Bench to gunnel support removal?

My 13' gregor has these supports bolted to the seats and gunnels in four spots. Whats their purpose? I can't see them doing anything unless the boat was hit from the side, or leaning on its side up against a wall or something, and even then I think they would just bend. They take up a lot of room and I'd like to just remove them. Anyone done this? Is my boat going to self destruct and send me to hell or are they just superficial supports and not really needed. The boat is all welded and pretty beefy. Any ideas for replacing them with something less intrusive?
Looking for some replies from boat folks more educated than I. Thanks!

mtnwkr said:

Whats their purpose? I can't see them doing anything unless the boat was hit from the side, or leaning on its side up against a wall or something, and even then I think they would just bend.

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I would say leave them in. They may look small and not useful but they do add structural integrity to your boat.

mtnwkr said:

They take up a lot of room and I'd like to just remove them. Anyone done this? Is my boat going to self destruct and send me to hell or are they just superficial supports and not really needed. The boat is all welded and pretty beefy.

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If you take them out, the gunnels will be less strong and more likely to get bent out of shape. I know you said they take up a lot of room, but do they really?

mtnwkr said:

Any ideas for replacing them with something less intrusive?
Looking for some replies from boat folks more educated than I. Thanks!

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Your fish finder is mounted right next to one so isn’t that taking up the same space as well?

If you can, utilize them. Below is an interior pic of my boat. I have the same type of supports. Rather than removing the supports, I store the oars underneath them. To further maximize storage, I attached 2 rod holders to each side of the boat. The supports help keep otherwise cumbersome gear out of the way and readily available.

I doubt that ANY manufacturer puts anything like that on a boat without very good reason. It was expensive to add those supports. My best guess is, if you remove them your sidewalls will be floppy. I agree, turn them into rod holders, or oar holders or some other good use.

Sturdy is good. Rich

I actually just removed a bench from my 14' semi-V, but before I removed the bench I removed the braces. They were "L-shaped" and didn't look like they did very much, but after they were removed the sides of the boat were more flexible from the gunnel to where the benches were riveted to the sides. I wasn't terrible, and I doubt it would cause any catostraopic failure, but the boat was weaker. Maybe you could pound them down, or replace them with beefy L-brackets that would be more out of the way. Check out this picture for a better description of what mine looked like. I removed the ones that are circled and plan to replace the ones on the front bench with the ones from the center.