High Back Seats in a 35 Fountain
 

I am curious if anyone out there has had any experience in replacing the stock bolsters with race style high back buckets? I am looking into possibly doing this in my 95 35 Fountain or moving to a cat or possibly a 36 Cigarette. I want to be able to either throttle or drive my boat and because of my paralysis, I cannot sit in the bolster style seats. I have talked to a few seat manufacturers, but it never seemed to go past the idea stage. What do you all think? The bolsters in the 35 are attached to the hull side and it may take some doing to make this work. Think I should try this or look into a different setup??

I am really surprised that manufacturers would not be willing to put this into a design phase. I'm sure there are quite a few disabled people out there that would love to get out on the water. Maybe some OSO sponsors can step up to the plate and take this on.

I know that you have put a lot of time and money into your 35, but I would think it would probably be wiser just to buy a cat or Cig. I think it would take quite a bit of work to do and then you may have a problem with resale. Or you could start a new trend. You never know.

What's the extent of your paralysis (if you don't mind me asking)? Unless you're talking about a big cat, the small and medium size cats can be difficult to get into the two front seats.

I don't see why it would be much of a project to refit your 35 with sport seats.?.?.:confused: This makes the most sense if you want to keep the Fountain. Wish I was closer, I'd give you a hand with it.

theres an upholstery shop in Laurie that does custom work.
cant think of the name but its owned by a guy that used to own or work (not sure) for Active Thunder when they were in Chocago. oso member KCHOTBOAT knows him.

i would bet they could convert it for you.
good luck!

i would think that a high back mounted on a square base pedistal should do the trick. basicly a box with a high back mounted, you could make it a little longer ( frt to back and put a angled foot support for two of the rear passanger. always were there is a will there is a way. couple round excess holes to get to the underneath side of the floor for backing plate for the boxes. and that would eliminate the bolsters supports to the sides. if you had the race fairing you might have to go to a windshield so as not to have to put the seats up so high . but managable. good point on the cat and being able to easily get in them. good luck and keep us informed.
sometime this year id like to come by and see the scoops on the hatches you had installed on your 35 to see how they did it and the end result with the upholstry and such.

see ya
later

hi
 

Im going to do the same in my 28 pantera,theres a place in fla that makes nice seats twinmarine,305 691 2464 have someone weld you up some tube bases and powder coat them to match your interior, that way you have foot rests for the back, if you want you can still attach them to the sides, or have them make your seat with the shifters on one side and the throttles on the other you can call me if you need help 513 407 6206

The place in Laurie is called Advanced Canvas. They do unreal work. If I remember correctly, that is who you had do all the other interior work. I just thing that it would be a bit of work to get the seats mounted at the proper height and then move the wheel and thottles and such for the different position of the seat. I doubt that you could keep them in the same spot as they are now. Maybe I am incorrect.

ttt

Let's get this guy some help. :cool:

I bought a pair of Apache bolsters used and put them in a 30 Scarab once. Worked well and was VERY comfortable. good luck

SS,

Of course I don't mind you asking, the more people know about my injury, the more they can feel comfortable talking to me and not feeling sorry for me. I feel very blessed to have the life I do. Don't get me wrong, I'd give up about anything not to be confined to this chair, but I try to make the most of it and that is why I bought my boat. I am a C4-C5 quadriplegic. Basically, that means I have no use of my lower extremities and limited use of my arms. I have been riding in my boat for 3 years and I think I'm ready to make an adjustment one way or another that will allow me to throttle, drive, or maybe both.

MPally,

I did use Advanced Canvas for my most recent upholstery and they did a fantastic job. I just wasn't sure if they'd want to tackle a project like this or if it was even doable. Also, I was hoping someone had already tried this and could give me some good insight as to what direction to go. I think I just need someone to say "OK, here's what we're going to do..........!!!"

I appreciate all the help and comments and hope to keep this conversation going.

Fountain525sc,
I was asking because I was wondering how much mobility you had. Based on what you said, I'd stay away from a cat unless you have some big $ to buy/maintain a large cat. If so, go for it... the large ones are roomy in the cockpit. I don't think you'll find the smaller cats much fun to get in and out of w/o a crane... and I'm not joking about that. Even having full mobility, I have a hard time getting in/out of most cats.

So how much use do you have with your arms? Limited to the point were you'd require arm rests with some upper arm restraints, or can you support your arms enough to control the boat in offshore conditions w/o support?

I'm just trying to figure out what needs to be done for you to accomplish your goals.

I only wish I had the money for a 32, 36, or 40 cat, but I'm most all of us do. Interesting about the smaller cats, I never knew they were that cramped.

As far as my mobility in my arms, I have full control of everything but my hands. I can use my arms to do a lot of things, but I just cannot grasp things with my hands. I'd say I'd do fine in most conditions if I were in tight enough.

Thanks so much for your help!!!!!!!

There has to be someone on this site that can help you out. Personally I don't think it would be a big problem to design a seat to fit your needs. I would try places near your home so they could get measuments and custom build the seat to your size. Come on OSO members lets help him out here!!!!

I would agree impulsive, it shouldn't be too difficult. I just worry about having a good line of sight with the fairing on and how deep the bolsters currently sit.

I think you would have to figure out where your line of sight would have to safely be. Then find a seat that your comfortable with and build a base into the floor to achieve the required height. Attach the seat to the base and then re-rig the controls into the seat so you could reach them comfortably.

My uncle suffers from paralysis after a stroke so I understand how difficult it can be some times to make changes in order to do the things you love.

Okay, here's what I had in mind...see picture below (picture taken of another members boat and I hope he doesn't mind me posting this :confused: ).

