Windows

Probably the riskiest part of the whole build is the windows.  I want big windows.  The biggest thing the design gives up is the cockpit and this is the best way to get some of that open feeling back and move away from the submarine/coffin experience.  I think it is also the thing that will help the most with sea sickness.  Good visibility is also a safety thing but generally small windows are considered safer from a strong solid structural point of view.   Big windows are going to add substantial weight to the top of the boat which I am particularly concerned about.  Then you have to add the choice of whether you can open any of the windows.  I do not want to give up any of the seaworthiness of the Enigma as that is core to the nature of the boat.  I just know that an open window or just an open-able portion of a window will be something I will really value.  I would like to keep the inside of the top of the cabin free from sharp edges/corners that I might hit my head on.  So I might end up settling for no openings on windows.  Matt has spec'd passive roof vent on the hatch cover.  I have a bunch of 1/4 inch Lexan which seems a little overkill and heavy but again I'm inclined to work with what I have on hand.  I will experiment with this and buy some other material if it doesn't seem suitable.  The cabin top seems solid but appears to be of very thin marine ply with a little fibre glass on one side.  I've gimped up, some window layouts some of which are outlandish but one thing I have learned working with industrial designers is to play with things in order to see where the visual appeal lies.

Stock window arrangement, Wiley windows, One particularly ugly option

The stock window layout is absolutely workable and a safe fallback option should the weight indicate smaller windows.  When I heard about Wiley windows I thought "that would work great" however in a small boat reality seems to be about as bluntly obvious as possible I think the use of internal space and the head cracking likelihood doesn't favor the design on such a small craft.

Enigma with windows maximized doesn't really look right.

 I started of drawing the biggest windows I could on the boat.  Not that I think this will work well but it is a starting point.  I will need to do some weight calculations and I can work backwards from the weight of the windows maxed out.  I'm glad non of these have major appeal although the last 2 don't look bad.  They thought is the smaller back widows might be workable as windows that open.

These are the max windows scaled down somewhat the last 2 seem close to being visually balanced to me.

I like this array the best particularly the last two.  I might have to try some slightly trimmed back versions and see how they come out.  I might need to figure out exactly how much actual window is left once cabin top overlap for mounting is considered.  Not totally sure how much overlap I will be happy with.

I did these to eliminate the concept.
 

These actually looked a little better but I hope the weight doesn't drive me here.

Sometimes pushing the limits helps to cement a direction so I pushed these a little far.  To each his own.  I suspect this could look better with slightly radius-ed corners.  I can see somebody liking any one of these but in order to choose I need to amplify the distance between what I prefer from those I would rather avoid.