Re: bench seat or jump seats by motor box
The actual amount of available places to park rear ends is basically the same in either configuration. The differences are the direction those rear ends are facing, and the amount of actual real estate in the boat. The bench seat with two captains seats will take up a little more floor space, but allow for a slightly larger sunpad and allow for all persons riding to get all cozied up next to each other while riding...whereas the typical two back-to-back loungers and two jumpseats by the engine will allow more useable open floor space (making the boat feel bigger IMO), but will force all riders to spread out a bit more. This works well, because you can lay the loungers flat, and this will actually create seating for two more rear ends, and when you put the rear-most jump seats in the sunpad position, the sunpad is almost the same size as the bench seating option's sunpad. This lounger and jumpseat style seems to be the more versatile arrangement, and the most popular, as it is typically the "standard" arrangement, with the bench (sometimes called 'brougham') seating being an additional expense option on new boats. The ideal seating arrangement...the one my next boat will have...is the wraparound (sometimes called 'sunsport') seating like that found in most wakeboard boats, where you have a captains seat at the helm, and the rest of the seating is one continuous wraparound bench that covers the rear and side of the interior.
