Why do most boats have the steering wheel on the right side?

Question

cars have the wheel on the left side...so why not cars?

Answer 1

Early sailing ships had the steering board (Starboard) on the right side. That's why they docked on the left (Port) side.

That is also where the right away rule came from. When two vessels approached at ninety degrees from each other the helmsman view might be blocked by the sail so the vessel on the left with a better view had to give way.

The right hand drive did evolve from the right hand drive ships. Even carriages were right hand drive.

As to why some countries have right hand drive; I've heard if a couple were seated in the back of a carriage, etiquette dictated the man, last in and first out, was obliged to sit on the left.

Napoleon, because of an affliction in his left arm, preferred to sit on the right, and dictated the drivers position must be on the left. Hence in countries occupied or influenced by Napoleon, which included a greater part of Continental Europe, the driver is on the left. I haven't tried to research this but it sounds plausible.

Answer 2

Actually I've seen more set up as single driver's seat in the center of the bow. Why then where they are not single seats, are they on the right? Tradition. As you dock, it's usually to the bank on the right side, so it's easier to see from a right position. Then when motors came into play, remember that early powered boats used automotive engines and often were simply the engine in the middle of a boat with an extension on the rear of the crankshaft to drive a propeller at the back of the boat. Most engines turn in a clockwise direction when viewed from the rear. A high powered engine particularly in a small round hulled boat will succumb to the laws of physics and the boat will try to turn in the opposite direction to the propeller. This could be seen in the right side lifting slightly when under power, to overcome this early boat builders put the seat, steering gear, and anything else heavy, on the right.

Answer 3

Most sailboats have the wheel amidships.

Most large vessels have the wheel amidships.

Many small motorboats have the wheel on the right side because then the throttle control can be mounted along the gunwale -- and be used with the right hand. (If left-handers were more prevalent than right-handers, perhaps the wheel would be on the left...)

The right side of a vessel is called the starboard side. The left side is (was) called the larboard side.

Commands to the helm ("Starboard your helm" or "Larboard your helm") could be confusing. The command to move the helm to larboard became "Port your helm".

Port, in this instance, had nothing to do with the left side of the ship, but rather with the similarity of the military command "Port Arms" -- to "carry" (L. portare) a weapon (rifle, spear, etc.) inclined to the left side of the body.

After all, there are portholes on the starboard side of ships. These "ports" are from the Latin for opening, or door, "portus".

Answer 4

Early boats did not have a rudder, they had a steering board.If the steering board was on the side tied up to the port the wave action would have pushed the board onto the port and broken it,hence the steering board was always away from the port.Over a long period of time steering board became starboard, port remained port. All airplanes and boats have the steering wheel on the right side.

Answer 5

I think it has to do with old traditional ways that boats were operated. (before motors) Steering was done with a rudder and the sailor doing that stood in a certain place on the boat. The other side of the boat was kept away from the dock in order to prevent damage to the rudder. When they started adding steering wheels, it was only natural to go with the same configuration.

Answer 6

Boats obey the 'keep right' rule. Hence, docking is a little easier because the dock will be on the right as you approach it. Naturally, with the wheel on the right, you can hop out with a line a little easier. Many boats have the wheel in the center also. With cars, it is better for the driver to be close to the road's centerline. This aids in judging distance from the centerline to avoid a head on collision. Boat captains usually have much more space to deal with, so this is not an issue for captains.

Answer 7

I think you meant to say "so why not boats"
and cars in the US have wheels on the lefthand side, not all cars.
Some boats do have port side wheels, most bigger boats have them centralised. there is no standard setup.

