Re: [Paddlewise] Kayak Fit

Dave Kruger wrote:

<<Although it is normal to do some outfitting to make the cockpit fit 
you,...>>

This brings up some questions I have thought about for some time.   I am 
asking the following with the idea of really optimizing my paddling 
efficiency and boat control.   With that in mind, I am really looking for 
changes that make a significant enough difference that the effect would be 
readily apparent (20% of the things you can change usually give you 80% of 
the total possible improvement).

If a boat is a little large you can bring you knees or thighs into contact 
with the deck and or braces by either padding out the deck/brace or by 
bringing the footrests back so that you knees are more bent.  Besides 
adjusting to a comfortable position is there any plus or minus to more or 
less knee bend.  If so how is a good way to judge if you might benefit from 
more or less knee bend.  One of my paddling partners thinks it is easier to 
edge and roll with the knees bent quite a bit  

I did discover that when I brought the footrests back so far that I could not 
fully straighten out my leg that it was much more difficult to edge the 
kayak.  I now have the rests adjusted so that I can straigthen out my legs 
such that the back of the knee touchs the hull when I slide my heel forward 
so that my toes are pointing straight up.  I still have firm contact with the 
footrest, but it is more on my arch than on the balls of the feet.  I get 
contact with the deck by bending my knee up, letting my heel slide back, and 
pushing the toes forward.  Contact with the footrest is now on the balls of 
my foot. Having one leg flat on the hull while lifting with the other knee 
seems to have improved my edging quite a bit.  Any problems with this kind of 
adjustment? 

If you are using a sliding footpedal controlled rudder should the footpedal 
adjustment really be determined by being able to move the rudder enough.   
How much swing would you want to get out of the rudder when you leg is fully 
extended (45deg, 60deg, as much as the rudder mech allows)?  Or do you just 
do a normal adjustment with the rudder centered and live with whatever amount 
of rudder travel that will give you. 

If you have thigh braces is there any benefit to padding out the knee contact 
area for a tight fit as well as padding out the thigh braces?  If you do not 
have thigh braces do you need to make a kneepad with hooked shape (thicker 
toward the middle of the kayak) to help keep the knee from sliding inward?

Finally is there a benefit to really tightening the fit at the hips.  I know 
I do not want to feel like I am sliding around, but should I keep making the 
fit tighter until I start to have trouble with a wet exit and then back off 
just a little.  Is there a rule of thumb for testing the hip fit in a kayak?

Mark J. Arnold


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