Seating- Stand or Sit?

Hi Mattman,

What size and type of boat are you thinking of in your question? In my experience you would like to be able to sit, even if you often stand up. Seats with a folding flap is common in smaller boats and provide also for a half standing position which can be useful in fast boats for better visibility and comfort.

On big yachts, they sometimes put in just a leaning bar to make sure the watch is not falling asleep.

You are welcome to add your pictures, just be aware that if you later want to protect the idea or pattern, they should not have been published. At the same time, by making them public you can get a kind of protection for the design as long as you can proof you were first with the idea....

On production boats in the US at least, the seat for the helm is built completely different from the bench or lounge seats for the passengers. Which is my complaint. Helm seat is usually fine, those bench seats too often use cushions that are to hard and thin. Huge difference in comfort.

Kelly

In addition to the helm seat having all of the multiple comfort adjustments, controls on the armrest would be nice, such as for autopilot. Seat belts are a nice feature when needed.

Judy

pilot seat

I would like to have my contribution as below:

1- Seat should be comfortable for long periods of seating, but firm enough to keep you alert.
2- There should be adjustments to several positions for supporting the back and height, as well as arm rests.
3- The seat base should be moving to leave space in case of a need to steer standing up.
4- The base cushion somehow should fold in the standing position to act as a leaning pad in standing position, so there is back support when the going gets rough and you need to steer manually standing up.
5- The seat should be firmly locked in place, so that during heavy roll it does not rock from side to side and throw you out (I experienced this in heavy weather).
6- Heating and ventilating functions could be a plus.
7- Lastly, as a fantasy the seat side cushions could inflate to hold you firmly in place when the boat rolls heavily (I have this function in my car's seat and the seat supports you when you are moving fast into corners by inflating the side cushions on the opposite side of the movement.

Sounds like the perfect chair Nilo. Is there any particular chair that you have found with all those features?

Although I've been on some very uncomfortable as well as comfy helm seats, I think the issue (at least for me) is the positioning of the chair in relation to the helm. On many, the chair is comfortable, but you have to lean over towards the helm to use the electronics, instruments, etc. When you sit at a desk, your legs go under the desk giving you closer reach. Most helm seats sit away from the helm, and you are not under the helm, so the reach is that much further. It can also make steering uncomfortable. I know on certain installations you can actually use your feet, but I don't like to do that with owner/guests around. Because of these, I find myself standing more often than not, just for better positioning.

seats

I am using a Recaro Marine seat with most of these functions; other than the folding seat base to act as a leaning pad when you are standing. Also locking mechanism is not working to my satisfaction, which I believe will be rectified in due course.

The chair has electrical adjustments for lumber support, however it does not have the side support function.

Time for more than just a new chair.

Sitting while underway is definitely the best solution and hopefully in a chair that allows good visibility and comfort. There is always an issue regarding access to the controls when in the chair. I always shake my head when I see a great chair behind a wheel that is out of reach. What would be nice is a chair with an arm rest that duels as a control pad synchronized with the boat’s panel controls. Having the throttle and steering accessible on the right arm rest and other instrumentation (radio, radar, etc.) on the left arm rest might be the answer.

Way back in the day, 1981 to be exact, we built a chair for my rec room that controlled the TV, VCR, lighting and property security monitoring access. Most of that was hard wired.

I know from looking at the latest systems on the market just yesterday that remote access in a variety of venues is readily available and not expensive. Sensors are miniaturized and senders are wireless.

The boating market really has not kept up. Although we see large screens and greater resolution, many control devices, monitor screens, sensors and information access devices still looks years behind.

There are many good applications for heads-up display, see through screens that can be 48”, arm rest information access pods and controls, portable instrumentation monitors, blue tooth alarms via ear piece, and all the other recent improvements in monitor and alarm instrumentation, and information access and control devices.

Take a look at the latest “glass cockpits” in the new jets or helicopters. We can fly a jet without ever having to reach outside of the seat, receiving continuous updating of all engine operation data, airspeed, real time destination information, weather, altitude, attitude, and so on and so forth. All of this is done at 500 miles an hour.

Take a look at new cars and trucks. They have HUD, proximity sensors, back-up cameras, tire pressure sensors, light that follow the corner, and so forth.

Docking is likely the single most stressful event attached to boating. With proximity sensors and engine speed limiters the stress could be eliminated. In reality, docking could be fully automated.

In any case make the chairs comfortable by all means. A build in massage function would be nice. But, why not take a step forward and really update the helm altogether?

Have fun………..

Hi,

Manufacturers of Integrated Bridges tend to provide Chairs with all the bells and whistles in them.

The most impressive I have seen were done by a Company called HITEC Marine, they were from Norway I think, I saw these aboard a couple of the P & O NEDLLOYD Explorer Class Container Ships whilst looking to use them on another project.

Volvo car seats transplant well with heating built in. Strip out the seatbelt pulleys and remount on seat brackets. Air bags optional. There has been far more research on car seats than boat driver seats. Better colours as well.

First Pericles

Ummmm, yeah.....

Automated docking isn't a new concept, but one worthy of discussion. Just keep one thing in mind as we ponder technologies such as GPS positioning, proximity sensors and the pucker-factor of your processor... insurance!

(Not for you... but for the manufacturer who develops and brings the system to market. )

high-end integrated chairs ..

look at http://www.rolls-royce.com/marine/systems_solutions/automation/bridge_systems.jsp

there you will find a PDF for a operating char.

Don't forget the fitting bridge design, a chair alone makes not a perfect bridge.

Gerhard

automated docking

Automated docking is in the pipeline. I read somewhere Volvo is working on this (with their IPS system).
But I am not too much of an advocate for over-automating everyting. When everyting is automatic and something goes wrong, the response time is always longer.

On some highways in Belgium, it is forbidden for trucks to use the cruise-control at times because too many trucks were driving full speed into traffic jams. Off-topic, but I see a parallel.

Controls in the arm-rests are quite common on commercial high-speed vessels. Wireless remote control has been done on yachts, but I have heard of one case where the owner drove his boat into the quay (or another yacht) because he was driving the boat from the fore deck and the remote stopped working suddenly.

Bruno

sea saddle

There is a company called Ullman that makes marine "saddles" that you half stand over half sit on. That is a horrible way of explaining it, I know. I can see it taking the bone jarring out of a rough sea but perhaps not too comfortable after a few hours at the helm...
Has anyone had experience with seats like this?

http://www.ullmandynamics.com/biscaya.asp