In a message dated 12/3/2002 2:15:36 PM Eastern Standard Time, kdruger_at_pacifier.com writes: > ... Others have dealt with skegs, rudders, etc., but I have not seen anyone > address the issue of trim. > > In short: yes! You can alter the weathercocking/leecocking behavior by > loading the boat bow heavy or stern heavy. ... > > This is __not__ a good way to deal with weathercocking/lee cocking, though, > because once trimmed, you are married to that trim until the end of a rough > crossing. ... Well, yes and no. I paddle a Triton Ladoga-I (folder, just one of the fleet :-). This boat has a strongly upswept bow, excellent in rough conditions, and a low aft deck, allowing breakers overtaking me from behind to wash over the boat rather than just trying to shunt the stern aside into a broach. The hull's center of buoyancy is relatively far aft, dictating that the paddling position in general is fairly far aft also. In conjunction with the described geometry, this leaves the hull quite prone to lee-cocking. "Luckily" the Russian manufacturer supplies only very rudimentary amenities in the cockpit, consisting of an excellent adjustable backband and a somewhat hard, flat piece of plywood on which to sit (you should have heard me swearing the first time I saw it!). The factory rudder set-up leaves a lot to be desired and I tend to distrust these appendages anyway and therefore prefer not to use them. However, it is easy enough to rig an easily adjustable horizontal bar as a foot rest instead. Between the infinite adjustabilty of that backband and footbar and the flat seat, I can quickly and securely shift my paddling position forward or aft sufficiently to trim the boat to counter the "weather vaning" almost entirely -- or to adapt to quite a variety of conditions, to different constellations of wind, waves and current. By the way, since the L-I has what amounts to a split deck stringer, which runs past the paddler's hips (fits my hips with no additional padding), there is plenty of purchase for the thighs and knees in any paddling position also. It seems to me that in our efforts to find (mass produced) boats to fit us and to outfit cockpits so that we can wear them like a glove, we might be overlooking simpler and possibly more practical solutions at times. It would certainly seem that the static approach to most cockpit outfitting can rob us of the flexibility to adapt to changing situations. Has anyone else out there experimented with flexible cockpit outfitting? Best regards, Ralph Ralph C. Hoehn Ralph_at_Atlatl-Kayaks.com / Ralph_at_PouchBoats.com www.Atlatl-Kayaks.com / www.PouchBoats.com phone: +1-203-324-0901 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Dec 03 2002 - 14:39:57 PST
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