Hard Top Clearance on R35 / 336

[arcticzale]

So over the weekend we ventured down to the Detroit area for a boat show at Metro Beach in St Clair. Unfortunately the 2 Cobalts we were there to see didn't show, the A36 sold the week before and there wasn't a transport available to get the R35 there (the R30 and several others were on display).

The R35 and A36 are both available for us to see in Holland (opposite side of the state from the show- by appointment) but it has become evident to me that there may be a lack of headroom with a hardtop. When at the show the Admiral and I stopped by and did a thorough inspection of the Formula 350 CBR. This boat is on the shortlist now, we really liked the quality and layout. The biggest issue I had with that boat was the hardtop was hitting my hair as I walked under it and I found myself ducking (I'm 6'5").

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The question I have is for anyone who has been on the R35/336 and whether they have any idea how much clearance there is underneath the hardtop.

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There was plenty of headroom for me under the arch/bimini combo on the R30. I hadn't given any thought to this prior but the experience on the Formula has made me wonder if it's even worth considering, or making the 5 hr drive to inspect the R35... Any input would be appreciated.

[arcticzale]

Anyone been in the big Cobalts?

[tgrace98]

I know Joe on here has an R35 so he would be the best person to answer. I have walked on an R35 and didn't have any clearance issues. But I am only 5'10. So I would not be the best judge of that.

[Joe]

I'm only 5'11". No clearance issues for me. I can measure but it may be a few weeks before I am at the lake again.

[CaptainTom]

I’m a little shorter than you (6’ 3”) and have been on a r35 and didn’t have a clearance problem. FYI- the 336 and r35 are very similar, but the hard tops are different.

[LOTOHEAD]

I was on an R35 at village marina last week and commented on the height of the hard top. I had about 2 or 3 inches to spare and I'm 6' 6".

[arcticzale]

Awesome, this is great to know! Thank you all very much, I'll check with the admiral to see if she'll put in the windshield time to drive down and check them out.

[Big Block Power]

This is so cool to see all of the help on every size boat Cobalt makes from all of the members on here. Keep it up!

[arcticzale]

This is so cool to see all of the help on every size boat Cobalt makes from all of the members on here. Keep it up!

Absolutely, this is great! Truthfully, I was rather discouraged after the experience in the Formula and this has lifted my spirits a lot about having a hardtop to enclose. We shall see...

[Table Rockin]

Dont get me wrong i obviously love cobalts....but that formula is probably worth a hard look. I kinda like their layout a bit more and in truth formula is a top notch boat.

[arcticzale]

Dont get me wrong i obviously love cobalts....but that formula is probably worth a hard look. I kinda like their layout a bit more and in truth formula is a top notch boat.

I agree, I do like the cockpit layout and the fabrics and build quality are great. However, I had some reservations about the CBR that the wife and I discussed on our drive home. The first is whether the hardtop makes sense as it seemed a bit low for me to walk comfortably under and that's what prompted this thread. Might be better off with the arch and Bimini setup if we go with Formula.

I am debating the layout with the head in the cabin. There are a lot of times when we're under way and the head needs to be used. Having it on the port side like we do now seems like a better option as it's less disruptive to the helm area.

Another issue was with how warm the Formula deck covering on the walkthrough and platforms were. We would definitely want to have genuine Seadek vs whatever material was on the boat that was there. We spend a lot of time rafting up at anchor and standing in that area, it was just too hot underfoot. But that rear lounge and extended platform were huge, lots of room to roam back there.

The final item is cockpit heat, which isn't brand specific. I’m understanding is only as effective as the water temp we’re running in. Since we boat mostly in colder water it seems that may impact the effectiveness and we may need to reconsider how long in the season we plan on using it if it doesn’t heat up the cockpit enough to take the chill out of the air. If anyone has any insight into this, I’d appreciate it if you could share.

[Table Rockin]

My mistake, I thought you were concerned with the height of the R35/A36 hardtop.

That material is like a seadek type matting. Similar to the aquamarine decking and whatever company Cobalt uses on their platforms. My R7 has the factory used matting on the rear platform and dont have issues at all it being too hot so thats surprising to me that its uncomfortable. My previous boat had seadek material on the platform and it too was comfortable.

Regarding cockpit heat....I dont have experience with using heat but I do have experience with cockpit AC. My parents have a 2016 42' searay which has a cockpit that is entirely enclosed from gunwale to hardtop by windshields. It gets hot in there because there is no airflow (there is a flip up area in the center of front windshield and the hardtop has a retractable area to open it up to the sky but these do little to help...especially when your going 12MPH), and they have AC vents they've used at times and unless your body is right next to the vent its utterly worthless. I would imagine the heating vents would be a similar experience, even if you put eisling (spelling?) glass up to enclose the cockpit.

[arcticzale]

My mistake, I thought you were concerned with the height of the R35/A36 hardtop.

That material is like a seadek type matting. Similar to the aquamarine decking and whatever company Cobalt uses on their platforms. My R7 has the factory used matting on the rear platform and dont have issues at all it being too hot so thats surprising to me that its uncomfortable. My previous boat had seadek material on the platform and it too was comfortable.

Regarding cockpit heat....I dont have experience with using heat but I do have experience with cockpit AC. My parents have a 2016 42' searay which has a cockpit that is entirely enclosed from gunwale to hardtop by windshields. It gets hot in there because there is no airflow (there is a flip up area in the center of front windshield and the hardtop has a retractable area to open it up to the sky but these do little to help...especially when your going 12MPH), and they have AC vents they've used at times and unless your body is right next to the vent its utterly worthless. I would imagine the heating vents would be a similar experience, even if you put eisling (spelling?) glass up to enclose the cockpit.

I was concerned with the hardtop height on the R35/A36 - only after realizing the 350 CBR hardtop was lower than I would like. I've been in hard top boats before and not had that issue, albeit they were big cruisers and wondered if the Cobalt's had a similar height. What I posted above was referencing the Formula, haven't been on the R35 or A36 yet. Trying to convince the Mrs to go this weekend, but doesn't look like that's going to happen. We would be doing a full cockpit enclosure with the Isinglass, so that experience is insightful as to the effectiveness of the climate control and I appreciate it.

The platform on the Formula wasn't a foam like material, it was much firmer than SeaDek and seemed more like a rubber - which is why I believe it got hot so quickly. I imagine a foam would dissipate heat better than whatever they used.

I'm leaning toward the Cobalt models based on the issues I see with the Formula, but need to get into one to be sure. Hopefully that'll happen soon... thanks again for the feedback.