Jockey seat

[the bookie]

I was wondering if anybody has installed a jockey seat on their RIB. I have an Achilles 350lx with a 20hp Honda outboard 4 stroke with auto tilt and electric start. The RIB is 11ft6inch and gets up on plane pretty fast with my wife and two kids in it. I'm just not into the tiller steering and would like to purchase the Jockey seat from defender marine and go remote steering. Has anyone mounted one of these on their dingy? https://www.defender.com/assets-product/main/456193.jpg

[BillKny]

It all depends on how you use your dinghy.

For us, at least 80% of the time we launch the dink, we are headed for a beach landing. We prefer to cruise in more remote locations, and that is usually the only option. Even aside from the extra weight, remote steering just is not compatible with a beach launch in the surf.

If you always are in harbors with a proper dinghy dock, a jockey seat is a fun addition, assuming it leaves enough space and carrying capacity left over for the wife, kids and groceries. Remember, the total carrying capacity of the dinghy will be reduced by the weight of all the equipment needed for remote operation.

[the bookie]

Thanks for the info. I have thought it through and I just read the info on the junior jockey seat and it states that it is for aluminum hulls. I know I can fabricate something to mount it and might have to go through the hull but it is doable with my fiberglass hull. We do beach landings and such also but mainly harbor beaches and the like. I was just wondering if anybody has one and what their thoughts were. I saw one on a similar dingy of the same size as mine at town dingy dock in Sag Harbor NY and it looked awesome and pretty low profile. It weighs 50 lbs according to the website plus some control cables. It's the whole project of hooking it all up with the electric start and auto tilt being part of the tiller arm I'm sure there will be a wiring project to contend with also. I am planning on buying a new dingy with an aluminum hull in the future as my achilles is about 10 yrs old and although it's hypalon and has never had a leak or patch it's definitely in it's twilight years of it's life I think. I figured I'd mount the jockey seat and if I like it I'll put it on my new dingy.