Helm Visibility

[gsturgeon]

Many boats and (even ships) seem to have limited forward visibility so do you think it would be an idea for the mag tests to feature a picture as seen when seated at the helm seat with the boat at cruising speed?

 

[Whitelighter]

would be nice to see - but then I guess no-one buys a boat on the basis of a magazine article. Most will sea trial it first I would have thought

 

[gsturgeon]

Surely being able to see where you are going whilst being seated would be a plus point ?

 

[Whitelighter]

Yes. Sorry, what I meant was that unless it was particularly poor then it will be covered on your seatrial.

Also, as we are all different shapes and heights, how do we tell where to place the camera? Do they assume a 6'4 giant or someone of slighter stature at 5'?

Usuing an 'average' may be dangerous as it probably covers no-one.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

GES, this one of my bugbears too. Helm ergonomics on most boats are appalling with visibility blocked by windscreen pillars, poor non-adjustable seating and controls out of reach. IMHO, it's one of the fundamentals of good seakeeping for the helmsman to be comfortably seated, have good visibility and be able to reach all major controls from that seated position. You'd expect that in a car costing a fraction of the price of a boat
To be fair, David Marsh who does the boat tests for MBY does usually comment on helm ergonomics but many other test reports I've read do not. Yes, it should be one of the basic things tested in a report although I'm not sure a single photo is going to tell you much

 

[gsturgeon]

Thanks for your replies, every time I look at the pictures in the mags of boats at speed, the helmsman is nearly always standing. With a typical duration of several hours, standing whilst bobbing and weaving to try and avoid the green water facials leaves much to be desired !

Mind you many other boats are worse, rowers looking backwards, sailors surrounded by sails - even sitting sidways and I once steered a narrow boat 70ft long round a winding canal for several days - never could tell what was round the corners.

I think the question is really why is the helm almost never sited near the bow whatever the type of boat

Geoff

 

[Ifraser]

Being able to see where your going certainly is a plus point but it isn't a given. I delivered a Fairline Targa 38 across the channel and from the comfy seated position could not see over the bow.. hence spent the whole 5 hours either standing or straining up while perched on the bolster supplied when the seat back was folded down. Not a comfortable position and trimming the boat did not seem to help much either. I certainly think that it might be worth mags mentioning if it is particularly bad set up... cheers Iain

 

[Sneds]

Nice to see someome else spelling "Iain" correctly!

Our Mustang 2800 suffers from the same problem. Stand up and see or be comfortable and blind!