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Hello everyone. I have to ask for information. the previous owner of my boat is not handed me the cockpit seat (the one in front of the rudder) I’ve seen in photos of your boats. I wanted to know if anyone has any one available to sell me or give me the photographs and specific measures to build it.
thanks to all
federicoHi Federico
I am not sure if this is what your after but I am assuming your talking about the box or boxes that are fixed either side of the mizzen mast.We had ours made to take the gas bottles and double up as seats.When we bought Latorchee she had one larger box.If you want the dimensions I can post them.Cheers
Richard
I think Federico may be refering to the seat that some have made up to sit at the wheel. The way he has put his question though has prompted me to pose a question that I have been pondering for some time. As the rudder post does not protrude above the deck behind the mizzen unless an emergency tiller is deployed is the Nic38 actually a yawl? It’s completely academic of course, just interesting! For what it’s worth my boat has no provision for an emergency tiller above the deck and has cable steering.
Regards to all, John.Hello Federico,
I actually have never seen the original cockpit seets since they were removed from Stella Scot before we bought her (stolen?). But we have made some very nice seats in stainless steel which can be removed completely when in port. I will try and take some Pictures of them soon, if you are interested.
kind regards
Kenneth
“Stella Scot”Thank you all.
– John, i’m looking for the seat that some have made up to sit at the wheel. (i think nic38 is a yawl, like you wrote).
– Kenneth, thank you for pictures, i wait for those.We leave italy (with our nice lovely boat) in the beginning of july and we’ll sail in dalmatia (croatia), for one month. other nic 38 in croatia this summer?
Hi Federico,
Sorry I forgot about your post.
Here’s my cockpit seat on Sea Eagle, it’s comfortable, but a little too heavy, & with limited back-support. I may change to something better in the future, like a ‘captains chair’ which is even more supportive/comfortable over several hours at the wheel.
BW
Jeff
thank you very much Jeff and Arild. I’ll try to make like yours, because sailing (without Neco) sitting on winch….is not so comfortable 😉
I was surprised to see the others captain’s chair, as I assumed ours was original equipment.
I have attached a photo of ours, and I have to say, I really like it. The height is just right for me, in that it doesn’t matter whether I am standing or sitting, my head is at the same level so visibility is unchanged. The curved seat means no matter what angle of heel, I can sit “straight”, meaning not putting extra pressure on either hip. I don’t mind the lack of a backrest.
Also, the smaller size of our seat means that the deckhand can grind the portside primary winch while the helmsman stays at the helm (although I usually stand in front of the seat to avoid getting an elbow in my kidney if the deckhand has a particularly wild pull of the sheet during a tack).
This chair is relatively easy to fold away and stow (it’s leg folds inwards), as required to be able to lift the hatches to work on the engine. It’s also sometimes just nice to get the chair out of the way, such as while provisioning or winterizing.
But men, be forewarned – this helm seat seems to be designed for women. Every man who has sat on it for long doesn’t like it. They say it squeezes their hips.
Marilyn
After discomfort on a starboard tack in heavy seas, I am now building a cockpit seat along the lines of the original design that Marilyn has shown, photo attached, and I am wondering how the mechanism works underneath the cushion. Can anyone with such a seat post an image of the configuration which CAN’T be seen in this photo, ie the underside of the seat. I have a friend 3D modelling a design for me (!), all rather exciting, but we are deliberating how to make this tilt forward thing work ( when you need to stand up suddenly). It is clear the wooden block’s pivot point is offset but not clear what is going on on the underside. It would be helpful to know.
Thanks, Duncan
Duncan – we can take more photos and check the cushion rake angle when we are next on the boat – which might be a week.
I can tell you that there is a vertical slot-type bracket on the side of the cockpit, above and between the locker doors, which allows a tab on the seat to slip into place. This secures the port side. This is all made of hefty stainless steel (SS).
Under the seat is a horizontal SS tubing, same diameter as that visible in the photo. I cannot quite remember how the seat is attached to it. This SS tube has the tab welded to it for mating with the above described bracket.
Photos will help a lot – I’ll make a note to get them next time we head to the harbor (45 min drive).
Marilyn the moderator
Finally been to Rainshadow. Here are some photos I think will help you understand how her helmseat was constructed.
Here’s a view of the bottom side of the seat, with seat post folded down for storage. The legs are also swiveled forward.
When the leg is not folded and the seat is not swiveled forward, it looks like this:
The seat itself can freely tilt forward a bit so you still have something to lean against when you are standing up. When seated, the top of the seat points upwards. There is a stop so it can only freely rotate forward a little bit. Here is the stop hardware.
The seat width is about 31.5″ (or about 80 cm). The depth of the curve from is about 4″ (or 10 cm). The tape measure in this photo shows inches.
The helm seat is attached on the outboard side by a bracket on the wall with a tab on the outboard seat hardware. Here’s the tab on the seat hardware:
and here is the bracket on the port side cockpit wall, attached to the side of the forward opening locker.
This tape measure (in inches) shows that outboard support leg is about 10.5″ long (or 27 cm).
