Helm Placement

[Rocky]

Right or Left. Is it really as arbitrary as it looks?

[Nicholas Carey]

Originally posted by Rocky:
Right or Left. Is it really as arbitrary as it looks?

I've always thought the helm should go on the head



[ducks]

[Rocky]

Kelsey's Chris-Craft has it on the left, my Chetek has it on the right, I've never figured out why they're on one side or the other. Can't even blame the English for this one. For night-time navigation in a channel would one be better than the other?

And with some of the overpowered f********s brutes around here you might as well wear full chain of mail too.

[ 04-04-2003, 08:54 PM: Message edited by: Rocky ]

[Ron Williamson]

If you've got a boat that prop-walks,it's handy to have the helm on the favoured side.
Maleo has a LH prop(IIRC) and favours starboard(definitely)forward and reverse.We prefer to dock on this side as well.This makes it simpler to single-hand,as it's easier to see over the rail and it's a shorter trip(pun intended)to the dock,with a tangle of lines.
R

[videoguy]

I'm putting Floozie's smakdab in the middle. [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img] ....Phil

[nedL]

I suspect that the idea of putting the helm on the left gives the feeling that it is more like a car (& may give newbies a feeling of familiarity). However, when operating a boat you should be more concerned about vessels approaching from starboard (you are the burdened vessel), so having the helm on the right gives you better visability of vessels that you must yield to.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Good point NedL. That is why ships (which have the helm amidships!) always have the Master's day cabin on the deck below the wheelhouse on the starboard side, with a view forward....just in case the OOW is preoccupied....

[Andrew]

Center, for better weight distribution, especially in a small or light boat.

[ 04-14-2003, 12:36 AM: Message edited by: Andrew ]