Re: [Paddlewise] Cockpit size

on 1/10/01 5:16 PM, Peter Treby at ptreby_at_ozemail.com.au wrote:

Snip
> My experience with large cockpits is that it is very easy to fall out of
> them when trying to roll, by having a knee slip sideways. Knee hooks are not
> always adequate as supplied.
> A cockpit that stops at mid thigh when the paddler is seated, on the other
> hand, cannot have this problem. You will always brace your knee under the
> deck, and never run the risk of popping the skirt by an inadvertent knee
> slip.
> Does anyone who has paddled in rough water, as we all must at times, prefer
> an oversized cockpit?


I agree that the smaller, traditional Greenland style cockpit is easier to
stay in but with a good foam outfitting job you can make the typical
"oversized" cockpit very secure.  Look at the photo's on Ken Rasmussen's web
site at www.kayakfit.com.  How you make your hip pads is just as important
as how you make the knee braces and thigh hooks.  Notice how the hip pads
are a lot wider at the top, at the cockpit rim, compared to down by the
seat. These pads "hook" over the hips but don't trap you in the kayak
because you can tilt your hips (releasing one hip then the other) and you
will come right out.

The photo's of Ken's Eddyline Falcon show real clearly what I'm talking
about.  The skinboat is a Baidarka I built three years ago.  Each of the
knee/thigh braces is carved from a block of foam 3 x 7 x 12 inches.  A
channel is carved out of the underside (2 3/4 inched deep at the knee cap
area) so the brace hooks over the knee and thigh on the inside and outside
of the knee and leg.

Rex Roberton

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