There is certainly no rules that dictate where it should be, and there are plenty of boats available where the steering is on the left. I submit that any conventions that date back to the Vikings are outdated enough to not be a prime motivation as to where the helm station is. As for the direction the prop turns: A lot of boats have their props turn different directions and yet the steering may or may not be on the same side. Correct Crafts (Nautiques) turn their props different than MasterCrafts and most of the other wakeboard boats. One standard that appears to be common are tiller steered outboards. They all seem to have the tiller on the same side of the motor, which pretty much forces the operator to sit on the right side of the boat and steer with their left hand. As for wakeboard boats, they are following the convention of tournament ski boats. A tournament ski boat is going to follow the convention of driver on the right, observer on the left just because that is how the AWSA approves them for competition.
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