I'm sure many of you that come to the Pantera forum have seen my WIP thread.
I need your opinions.
Sit down or drop-out seating in a 24'??
I want to be able to run this in 4-6' Erie slop (the kind of water she was built for) but want me and the wife to feel comfortable launching off a wave.
I prefer to stand when running hard, let my legs take the shock on re-entry, but I'm worried about the low freeboard. I also prefer to stand when docking, in the event I need to move quickly to push off, and just for general visibilty, and being able to quickly get out of the cockpit to handle lines.

I'm worried a sit-down will scare the hell out of me with my azz lifting off the seat.

I prefer the look of a bolster, but is this also gonna be too much wind and get annoying after a while??
I'm looking for your opinions and suggestions??

I have always been a fan of the stand up bolsters.
That being said. I would go for the sit down in the 24.
I believe you will get use to the docking while sitting down. Once your comforable with the boat I most likely won't be a big deal. You might be able to fab up some brackets or use car seat brackets to adjust forward and back to "kick" the seat back when docking. If the seats you find don't look right, too tall maybe, then have a quality interior shop cut them down.
It would be the hot set up, if you get the right seat

Back when I first got the boat it had the sit downs in it and I really wanted to go to orig style stand up bolsters, after running the boat a couple of years I found that I really liked the sit downs better. I always had the seat adjustment so that I could run the boat standing up but after some seat time I found myself always running the boat sitting down even in rough conditions. If I still had the boat I wanted to redo the interior with the Twinmarine seats like Tmones boat or maybe some with slightly lower backs. Full height drop downs will give more back seat legroom also so it is still a tough choice. I wish I knew who makes the medium height bolsters like in the howard 28 bullet that also has a similar freeboard to the Pantera 24 I think they might be a really nice fit also. http://www.offshoreonlyclassifieds.c...o15028-en.html Great job on the boat so far. Chris

Check out the PPI seats in Wardly's 29 Extreme (pleasure version). They have the leg wraps with the headrest cut down. This would be the ticket in your boat.

Trust me sit down is faster and more comfortable if you have a properly set up boat. If you can push w/ your legs / feet this will take the load off your back and put the pressure on your shoulders. Your out of the wind , more connected and you'll blow by your buddies w/ equal power , etc.

I'm 100% for sit down in the 24 and like I said, will probably, ultimately convert my 28 to sit down, like BStubb and DFealy's old boat.

I never had an issue with my ass coming off the seat. I know, I don't run in Lake Erie, though... I would put in a foot rest to brace yourself, and then use your legs and back to hold yourself when you land (I'm no physicist, but seems like you go up when the boat goes up and probably come back down at roughly the same time too).

I will also say that I think I've come much closer to tossing myself out of the 28 than I ever did with the 24. The real issue isn't vertical movement, it's lateral movement. Going hard chine to chine will spit you out much faster than just leaping waves ever will (I'm looking at you here Joker... *cough* Ocean City *cough*). And being down in the boat seems better suited to keeping you in.

I always rode around with my arm over the side of the windshield like I was in an old pick up. Very comfy! Plus it makes the boat look bigger in pictures!

Joker, how bout those seat bases?

We can make anything you want as far as seat bases. Was I supposed to make you some?

So far the consensus seems to be sit down.
And you're starting to persuade me, I guess it's just a matter of finding the "right" sit downs.
Remeber, I'm on a budget here, too.

And Sean, thanks for posting the pic, that's one I didn't have of "my" boat

Sit down in a 24, stand up in a 28. I was originally going to install the 3-man standup in my 24, but after building the bases it was just too high, so I built a different base, and made it a 3-man sidown