why do boats have the streering wheel on the right side?

Answer 1

The "helm" or steering wheel is not always on the right or starboard side. Many vessels have a center helm (new Rampage 33 for instance) and a few have it on the port side. This question has been asked before and some have said it has to do with prop torque or the buoy system.It has nothing to do with either! If prop torque was correct then all the center console boats (Boston Whaler, Mako, etc etc)and boats with left side helms would flip over. And not every country has the same buoy system with red right returning. It is really just a design and engineering consideration.

Answer 2

A starboard helm gives the best visibility of the "danger zone." Other vessels approaching from the right (starboard) side have the right-of-way, so for collision avoidance it is most important for the pilot to see and yield to those vessels. There are some boats with port side helms. I suppose that is because we are used to that in our cars. Not the best, though.

Answer 3

On many smaller boats, the propeller turned clockwise, putting torque on the boat, in the opposite direction. Putting the weight of someone on the right side, counterbalanced that.

Answer 4

First, it has to be somewhere. Tradition puts it on the right where the Steering board was. That's also why they had to dock on the left side.

You can see to your right side and can give right of way to a helmsman who possibly can't see you. Stop for the red Go for the Green.

Answer 5

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 6

so the captain can be next to the dock since boats dock on the right side of the boat.