In the above photo, just left of the tape measure you can see the bottom parts of the inboard support leg, which is attached to the floor. On the forward side, the inboard side leg attaches to the floor with a threaded bolt. That is all the seat had when we bought Rainshadow, and this solution allowed the back portion of the leg to lift off the floor and potentially pinch the deckhands toes if the seated helmsman lead forward. So we added a folding padeye so we can tie the back leg down. Here’s a photo of the flush mounted hardware on the cockpit sole. You also see the latch of the engine hatch on the inboard side for perspective.
Hope that helps. Let me know if you need more photos.
Marilyn
Hello,
Conche misses an healm’s seat as well.
It has support hole on the hatch for a different seat solution.
I am keen to build a seat the closest to the original though.
Dear Duncan – Czarina Blue, once you might be building one do you have any designs?
It would be very helpful.
I am attaching some pics I have found of one Nich 38 for sale with details of the seat. Hope the owner doesn’t mind. It is for a good cause 🙂
Thank you,
João
And my hatch support .
Thank you,
Hello,
Duncan did your friend 3D Â designer have designed a model for a seat?
Can you give me some tips to build Conche’s seat if you are building one please?
Another question for all please: How is it with star board tacks? Is it comfortable to go on the helm?
Thank you so much. I’m doing many works on Conche and keeen to go back in the water very soon 🙂
Conche РJọo
I should say that in the photos of the man seated above ( me) I was trying with one leg outside the cockpit, which was OK because I am tall. But now that i have used the seat alot, at night in big seas on starboard tack, I don’t do this. It’s more comfortable to put both legs to left in port cockpit seat forwards corner. And as I said, I will build a small folding footrest in the middle of the space below the wheel, to give my legs more support straight ahead of my body.
Also the photos above are full frame but despite making them smalller they are cut off on this page, however if you right click download them all you can see the whole frames, and all the measurements. Sorry not to improve the formatting.
Hi Joao!
3d designer too busy of course but he gave me an idea how to make it simply, so I made this seat based on Marilyn’s great photos and measurements of her original seat. I put her photos in Photoshop and tried to work out all the rough measurements to scale and it worked!
Then I got a steel man to make the legs and make it able to tilt back like the original which is great for semi standing/sitting to get the blood flowing around your arse and also to get the seat out of the way for winching on the port winch.
Also the photos above ARE FULL FRAME but despite making them smalller they are cut off on this page, however if you right click and DOWNLOAD THEM all you can see the whole frames, and all the measurements. Sorry not to improve the formatting.
I found that without a seat sailing on starboard tack was very tiring if there was a big sea, because nowhere to brace yourself. This seat enables you to helm for a few hours which was almost impossible before. I think it would be improved by putting a little foot rest on the vertical face below the wheel, as I think Marilyn has done. I can tuck my legs to the port side cockpit seat forwards corner on a starboard tack, less easily on a port tack when you really need a foot rest, especially if not so tall.
I made the measurement plans for the steel man and he measured in the cockpit a bit himself and took away my fabricated seat for a few days and built the legs in his worshop and came back and tweeked it slightly from the back of his van. It cost a few hundred euros for him and I spent probably 100 euros on materials for the seat part myself ( and many hours of research and work!)
It is up to you to work out the exact position of the seat in relation to your body height and arms reach, but once you have made the seat you can mock it up raised on boxes and work out the best position and then make the legs to fit that position.
I should say that in the photos of the man seated above ( me) I was trying with one leg outside the cockpit, which was OK because I am tall. But now that i have used the seat alot, at night in big seas on starboard tack, I don’t do this. It’s more comfortable to put both legs to left in port cockpit seat forwards corner. And as I said, I will build a small folding footrest in the middle of the space below the wheel, to give my legs more support straight ahead of my body.
I notice also that the text is cut off, in Safari or Chrome, on my Mac. If anyone needs the text separately, send me your email and I’ll email it to you.
Duncan
I have corrected the problem with the photos that made the text disappear of the right edge. The overflow occurs when someone uploads a photo that is too large.
Sorry the forum is not more robust to avoid this problem in the first place.
Marilyn, moderator
One more suggestion – check out the footrest under the helm in this photo. Height just perfect for setting your foot on it while seated.
I just want to thank you all.
All this precious information will make the job so much richer and easier.
Conche РJọo
Brian Glover sent me an email with photos. He said”
my helm seat on Suala came with her when I purchased her. I presumed it was the original design.
It had a white folding backrest chair attached by screws onto the flat shelf.I removed the chair and extended marine ply across the top surface. I have a folding chair that I put on top and lean back against the coach roof behind the cockpit. The shelf folds flat and stores in the port side locker with the fenders emergency tiller and spare anchors and ropes, standing upright against the side or flat on top of the fenders whilst sailing rough seas. Access into the engine compartment is not interfered with when the seat is in place. The foldable chair can be used on the deck or any flat surface as well.
The seat has rubberized non slip so does not move on the varnished plywood. Very practical and versatile. Very comfy to sit at the helm with my leg over the side, leaning back and my inner foot through the wheel onto the dashboard! Real cool!
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