It reminds me of a sword fishing boat next to mine in the harbor. It has a big door in the transom for sliding the big fish into the cockpit. And like the bigger trawlers, waves can cover the cockpit and quickly drain back out like on that reality tv show, worlds deadliest catch.

I'm not sure what the attraction is on a sailboat, but I can see the design reasoning; there's living space below the raised cockpit sole on boats like this.

The cockpit sole is the roof overhead and has to be raised to accommodate dwelling space below. No "cockpit well" fools the eye of the raised height. 55 feet today in sailboats means 2 levels or floors to create the needed volume for sales. Good idea if living volume is first priority.