tamburello

With the growing trend of making sit-down style boats, I'm surprised that I haven't seen much about suspension seat bases that help absorb some of the bumps. I believe that the new sit-down Fountain poker run boat has seat suspensions, did they design their own or are there systems available from aftermarket suppliers? What systems, if any, are out there?

- Jeff

Hot Duck

My old Gladiator had suspension seats in it. I ordered a pair from Master Craft that were actually designed to be used in desert and stadium racing trucks. I figured that it would be worth trying because the drivers of those race trucks take very similar blows and similar abuse to what we experience in a boat.

Master Craft can actually build an individual seat to fit a specific person. You tell them your height, weight, shoulder width, etc and what material and colors you want to use to cover the seat. From there, they engineer and build your seat to those specs. They make a world of difference and really do absorb a great deal of the shock.

super termoli

Fabio Buzzi makes some pretty trick suspended seats. As with most things, not all suspended seats are created equal. The G10 model is amazing. It has a very progressive suspension which really smooths everything out. Riding in 4-5 footers (real ones) feels like riding in a big fat Caddy. It's a bit high for most sit-down boats but only the base would have to be modified. Check it out...

DPT MOTORSPORTS

Marine Technology(MTI) uses a seat mounted on frame rails that have springs in them. A set of such seats are in the Rio Roses Fountain Super V that I once work with for a short time. That boat was rigged at MTI by Gary Strang. I understand they work pretty well and Fountain Powerboats also has a seat they designed with another company a few years back that were shock absorbing as well. While everything in HotDucks old boat was first class the seats in that boat did not help the driver this past summer from fracturing a tail bone while racing it in extremely rough conditions off of Atlantic City, NJ.

damdonzi

Didn't Sunsation use bolsters a year or two ago that had shocks built into the legs of the frame of the bolster?

Couple of links:

Like in 18 wheelers:
http://www.americanseating.com/produ...87_nonprod_139

Stidd's for $4,200 a pop:
www.stidd.com

Seaspension by Land Mar products:
www.seaspension.com

whipped565

I'm running Seasuspension in my boat!! If I get anew boat will have to get more to keep the wife happy

whipped565

One more shot!

Hot Duck

When the seas are that rough, nothing is gonna help!

Part of the problem there is that the seat was never sent back and fitted for the new driver. The seat that is in there was made for me using my information. The seat needs to be sent back to Master Craft to be fitted and rigged specifically for him. He is substantially taller, is a little broader and, therefore, probably weighs just a little more.

The seat base needs to be altered to fit him as well. If you compare the driver's seat and base to the throttleman's seat and base, they are different because one was made specifically to fit Bill and the other was made to fit me. It would not be a big deal to alter the driver's seat, but if it was done it would help him out a lot and make it a whole lot more comfortable for him. I'm not saying that this would have kept him from getting hurt because it was incredibly rough that day, but it may have helped. We ran that thing in some ridiculously nasty water here in OC a few times just to see what the boat would do and I am grateful that I never had the seat bottom out like that.

Either way, suspension seats are not the save all because you still take a beating in the rough, but they do help. Of course, for comfort in rough water, I don't think that there is any comparison to standing in a good wrap around bolster, but that is not a possibility inside a canopy. Though he is back to normal now, my brother broke his back in a really nice, open cockpit, sit down boat that had great seats, but I don't think that he would have been hurt if he was standing. Overall, I am not a big fan of sit down boats for running in the ocean, but in some boat designs and in some cases, such as with a canopy boat, there really is no choice. Sitting and being belted inside the canopy is substantially safer, but I think that standing in rough water is still more comfortable. All of the shock seems to be transmitted right up your back when you are sitting down, but when you are standing it seems like the shock is mostly in your legs and knees. There are some extremely nice seats out there for sit down boats, but whenever possible I would rather stand. Now before I get blasted by people that like to sit down, keep in mind that this is just my personal preference.

DPT Motorsports: What are your plans for the AC boat show? Are you heading down there? I am trying to talk Mandy into a day trip tomorrow. Give me a call on my cell when you get a chance. It would be great to see you guys and catch up a little!

Hot Duck

That thing is clean!

DPT MOTORSPORTS

Hot Duck,

You have mail!!!! Thanks for all the clarification on that. Learning something new every day.