SoCal Jet Boats
Discussion => The No Wake Zone => Topic started by: jeroger1 on May 09, 2010, 08:14:53 AM
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This isn't really driving me crazy...but I'm mildly curiouos. When I learned the waterway right of way rules some 30+ years ago, it was an easy thing to remember. If the boat was coming at you from your side, he had the right of way. I figured this was why boats always seemed to have the helm on the starboard side. Never had to stop and think about some rhyme or anything...if he was headed at you, you had to give way. It made sense that you should give way to someone you could plainly see, as opposed to giving way to someone on the opposite side of your vessel.
So can someone tell me why almost all jets and v-drives have the helm on the port side? Is it because most people are right handed, and the gas pedal won't work against the bulkhead? I'm interested in everyone's thoughts as well as whoever actually knows for sure...if there even is a 'real' answer.
Thanks
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my thought is these boats have car motors and built by car hot rodders and cars are on the left side
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The torque steer on an Outboard and I/O turns the boat to the left. The Driver is on the right to help counteract that. The torque steer on a V-drive turns the boat to the right so the driver is on the left. Anyone who has driven a hydro or flat with big power knows how much left steering you put in on a hard launch. Early jets were built by the same custom builders of v-drives so they simply put the driver on the left like a v-drive even though there's no torque steer.
That's how it was explained to me as a young pup in the 60's. Of course real jets boat have center steering. 8)
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Most boats have hand controls and jetboats mostly have foot throttles, how weird would it be to have the throttle against the hull sides (gunwale)?...
The other reason is, with the driver on the right, the hand control seems more natural, you can do it with the left hand but it seems wrong....This mostly started because a large majority of early boat builders (not companies, but craftsmen who built boats the "old fashioned way") hailed from Europe, where the drive on the left side of the road... :screwy:
Torque had a little to do with it in the early days on outboards, but not really too much on inboards or vee drives and they have been around much longer than the lowly outboard...(that did not have tiller steering that is) yet the inboards have had them on the right for decades.
The other reason I have heard was for navigation purposes, the marker buoys were "read" from the right....Ever heard "red right on return"? That one came from my grand dad and at the time made total sense.... ;)
Lakes and rivers sort of made it seem wrong because of the counter clockwise rotation law, it was done that way because of the road rules of driving on the right, they figured people were not smart enough to figure out if it was clockwise, something I happen to totally agree with.... :sly:
GT
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Of course real jets boat have center steering. 8)
Completely unfounded and untrue.... :screwy:
Real jetboats require a driver and a navigator putting the helm where it belongs, back on the left... :sly:
Here's proof..... ;) :D
[attachimg=#]
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Now GT, what good are those giant tunnels if they aren't going to put them in the water ;) :thumbup:
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hawhawhaw, just like a car or truck, only 15 percent of the tire touches the road at any given point.