chusansail
Member
Thing of removing lower helm on president 41. Never ever used it. Anybody had experience with this
Lower helm
- Thread starter chusansail
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O C Diver
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Might effect resale.
If removing engine and transmission controls, you will probably need to replace cables with longer ones.
Ted
If removing engine and transmission controls, you will probably need to replace cables with longer ones.
Ted
psneeld
Guru
Last guy never used the lower helm on mine, bet I used it 90+% .
Wouldn't have bought my boat without it.
But that certainly isn't universal as many boats don't have a lower.
Ted is correct, may affect resale..but to me it can be good and bad. You attract a few and lose a few. Price difference follows.
Comodave
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Our last boat was a President 41. We liked the fact that is didn’t have a lower helm. More space in the salon and besides the vision from the lower helm would be horrible. The view from the bridge was great. We put a hardtop on the bridge so it was very comfortable even during early spring or late fall here.
FWT
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A now-deceased uncle had a series of big Hatteras. In his next to last one he spec'ed it to eliminate the lower / inside helm station. Flybridge only. He got caught in unexpected bad weather on a run from FL to the Bahamas, and said he had to tie himself to the helm seat. He swore he'd never ever eliminate a lower helm again.
C lectric
Guru
JMO
I have a much smaller boat but the lower helm is used all the time. Early on I tried running from above when the seas were rough and it was miserable and when I finally had enough it was dangerous to get off the bridge.
A cover does not make up for it.
I would not touch a boat with no lower helm.
As said, JMO/
I have a much smaller boat but the lower helm is used all the time. Early on I tried running from above when the seas were rough and it was miserable and when I finally had enough it was dangerous to get off the bridge.
A cover does not make up for it.
I would not touch a boat with no lower helm.
As said, JMO/
Comodave
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Everyone has their own opinion. On our President we spent 6+ hours crossing Lake Ontario in 6 foot seas up on the flybridge without any issues. We wouldn’t have gone out in any larger seas. We always watch the weather closely. We wouldn’t have bought the boat if it had a lower helm.
Benthic2
Guru
I could see taking out a seat but going so far as to actually remove the wheel to gain 6 inches of extra floorspace seems like a lot of work for little gain. For me the advantages of a lower helm would surely outweigh the disadvantages. Bad weather as has been mentioned, being able to have access to the head and the galley when singlehanding, not making guests feel obligated to accompany me on the bridge in rough/bad weather and maybe most importantly redundancy if something malfunctions.
catalinajack
Guru
We use the upper helm more than 99% of the time. Yes, the lower wheel can be annoying. In my case I could simply remove the wheel from the shaft to get it out of the way. It comes off quite easily but then I would have to store it somewhere on the boat. Why bother for just a few inches.
mvweebles
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OP: what do you mean by removing the lower helm? Early in my boating career, I lived aboard a Uniflite 42 ACMY that did not have a lower helm. For no good reason other than, as a newbie, I thought it should have a lower helm as many 42 ACMYs do, I thought about adding a lower helm. As I thought through the exercise, quickly became daunting - engine controls, helm pump, engine panel, and carpentry.
Removing an existing helm station would of course be easier but may not be as easy as first appears if it involved any amount of carpentry.
A lot depends on how the boat gets used, and the visibility from lower helm. My Willard 36 does not have great visibility from the lower helm due to low profile of boat coupled with high bow (both attributes make it a good sea boat). Lower helm is used during longer runs where much of the vision is radar assist anyway. On my old Uniflite, I cannot imagine too many instances running around SF Bay where a lower helm would have been used so it's superfluous.
A friend has a very nice 2014 Horizon Power Cat 52. It has no lower helm and came with a hard top and isenglas enclosure. Made the area difficult to cool, and visibility was often compromised due to condensation and sunshine. He had a fixed pane glass windshield installed so essentially has a spacious pilot house. A lower helm on that boat would be useless.
Sorry for waffling with several pro/con examples, but I guess my point is it whether it makes sense depends. But if you have a full lower helm station and want to remove it, might be more work than you think.
Good luck. Pictures would be great.
Peter
Removing an existing helm station would of course be easier but may not be as easy as first appears if it involved any amount of carpentry.
A lot depends on how the boat gets used, and the visibility from lower helm. My Willard 36 does not have great visibility from the lower helm due to low profile of boat coupled with high bow (both attributes make it a good sea boat). Lower helm is used during longer runs where much of the vision is radar assist anyway. On my old Uniflite, I cannot imagine too many instances running around SF Bay where a lower helm would have been used so it's superfluous.
A friend has a very nice 2014 Horizon Power Cat 52. It has no lower helm and came with a hard top and isenglas enclosure. Made the area difficult to cool, and visibility was often compromised due to condensation and sunshine. He had a fixed pane glass windshield installed so essentially has a spacious pilot house. A lower helm on that boat would be useless.
Sorry for waffling with several pro/con examples, but I guess my point is it whether it makes sense depends. But if you have a full lower helm station and want to remove it, might be more work than you think.
Good luck. Pictures would be great.
Peter