These seats are used mostly for auto racing, but they can be used for marine use. I have the same seats in my Porsche street car. Despite how they may look, they are actually very comfortable. What's nice about them is that they have the slots in them for a four or five point racing harness. The seats are sold w/o bracket so you could have someone fab the base/seat brackets for you. They even sell adjustable (slider rails) bases for them (although probably not corrosion resistant). Racing harnesses could be at attached to the seat bases. The down side is the seats have very little padding under them, but remember... they are very suportive around your entire torso. The seats are made by many companies and typicaly run $250-$700 per seat. Cloth, vinyle, leather / fiberglass, kevlar, Carbon Fiber... whatever you want. Although you don't ever see anything like this in a Fountain, I think they would look bad azz and be very functional for not only you, but for anyone else that wanted to use the boat.

And I HOPE you'd do BOTH front seats.:cool:

What do you think?

That sounds like a great plan, now I just need the pro's to give me the direction to go.

I'm sorry to hear about your uncle. It is tough, but you can't let it beat you!

SS,

Those look very interesting and I would definitely do both front bolsters. I am sure I could add padding to make it work. My only other concern is mounting them b/c of the way the current bolsters are molded into the sides. How high do yolu think we'd have to be for good line of sight and would it ruin the view for the people in backk?

Here are a couple of places that look promising

http://www.ppi-fl.com/begin.html

http://www.offshoreperf.com/

I'm not sure what your current bolsters look like or how they are molded into the sides... have any pictures? What size Fountain?

You really cant add much padding under this type of seat since it's kind of molded around your body. Maybe just a gell pad, but I don't know that you'd need it depending on how rough you're boat is. Racers use these same seats in all classes of boats. They are high back and would block some of your view for the back, but can you really see anything from the back now? If you look at the picture, the two slot for the harnesses at the top of the seat are were the top of your sholders sit in relation to the seat. They also offer great head support as you can see. I think you would have to have someone do some testing and measuring with the boat on plane to find the ideal height.

I spoke with a gentleman at PPI, but after our conversation he never got back with me. Great looking products, just curious about mounting. Didn't see and high-backs on the other............

Here's a better picture of this type of seat I'm speaking of...

I just talked to joyce at premier performance and she seemed pretty helpful. Give her a call and talk to her or Jim.

It is a 35 Fountain, I'll attach a picture. I aggree, you can't see a ton from the back, but hopefully they wouldn't just be staring at the back of my head..........lol!!

2

SS,

I like that look, but it looks really high.


impulsive,

I'll do that.

Another thing you should know about seating in a boat... the more the seat is reclined, the more the shock (impact) is taken off your spine. If you go this route, make sure the seat bases have holes drilled in them so the seat angle could be adjust to your comfort.

here is another one they had that looked good. I would call there and talk to jim . Be persistant if you have to it seems they have some good quality products.

Great point SS. I would need some adjustability both forward to back and up to down.

Impulsive,
That is one of them I discussed with them the first time I talked with them. I'll try again.

Hey Ryan! Haven't seen you on here for aloong time.How was your year? I remember you trying to get this done last year. I guess nobody came through :( Hopefully you will have much better luck this year. Good luck and I hope to actually see you this summer at the lake!!!

I had a decent year, can't complain. Yeah, I've been trying to do this since the summer, I haven't focused on it enough, so now I want to finish it. I hope to see you all down there this summer.

I raced in a seat similar to the Momo although it was a carbon fiber Sparco seat. If you're not racing, not in a canopy and not strapped into the seat you don't want it. You do not want to be strapped into a seat if you don't have a canopy.

The last seat pictured is very close to the Skater seats that were in the boat for the first year we raced. Very comfortable but when strapped in there was just too much cushin in the seat so you moved around a little too much.

Also SS930, be very careful how far you recline the seats. The Lavin Foundation has guidelines for how far you recline the seat. Be very very careful not to recline the seat too much. Give George Linder a call to get a copy of the guidelines.

Mr Velocity,

Great info! I won't be racing, only pleasure use. Do you still think I'll need to worry as much about some movement?

Very good points above.
Please keep in mind being disabled he is in a unique situation, being supported with a harness (IMO) would probably make things MUCH easier on him. We are not talking about a racing enviroment here.

I think you know what I meant about the reclining...:D

Great discussion. Keep 'em coming..........

What is used in the offroad circuits like baja1000 and the dakkar? Those are some rough conditions, and they are stapped into seats. They have to have some type of padding in there to contend with the similar conditions or offshore.

Excellant point Chris, n fact, I'm almost sure there's a driver who is paralyzed.

The padded seats just didn't give us what we were looking for in race conditions. The Skater seats were very supportive and held us in good, even without the 5 point harness. But when racing and strapped in there is a real advantage to not bouncing in the seat since you can have better control of the boat. With 8" of padding in the seat with every hit you sunk into the seat only to rebound into the belts. So your shoulders hurt pretty good after a race. With the Sparco's there was no movement, hence your body absorbed ALL the shock of the hit. With the Sparcos everything hurt by the time we finished a race. But by not moving as much you had better control of the wheel and throttles. Ya gotta deal with a little pain in you want to win the race.

For a pleasure boat I would go with a padded seat, either like the one above or look for used Skater seats. The Skater seats are probably the most comfortable seats I've been in.

As far as the driver that was paralized, sorry I don't remember his name but he ran a 26' Velocity named Don't Blink. I think he fell off a ladder trimming trees around his pool.

Let's put it this way, we just put a rover on mars with cameras and video. I bet we can all put our heads together and make this work:D