A bit of a cold kiss for the helmsman (3)
I believe the answer is:
cox
'the helmsman' is the definition.
(cox is a kind of helmsman)
'a bit of a cold kiss for' is the wordplay.
'a bit of' says to take the initial letters.
'kiss for' becomes 'ox' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
The first letter of 'cold' is 'c'.
'c'+'ox'='COX'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cox that I've seen before include "Member of rowing crew" , "Steersman" , "Steerer of oarsmen in rowing boat" , "Helmsman" , "Boat's steerer" .)