Jockey used as bench?

[Hightower]

I've been giving some thought to this layout this evening and there is another option in keeping with what I would like, but without deviating from an overall traditional seating arrangment.

Two 1400mm seat bases with cushions (should seat about 3 persons each)

When going on fishing trips I could fit a custom fiberglass box between the rear 400mm of the seats to produce a bench seating arrangement.

Would that work?

[Hightower]

Thought I'd drag this thread to the surface again and show you the finished seating arrangement (well finished apart from the rear seat back). I've been working on it this morning and am very pleased with the results.

[Hightower]

The only disadvantage is that to open the rear bench fully you have to move the sliding seat forward to gain the room to tilt it forward, but this is a minor inconvenience and could be overcome with some better designed hinges that lifted the seat base up and forward to clear.

[Pete7]

Looks good, who did the seats for you, I could be in the market for some.

When are we going fishin then? cod must be in by now.

Ribless Pete

[Hightower]

Flew sails did the upholstery, however they did nothing but moan about things and had to take several peices back for re-adjustment/replacement. I'm also concerned about the toughness of the material as I have already noticed a couple of little niks and have taken the upmost care of things as I'm only too aware that the RIB is being worked on, but time will tell.

[Nauti Buoy]

Originally Posted by Hightower

The only disadvantage is that to open the rear bench fully you have to move the sliding seat forward to gain the room to tilt it forward, but this is a minor inconvenience and could be overcome with some better designed hinges that lifted the seat base up and forward to clear.

Andy,

If you rotated the rear cushion round 180 deg, and hinged it the other side would that not close the gap up between the front jockey and the bench seat as the lip on the other edge of the cushion looks wider and in doing so resolve the issue of having to remove the front jockey bolster to raise the bench seat?

[Hightower]

Originally Posted by Nauti Buoy

Andy,

If you rotated the rear cushion round 180 deg, and hinged it the other side would that not close the gap up between the front jockey and the bench seat as the lip on the other edge of the cushion looks wider and in doing so resolve the issue of having to remove the front jockey bolster to raise the bench seat?

Well to be honest I did some drgings early on in the design stange and it looked a little strange having a overhang, so never really considered it. However I did stick the seat cushion on a couple of weeks ago and thought it looked OK, however it's too late as the distances are wrong for exact fitment by the tune of about 20mm and I'm not reupholstering the cushion again, the other disadvantage is that the overhang impeeds the legs whilst standing at the back which has limited room and is fine right now but too cramped if the cusion was fitted in the manner you suggest.

I really think this is a terriffic layout for compact seating, it provides loads of confidence for the family whilst out as everyones so close together, but the comfort factor isn't compromised and actually improved.

I can get an adult on either side at the back (seated) and a youngster sitting just in front (seated on the sliding cushion), the low profile seat backs make this possible. I can also get two kids on the front seat too, so I can keep my eye on them whilst underway. There is also room for one child standing up between the bench and two jockeys where they are encapsulated by seats.

I'm dead chuffed to have pulled this off, not everyones cup of tea, but works for me.