Re: [Paddlewise] Legs Are Everything was "Long-short; euro-GP..."

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Kruger" <kdruger_at_pacifier.com>

> Wow.  Michael, the fit of your lower body in the cockpit is very unusual,
yet
> sounds solid and effective -- hats off to you for that.  You're right,
with
> your style of fit, no way the feet can be pushing the kayak forward.  Must
be
> your thighs ... and?

Dave:

Yes the fit is not what one typically finds in most commercial kayaks. I
grew in to this sort of idea recently. After trying Bill Witcomb's modified
North North Bay and Chery Perry's SOF that Mark Star built. It is different
and scares a lot of folks away. I have even had folks refuse to try it on
the grounds that it feels claustrophobic. It is definitely built for me. I
like the concept of wearing the kayak. I don know if I am right or not but I
believe a lot of Greenland SOFs were originally built this way. Entry is a
bit tight. I am 6 foot and 170 lbs, 33" inseam. Exiting is not a problem and
I can even do a wet entry and a roll with no real problem. As for pushing
the kayak fwd it is all in the fit. The thighs are sandwiched between the
massic on top and the hull on the bottom. Almost like a lap belt in a 1970's
car only a bit lower. As I said if I need any additional "friction" to hold
on to the boat I pull w/ the tops of my feet on the fwd deck X beam. This
sort of fit is driven mostly by the desire to do a lot of the Greenland
rolls and allows me to lay flat on the back deck as well tuck fwd tightly w/
no high mass over my lap so I can do fwd finishing rolls. For regular
paddling I tend to scooch back a bit and my legs are totally relaxed with
sufficient grip by the low deck of the boat to paddle in a relaxed manner
with no additional strain. Before I modified the Seguin I always had a
nagging pain in my upper back / neck after paddling for a couple of hrs, now
it no longer happens. I also have been progressing towards shorter and
shorter paddles. This forces more torso rotation and alleviates a lot of the
neck problems to.

regards: michael
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