Anonymous wrote:

i am currently looking for a new boat to convert.

for instance, a marieholm 261 looks great.

i do, however, have a problem:

the space for sleeping is lost in the bow due to the mast, especially since i'm 6'2" tall; if the mast is in the middle of the bow berth, i can't sleep there, and the berths amidships usually are too narrow for me, and also often too short.

Certainly the starboard berth on the 261 would be long enough, joining with the quarter berth, though as you say narrow. However, as you have to pass on one side of the table or the other anyway, adding  an extension to midships or the table support would widen it out. I think the first question would really be: are you solo sailing or do you need more berths than that. Personally, if I was solo sailing, I would be sleeping amidships. However, I am not. I too feel I need the V-berth. In my case I am choosing my sail configuration to suit by using either a split JR or Aerojunk both of which are balanced with the mast farther back (30 to 34%). In my case, the sail centre area is right on the current mast, so I still need to move the mast forward but I can move it from the fore end of the saloon to the fore end of the head and be ok without putting a mast in my berth.

With the 261, the head sail is not a masthead sail and the centre of area may be far aft enough that you can "only" move your mast forward a little to the fore of the head and have a 15 or 20% balance on your sail.

Each craft is unique. It depends of the bow overhang, the current sail plan, the keel shape, the JR you want to use and much more.

elegant solution (you can sleep athwart or across), as you can see in the pictures; i know the boat, and even the toilet is right at the front in the bow, that's a great solution!

I have heard that sleeping athwart feels like more motion in a rough anchorage because any boat will roll more than rock. I have not tried it though, so I can't say. In this case I am assuming only sleeping at anchorage as I can't imagine sleeping athwart while heeled over. There are sailboats with athwart berths though they are the kind that fit "more" into less length like the Buccaneer 320 with 3double berths, a single or two and two heads in 32 feet. The Bayliner heritage I guess. The Hunter 320 does too.

Anyway. I would suggest taking each boat you fancy and finding the current or as designed centre of sail area and drawing out various JR sails with the same area and same centre (fore and aft only, the JR tends to be a little higher). Then see if the mast can be made to fit within your cabin layout and still have an acceptable balance. A partial jib rather than a masthead will place the CA further aft. Of course stay away from boats with bowsprits I would guess  ;)

Len

PS I could be wrong about the bowsprit. I think boats with a sprit tend to have a suite of fore sails and stays with a stay on on deck as well, so I don't know how to judge what CA to use in that case.... of course a JR would not use the sprit but the marina would still charge you for it.