When you go on a beach holiday, you might like to drive a boat on seawaters. If you have already driven a powerboat, then you may have noticed that it offers you a right-side driving console. Have you ever thought why boats have their steering wheel on the right side? While you may have driven a car with its steering on left, you will need to drive a boat that has steering on right. Is it the convenience right steering offers or something else that drives this choice? Check out the reason why you find a boat’s steering console on the right side.
One reason to place steering consoles on the right sides in boats is the right-handedness of most people. Drivers find it convenient if a steering wheel is in their right hand. Another factor that determines this choice is to balance a driver’s weight. Prop torque is usually counteracted by utilizing this factor. However, these are not the only reasons for placing a boat’s steering panel on the right side. According to certain global regulations too, a boat’s steering needs to be on right. This is done to control the traffic on sea.
In addition, keeping steering on right also helps in preventing any boat collisions. In older days, there used to be a steering oar to drive a boat. Keeping it on the right side also prevented it from damage. Right side steering consoles used to help in keeping a better track of the approaching traffic from other directions. Later, this placement of steering consoles became a norm when the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea gave its directions. However, some small boats are still allowed to place their steering panels on the left side. This exception is made for providing a better view of approaching traffic to those small boat drivers.
