Swing away helm

This idea has me thinking hard about converting my boat from tiller... Anybody ever seen or made something similar ?

https://www.ganatswingaway.com.au/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9BSoWQKzrM

Doesn't look overly difficult. One thing I don't like about it is the break away feature.

On my 12' jon I put the wheel on the right side just like in the pic... making a bracket to hold the wheel...fixed though...with cable steering. The throttle is on the left side but might not work with a wide boat. Sure beats tiller anyday...

Dad used to have a Lakesport (I think?) that had side mounted helm. Was built that way, not a breakaway. He liked it but he never really ran it much either. One thing I didn't like about it (or any other console style steering) is that you don't get quite the maneuverability of tiller steering. It's all trade-off and personal preference.

For me its about the CG. I started out with a Martin 40 on a plywood 12' boat when I was 14. I found that if I sat in the middle seat it would act like a displacement hull with the rear mostly out of the water...at slow speeds. When at wot I would occupy the rear seat for better planning. Issue was sitting in the middle seat the tiller was way back there.

Most of my boats since then were larger with a helm. I now have a 1232 jon with a 1976 15hp. I have 2 pin style seat mounts for my swivel seat... one on the rear portion of the rear seat for a heavy passenger up front and another mount at the very front of the rear seat when I'm alone or with a light passenger. They are about 1 foot apart. With a wheel for steering I can easily reach the wheel in both locations.

When moving slow and me sitting at the front mount the rear is mostly outa the water and works as a displacement hull. When throttling up the front lifts and works as a planning hull. I usually use the front mount so tiller would be problematic.

Small boats finding the best CG for me is issue #1.