Drive da boat on the left or right?

[Corpus Skipper]

Us Americans being proudly Bass Ackwards from the rest of the world, have traditionally driven a boat from the starboard, with helms to port waaaay back when in those old mahogany runabouts and such. Lately I've noticed a shift back to port for helm placement. (Personally I think it's a plot by those tree huggin' globalization weirdos to suck us into their fold ) Anyway, who sets the standard for this (if there even is one), and how do you feel about it? I'll go for starboard 'cuz I'm a righty and that's where the throttle belongs.

[ABoatGuy]

My guess (and only a guess),

I think small boats in the US are moving to the port side for marketing purposes. They are just like a car to the novice. Bigger boats and yachts will probably stay in the center or to stbd for visibility of the burdened side of the vessel per the rules of the road.

[Tim B]

It shouldn't really make a lot of difference, after all, you sit nearer the middle of the road so you can see around the next corner in the hedge. We don't have hedges at sea, and if you're that close to the harbour wall you should be docking, not trying to see round it. Personally, I like the starboard helm position, since, as a designer, there's lots of convenient (and sensible) places to put everything, But I may be influenced by British starboard-helm cars.

In the yacht world, though, all yachts up to about 50 or 60 feet are central helm. So not a huge problem I reckon. It's down to personal preference.

Tim B.

[david gillam]

Traditionaly one allows boarding on starboard so it would make life easier to have the helm on the docking side.

[david gillam]

...hence the word POSH from "Port side cabin Outbound", Starboard cabin Homebound from the old steamship passenger ship days.

[jehardiman]

Starboard, As ABoatGuy says because you meet starboard to. Also because most people are right handed which put the throttle/shift in the proper hand.

[yipster]

had a classic english riley car once with for me normal left hand wheel, crazy enouch they made the shiftstick build into the leftside of the (left) drivers seat. (probably for those english riding overseas?) centerconsole should be best but for the same reasons named before i voted starboard

[kapnD]

Its all about getting an even tan, folks. If you drove your car and boat from the same side, the inside arm would be distinctly lighter than the outside arm.

[L.DOSSO]

On a small runabout (say up to 600 kg) with single inboard engine or dinghy with single outboard engine,the weight of the helmsman on the starboard side comes to counterbalance the tendency of the craft to heel this way;port side's chine settles more deeply in the water and stbd cHine emerges,such an heeling phenomeon due to the propeller's action. Isn' it?
Lucas

[stevel]

With my single inboard 26', I wish the helm was on the port, rather than on center. It is easiest to dock on that side, and a port helm would let me handle my own lines a bit easier. Visability isn't much of a problem with this size boat.

[yipster]

stevel, why is it easyer to dock on the portside?
boating left (i guess?) is only in england, austaralia, japan and?)

[stevel]

With a right-rotating prop, reverse will push the stern to the port. I can come in slowly at anywhere from 30 to 60 degrees from the dock. I turn to starboard a few yards off of the dock to spin the boat parallel to the dock, and give her just a touch of reverse when the bow is within arm's reach of the dock. The boat slides right into her spot at the dock and stops. I'm not talking about the throttle jocky stunt where you charge the dock and then go full astern to skid in. I do all of this as slowly as I can go and still get any control from the rudder. I follow the advice to "never approach the dock any faster than you want to collide with the dock."

Docking to starboard requires much more finesse to come in at just the right speed and make just the right amount of a turn to end up parallel to the dock and close enough to tie off. If you don't get it perfect and have to use a little reverse to stop, the stern will move away from the dock, and there isn't much that you can do to get it close to the dock again. If I have a long stretch of dock to work with, it isn't much of a challenge, but at my dock, where I only have about 3-4' between my boat and the ones ahead and astern, I prefer to dock the easy way.

[yipster]

i see what you mean and that makes perfect sence as long as there is to not to much wind

[stevel]

If the wind is blowing off of the dock, I doubt that I could dock to starboard once in five tries. If the wind is blowing onto the dock, I can dock any way that I want to on the first try. If the wind it parallel to the dock, it is easiest to dock whichever way is into the wind, but I probably could do a prettey decent job of docking to port with a moderate tailwind.

On the subject of my earlier post, I've heard that New England lobster boats often use left-rotating props to allow them to pull the stern over to the trap, as their winch is on the starboard side. Is there anyone out there who has first-hand experience to either confirm or refute that?

[marshmat]

As I drive mostly outboards and sterndrives, I find coming in port/starboard makes no difference. For a single inboard, though, it's a big deal.

As for the helm: I've seen it both ways; I'm comfortable with both but prefer starboard. In North America at least, the helm is usually to starboard as you must yield to vessels approaching from the right; with a starboard helm you have a better view out this way. On most modern boats though, the sightlines are good enough that it doesn't matter as much. I would make an exception that small bowriders should always be starboard helm as I don't like having to look between the heads of my passengers to see the boat who I need to avoid.