Something I've started doing while looking at boats is ignoring the official capacity number and just counting places where I'd genuinely want to sit for an hour.
This changes things pretty quickly lol.
A boat can technically have seating everywhere, but then one person is sideways, somebody's sitting directly in the sun, two people have nowhere to put their feet and the guy opposite you has his knees touching yours.
I've been comparing layouts around the Hanover Yachts range lately and it's made me way more interested in how cockpit seating is arranged than how many people the boat technically holds.
Most of my use would probably be 4 to 6 adults anyway, so I'd rather have six genuinely comfortable spots than enough cushions to claim you can bring fifteen people.
For anyone who entertains on their boat pretty regularly, what seating arrangement has worked best?
Everyone around one table? Separate little areas? Forward and aft seating so people naturally split up?
Feels like something you wouldn't really understand until you've had a group aboard