Answer 8

This is usually the case on smaller single engine boats because the propeller actually turns clockwise when viewed from the stern (back of the boat) looking forward. You will find most single engine boats have a "right hand prop." As the propeller turns clockwise, the resulting counter torque tends to want to twist the boat counter-clockwise, raising the starboard (right) side of the boat and lowering the port (left) side of the boat. By placing the helm on the right side of the boat, the weight of the driver tends to help balance the boat and keep it more level - especially when only one person is aboard. Trim tabs are used to help level boats as weight distribution varies due to passenger and cargo arrangement. On twin engine arrangements, the props usually counter-rotate to eliminate the torque effect and the helm could be left, right or more often center. In single engine duo-prop drives, the counter-rotating propellers eliminate the torque effect.

Just FYI:

The English tradition of driving on the left dates back to medieval jousting in which the contestants would pass to the left so as to wield their weapons with their right hand (as most people were right-handed).

Starboard refers to a particular and unchanging side of a ship, and thus is not a synonym for "right", a direction which is completely observer-dependent; for example, an observer on board who is facing the stern would perceive starboard to be on his left, not his right. The starboard side of a vessel is indicated with a green navigation light at night.

The origin of the term comes from old boating practices. Before ships had rudders on their centerline, they were steered by use of a specialized oar. This oar was held by a sailor located towards the stern (back) of the ship. However, like most of the rest of society, there were many more right-handed sailors than left-handed sailors. This meant that the right-handed sailors holding the steering oar (which had been broadened to provide better control) used to stand on the right side of the ship. The word starboard comes from Old English steorbord, literally meaning the side on which the ship is steered. The old English term steorbord descends from the Old Norse words stýri meaning “rudder” and borð meaning “side of a ship.” The modern term "steering wheel" comes from the same language root as "starboard" or "steer board."

Similarly, the term for the left side of the boat, port, is derived from the practice of sailors mooring on the left side (i.e., the larboard or loading side) as to prevent the steering boards from being crushed. Because the words larboard and starboard sounded too similar to be easily distinguished, larboard was changed to port.

The starboard side of most naval vessels the world over is designated the 'senior' side. The officers' gangway or sea ladder is shipped on this side and this side of the quarterdeck is reserved for the captain. The flag or pennant of the ship's captain or senior officer in command is generally hoist on the starboard yard.

Vessels at sea do not actually have any 'right of way' - they are, correctly, in the position of being 'stand on vessel' or 'give way' vessel. This means that at no time should any vessel actually navigate its way into a collision situation, and the rules are clear that no one in command of a vessel should assume a 'right of way' and should at all costs avoid a collision.

Consider two ships on courses that intersect. The rule is that the ship on the left must give way. The stand on vessel sees the green light on the starboard (right) side of the ship on the left. The give way vessel sees the red light on the port side of the stand on vessel. The helmsman gives way to a red light by either turning away and showing a stern light, or by going around the stern of the stand on vessel.

This was likely the beginning of the convention for traffic lights that use red to mean stop and green to mean go.

There are other rules governing which is a stand on vessel, such as small ships giving way to big ships, powered ships giving way to sailing ships, and in some circumstances vessels under sail giving way to powered vessels that are constrained by their draft, or restricted in their ability to maneuver. Therefore the green light does not mean an unqualified go, but rather it means proceed with caution subject to other rules applying. The earliest railway signals went red/green/white for stop/caution/go following this naval practice and were only later changed to the more familiar red/yellow/green.

The very simple application of red light and green light is that if the helmsman sees a red light, the helmsman should make sure that the other vessel can see his green light, which usually means giving way. If he sees a green light, he should stand on, but without getting into a collision situation.

The sailing rules that dictate that a sailing vessel on starboard tack (the side the wind is coming from) is the stand on vessel is as old as any other regulations. Likewise, if on the same tack, a sailing vessel that is upwind of another is the give way vessel. On square rigs, the business of tacking was called 'wearing ship' (something like a gybe), involved a huge loss of searoom, and could take ten minutes or more to complete.

Answer 9

you mean small power boats ..the right side is the port side.it makes it ez to dock ..but most all crafts (helm) <....steerring wheel is cented

Answer 10

It gives the operator a better view of the vessel to starboard which has the right of way.