Recent Helm Seat Design Changes . . . Sun Sports, CBR's, BR's


T

tpenfield

Member
I went to the 2017 New England Boat Show yesterday and as usual looked at the new Formulas as well as some other high end boats, like Grady white, Boston Whaler, Edgewater and Pursuit.

I was hoping to see some outboard version (s) of the Formula's but they were all the I/O's. I did notice that Regal had a couple bigger boats with twin outboards.

Anyway, Formula seems to be the seating king of the boats that I favor, but I did notice one thing that I was a little taken back by . . .

It looks like on recent models, probably within the past 2years, Formula has done away with the traditional helm seat that butts up to the U-shaped seating, in favor of a combination helm seat that the backrest can adjust to be either forward seating or rear facing seating.

Here is a picture of the 330 CBR seat from the show. Note the combination split backrest that can either face forward or backward. This essentially reduces the overall seating capacity (it seems) by 2 people.

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By contrast, here is a 310 SS of a few years earlier with the traditional dual helm seat and U-shaped seating
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I suppose in the big scheme of things it would not matter that much, but I do miss seeing/and would miss having that extra seating capacity. Typically, with my boating as we come home from a day of boating and the wind and waves are up we have most of the crew forward in the cockpit seating to avoid the spray that tends to come over the cockpit from the rougher seas. . . the loss of these two seating positions would perhaps mean a couple of people get a bit wetter than before :(

Thoughts?
 

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I know what you are saying but the cockpit area Formula describe as being the center of entertainment when the boat is stationary and when underway guests can sit elsewhere and spread out. I prefer the older twin helm design.
 
I think this design saves space. I bet if you were to measure from the front edge of the helm seat bottom cushion back to the edge of the back seat bottom cushion, the new design is less. And this would free up space on the starboard side for seating or the stern walk-through (which looks like it's on the starboard side of the boat pictured).
 
I have a 2015 350 CBR and I like that I have the helm seats and then the seats for around the table. I wouldn't like it if my helm seats were dual purpose.....
 
It's possible the stbd side seat could be longer with this design, so seating may not be lost (I haven't measured).

I like the idea of re-purposing helm seats into entertainment seats, but I agree, if it's at the expense of reduced overall seating, it's not worth it.

It is smart that they split the seatback so while captain is facing forward, a passenger can be facing the stern and can still see both the captain and other passengers aft.

The truth is that corner seat behind the captain would be awkward to sit in anyway since there is no space for legs.
 
I do see where they pick up some additional seating capacity on the port side of the 330 CBR. The Sun Sports 310 still has the traditional U-shape seating in the stern, so you loose a couple seats with that layout combined with the new combo helm seat.

Still love them though . . . Kind of a toss-up between the 310SS and the 330 CBR :)
 
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With the split helm seat it does allow guests to sit facing backwards, even if the driver is at the helm. I like the idea but as mentioned above it does seem to reduce seating numbers. On my 310 SS I can have three facing forwards and five facing any way they choose without impacting the helm. Odd move in my eyes.
 
Prefer the original seating setup on my 310. At the helm, I can easily sit with my back to the throttle and visit with my guests + have the extra seating.
 
Having had a boat with a similar layout (C Shape vs L shape) I will say that it completely opens up the seating area and makes it FAR easier for guests to get in and out of their seats. That is a big plus to me. In addition it completely redistributes your guests to both sides of the boat where as current (older) seating puts every one but 1 or 2 guests on the same side. I for one am looking forward to all the SS getting the new seating arrangement.
 
boatweiser said:
Having had a boat with a similar layout (C Shape vs L shape) I will say that it completely opens up the seating area and makes it FAR easier for guests to get in and out of their seats. That is a big plus to me. In addition it completely redistributes your guests to both sides of the boat where as current (older) seating puts every one but 1 or 2 guests on the same side. I for one am looking forward to all the SS getting the new seating arrangement.
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So the more I look at it the more I might take back my statement.....

I totally might like it now :eek:
 
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