Why does the Captain sit in the left seat?

[maat]

I think you will find that it is another one of those traditions that have been passed on from the navy - like four bars on the captains tunic. In the days of sailing ships docks were built to take into consideration the local prevailing wind direction to facilitate the vessel coming alongside - hence the origin of Port & Starboard. The ships master conned the vessel from the port side so that he could judge the approach to the dock

WikiAnswers - What is the history of port and starboard running lights and why were these colors used