which seating arangement is best??

[bakerjet]

we are wanting to buy a bowrider but not sure on the best rear seating so which do yall prefer, driver and passenger with a bench in the back or the driver and passenger with the rear facing seats and the jump seats next to the engine hatch? thanks for any input

 

[Bifflefan]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

I perfer the bench in the back.

Mine has the jump seats in the rear right now but i will be making a set of seats this winter to change it to a bench in the rear that wraps around the the port side and and comes up to the back of the pass front seat. also with the rear bench you can have a large padded engine cover to lay on. And more storage. It does take more deck room, but i have plenty.

For me sitting backwards is not great, and you tend to slide off the seat when you hit the gas hard....LOL (but i have never done that to anyone)

 

[paulspaddle]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

I'll second the bench for same reasons stated as bifflefan.

I also think it 'looks nicer'.

I have found when you have the back to back seating the person's sitting on the rear facing seats tend to sit side-saddle so they can see forward and can talk with the two front facing persons.

With the two captains chairs the front passenger or driver has the option to swivel their seat if they like.

 

[bakerjet]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

looking to get a 20-21 footer

 

[superpop]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

Then get the bench and captains chairs. I have had both and the rear seats are not nearly as user friendly on the back to back with doghouse config. Beam is a factor as well, the wider the better, on my Chaparral I actually have a full bench with a walk through area to the swim platforms. Real nice for water-sports and people can still use the sun pad.

 

[bakerjet]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

ok i'm listening, also the best outdrive is the mercruiser correct? and will be trying to stay with a chevy motor no smaller than the 5.0 thanks again!!

 

[paulspaddle]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

ok i'm listening, also the best outdrive is the mercruiser correct? and will be trying to stay with a chevy motor no smaller than the 5.0 thanks again!!

Good combo....You're on the right track!

All the best finding a boat.

 

[Yellow Yota]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

We have the swivel seats and an "L" shaped lounge in the rear of our 21' Rinker. Picture a regular rear bench, but drag it around the port side a little. Making room for a nice walk-through beside the engine compartment to get to the swim platform. Plus the bow seats of course.
First, the good:
Makes it super nice to have the walk-through. Especially with the kids. No more climbing over the motor cover.
Makes for more room behind the drivers seat for a large cooler if you need it. We don't, as the floor section of our walk-through is actually a lid to a built in cooler in the floor. It drains to the bilge.
We have a small table that mounts in the floor at the corner of the rear "L" bench. Easy for everyone to be able to reach the table to get their snacks.

Now, the bad:
Makes the sun pad a little smaller from side to side. Maybe 18 inches. Not an issue for us, as our boat is 102" wide.
The biggest potential issue is weight distribution. It makes it really easy for everyone but the driver to sit on the port side of the boat. With the bench coming up the port side to about the back of the swivel seat, the kids like to pile up there. I fixed this by making my port side Smart Tab a little stiffer than the starboard.

If I had to do it again, I'd definitely go the same route. The walk-through makes all the difference in the world.


Looks like this:
http://boatcan.com/boat-review/photos/21-6.gif

http://boatcan.com/boat-review/photos/21-5.gif

 

[superpop]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

Go look at a Volvo SX drive and then go look at an alpha 1 drive. I may start a huge flame war here but I think the Volvo is a much better drive package. You should not have to crack the drive in half to change an impeller as one good example. Both Cobalt and Chaparral use Volvo so that says something about the product as well.

 

[Yellow Yota]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

So, your V/P outdrive doubles as a seat?

Now I do wish I had one of those!

 

[This_lil_fishy]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

I don't have the walk through like the others. But we have a full bench in the back, with a massive sun pad. The center seat of the bench and the center of the sun pad fold up to create a 'walkthrough' but I never use it. I love the layout though, there's tonnes of space on a relatively small boat (20'). Add a decent swim platform (24" +) and you have a lot of useable space that's great to fish off of. I use the swim platform as the casting spot....or stand on the sunpad to get longer casts...unless the missus is sun bathing..then I fish off the bow which is a bit more inconvenient.

I had back to back seats on my old 14', and really they just seem to take up space and were very uncomfortable. They fold out, but are super uncomfortable to lay on. I find the dual seats in the back instead of the bench also looks very awkward.

PS: I've also heard that the Volvo is a nicer system..even though I have the merc set-up. Dunno if it really makes a difference long term though...although pulling an outdrive completely apart to change the impeller is a bit stupid IMO.

Ian

 

[45Auto]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

We found that swiveling captain's chairs, with U-shaped rear seating and a big sunpad worked best for us. There is tons of storage under the seats, and a removable table in the center (stores under the sunpad hatch) makes it great when you're having lunch. There's room for an icechest behind each of the captain's chairs. The captain's chairs are MUCH more comfortable than the folding back-to-back seats, and can be swiveled to face the rear when everyone's sitting around the table. Another removable table up front makes it enjoyable for the front passengers also.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

I prefer the jump seats in the back. I had a choice with my 19 ft runabout between the "sport" seating (rear bench and 2 forward facing seats) or the standard (2 jump seats which turn into a swim deck and front/rear facing loungers that lay flat.

The sport seating wasted a ton of space and really limited the number of people who could be in the back of the boat. It's also a lot easier for the skiers and wakeboarders to get in and out with the jump seat configuration.

 

[bakerjet]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

will need all the room i can get 5 in my family! kinda got my eyes on a Rinker Captiva 212 with a rear bench and 5.7 mercruiser. I have heard that the volvo/penta is a good engine and drive combo. thanks guys for your input! i'm not new to boating but new to the prop boat world. just sold my jet last week gotta get the family deal as the kids are getting older. here is a pic just for the heck of it!

 

[brick75]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

I second the U-shaped rear seating with the captains chairs up front. Leaves lots of open room in the middle of the boat, but still provides lots of seating. This is a lot harder setup to find, but if you can, it's worth it.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

I likie the rear bench as well, but I like to have the passenger seat as a back-2-back seat, and the driver's seat as a single captain's chair. Most boats that have the rear bench leave a lot of open space between the bench and captain's chairs, so that U-shaped bench is the best of both worlds.

 

[Texas Parrothead]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

I have always had the jump seats and fold out lounge seats and am really dissapointed that this seating config is harder to find in newer boats. Being a family of 5 we also find ourselves bring Grandpa and Grandma with us for days on the lake. We like being able to allow most of us to sit in the rear compartment and not all be stacked up on the same bench. If i was buying a new boat and both seating config's were side by side for purchase I would stay with the jump seats and fold out lounge seats.

I'm thinking that my next boat may not have this option available so i would probably go with the wrap around bench and table option. That does look convenient.

 

[Utahboatnut]

Re: which seating arangement is best??

One other factor to think about is access to the engine compartment, some of the rear benches and u shapes make it much more difficult to get in there. Even routine maint. can be alot of work due to removal of all the panels etc in order to gain access to what you need. Not too bad if you do all of your own stuff but if you are paying someone else 90 bucks an hour to remove the stuff and reinstall it when finished it can get costly. Most mechanics don't or won't stand on their head(I don't blame them) just to get to something. I have the rear jump seats, they do however turn into a small sunpad as the bases have two places to sit either as seats or put them up to make a side to side sunpad, or pull one out to keep from having to walk across seats to get in. Works well with a family and friends if it were just my wife and I probably would have gone with the sport seating, it does look nicer, just not as practical for us.