpit... I (personal bias) see no need for two helm stations with the lower one using up valuable space in the saloon... Gary (finally) concludes: Cool. I would like to see that, do you have photos or drawings available, online perhaps? Regarding the personal bias you mentioned, I find that my Admiral and I hang out together when the boat is moving about, and that given the comfort and easy visibility from the saloon helm station we particularly enjoy driving from there. We can simultaneously socialize with guests and drive (carefully maintaining the helmsman's attention to his/her duties of course), and find that to be one of our favorite features of this design. We have all been in the position of having to tell guests to not distract the helmsman, but find that it is not much of a problem, they are always mindful of that. Different strokes for different folks, as the old song maintained... Cheers Gary Bell