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From: Grant A Thompson <gathompson_at_bc.sympatico.ca>
subject: [Paddlewise] Seat Adjustment
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1998 18:31:37 -0700
The connection between my backrest and kayak has three possible locations 
each of which are approximately 1" apart.  At the moment the backrest is 
mounted to the middle adjustment.  What should I expect the response of my 
kayak to be if I moved 1" forward or 1" backward ?

grant

Grant A. Thompson

Summerland, BC


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From: John Winters <735769_at_ican.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Seat Adjustment
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1998 07:14:27 -0400
Grant wrote;

-

>The connection between my backrest and kayak has three possible locations
>each of which are approximately 1" apart.  At the moment the backrest is
>mounted to the middle adjustment.  What should I expect the response of my
>kayak to be if I moved 1" forward or 1" backward ?


Unless the seat is moved at the same time the center of gravity should not
alter much and, as a result the boat will not be affected much.  The
biggest change will be in your comfort level.

To find out how much change there will be ask your boat builder how much
moment is required to change the trim one inch. For an average male moving
the upper torso two inches should only produce about 15 - 20 foot pounds of
moment. Typical sea kayaks will need about 70 - 80 foot pounds to alter the
trim one inch. My experience is that this makes little difference except
when surfing.

Cheers,
John Winters
Redwing Designs
Specialists in Human Powered Watercraft
http://home.ican.net/~735769/





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From: <JCMARTIN43_at_aol.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Seat Adjustment
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1998 11:19:26 EDT
In a message dated 98-10-07 07:40:59 EDT, John Winters <735769_at_ican.net>
writes:

<< To find out how much change there will be ask your boat builder how much
 moment is required to change the trim one inch. For an average male moving
 the upper torso two inches should only produce about 15 - 20 foot pounds of
 moment. Typical sea kayaks will need about 70 - 80 foot pounds to alter the
 trim one inch. My experience is that this makes little difference except
 when surfing. >>

I'm not even <thinking> of challenging John on matters-hydraulic, but when it
comes to matters-visual, I recently watched a paddler in a Mariner reach down
into the cockpit to slide his seat forward and aft and noted some significant
hull attitude change --- and hull shape, too.  ("Significant" appeared to be
more than an inch or two.)  What am I missing here?  That seat can't slide
more than a few inches either side of "neutral" --- wherever that is --- but
the hull definitely moved in concert, and moved enough to be noticable
visually and, for the paddler, presented a fairly significant set of
performance parameter changes.

On a personal basis, I'm planning to build a CLC North Bay over the winter,
and would really like to know if I have more freedom in the longtitudinal
placement of the seat pan than I thought I did.

Jack Martin
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From: John Winters <735769_at_ican.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Seat Adjustment
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 06:54:40 -0400
Joq wrote;

(SNIP)

>I'm not even <thinking> of challenging John on matters-hydraulic, but when
it
>comes to matters-visual, I recently watched a paddler in a Mariner reach
down
>into the cockpit to slide his seat forward and aft and noted some
significant
>hull attitude change --- and hull shape, too.  ("Significant" appeared to
be
>more than an inch or two.)  What am I missing here?  That seat can't slide
>more than a few inches either side of "neutral" --- wherever that is ---
but
>the hull definitely moved in concert, and moved enough to be noticable
>visually and, for the paddler, presented a fairly significant set of
>performance parameter changes.

The difference would be that the paddler in the Mariner moved the entire
seat. I think the  original question concerned just moving the seat back
which would only affect ones posture.

Moving the seat moves the entire body not just the upper torso that more or
less poivots about the body's CG.

Cheers,
John Winters
Redwing Designs
Specialists in Human Powered Watercraft
http://home.ican.net/~735769/




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