fund razor

The marine industry (The Man) is oppressing the black helms.

Is my helm not good because IT'S BLACK??

You don't see them changing Jesse Helms.

So now my boat (The Neighborhood) is devalued because I have a black helm?

This is wrong. I can't believe that it has come to this. Maybe my black helm does get hot in the summer, and I have to put a towel or dew rag on it to keep it cool.
Is it less a helm?
Do the gauges not read because they are black? No. They work hard and read true. Even if they do have purple trim.

We need a voice against the white helm tyranny.
I have a dream that one day white helms and black helms will grace the same boat shows. From Miami to Cleveland little black helms on Jet Skis and big white helms on offshore boats will be happy to be on the water together. And these helms will live in a world free of me having to change my helm to white just because it's an 87.
And when I go to sell my boat, and somebody judges the boat not by the color of it's helm, but by the content of the survey.... I will scream from the mountaintops....
"Sold at Last... Sold at Last... Lord Almighty the New One's Fast."

Black Helm Power.

Peace Out.

cuda

I'd do paint myself. A lot less work, and the result is as good or better than gel.

offshoredrillin

But will your helm pick cotton?

Ducks was the boat I was reffering too!!

cuda

Fund, I agree with your point. Everyone says they want to upgrade to white, because it dates the boat. When will the white start to date the boat?

fund razor

Black helm power.

Bill272

I'm planning to paint mine this spring. I'd do paint before gelcoat also because on my 89 272, the paint looked new when the gel got chalky. No discrimination here though, mine's a weathered grey which will never be in style again.

dockrocker

Bill has a mulatto helm

dg - didn't realize that the Formula helm is plastic? That seems weird, I would've thought it was a molded fiberglass piece.

offthefront

well mines cracked ...cpl of places .....I was thinking it Fiberglass ....anyone elses cracked ?

mcollinstn

I like my black helm on my 311.
And I'm pretty sure it's 'glass.
Won't swear to it till I get a chance to check..

Bill272

I have noticed the trend back to black, but like I said, mine is grey with some waterspots on the port dash that don't rub out. Fred, I'm looking at something like your first pic where the dash is still white, but the gauge panel is black. The new Formulas are like that too, with black (carbon fiber maybe?) or red dash panels. I do like the idea of being able to change the look by painting just the panels.

I'm not ready to jump on the bandwagon for that second pic though. It looks good on that boat, but I don't see a tan interior ever going in mine. It's an interesting look, but why the white controls?? Polished or black would have been much better.