Comfort and grace from folding cockpit seats
Issue 38 : Sept/Oct 2004
Among the loveliest boats around are Concordia yawls. They were designed by C. Raymond Hunt and, mostly, exquisitely built by Abeking & Rasmussen in Germany. They have lots of delightful features, especially the folding berths known appropriately enough as Concordia berths. When I was looking around for something to use as a backrest in the cockpit of Temujin, my Tartan 34C, I came across hinged cockpit seatbacks in my friend’s beautiful Concordia 41, Yankee. When not in use, they fold down. They are usually made of locust and nicely varnished.
For the Tartan 34C, as well as for a lot of other boats, the specific Concordia arrangement won’t work. But the principle of a hinged and removable seatback still applies, albeit with some modification. And the style of the backrest is very pretty. The seatback will fit any boat with a fairly long cockpit bench and a relatively straight (90-degree) coaming. Virtually any boat with a teak coaming is a candidate, though a molded fiberglass coaming can also work. The main concern is where the seatback falls in proximity to the wheel or tiller so that the extension of your “helming” arm is comfortable. The key word is “ergonomics.”
Mine is made of teak with white cedar bungs for decoration. The back support is held in place with stainless-steel hinges and angled for comfort. The seatback assembly is held to the cockpit coaming with gudgeon and pintle fittings.
Anchored inboard
Once the assembly is fitted to the coaming, it must be anchored at the inboard base, and the folding brace must be attached to something. I used the traveler bridge. If you don’t have a traveler bridge, you might use a brass tube and a fast pin. The inboard leg must be anchored with a fitting, like a table bracket fitting, so it can be easily removed. We have sailed all summer with both seatbacks in place and don’t know what we did without them.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
