> ? Any thoughts?

> Sit on tops would be complex in that they would require another step as
> equally involved as a deck or a hull.

Check the archives there are some nice pix of a triple built by a guy in Hawaii. is first name is Paul and I keep forgetting his last name, but I think it is Stomski.

Actually, his was designed to be either a closed cockpit OR a sit-on-top. Think of it as a convertible. And to make the boat even more of a convertible, the had flush hatch covers for the fore and aft cockpits so it could be a long single if he wanted.

The basc plan is to make a stripper as usual. Standard deck and hull. Then cut out a large cockpit. The whole cockpit, including the leg area. Or, just strip the deck up to the frames in front of, and to the rear of the cockpit, leaving a square edged space. Put in a lip and a sealing gasket area, like you would for installing a flush hatch, so that you can reinstall the cut out area. In this cut out piece you can install a conventional coaming. when it is on the boat you have a standard looking craft. Mount a seat back to this piece, and put a foam seat pad on the bottom of the boat. Take it off and you can drop in a form fitted foam insert that completely fills the center area, eliminating the possibility of swamping, and providing a comfortable seat, just a bit above the usual seat height, so the center of bouyancy, and the stability, are not too greatly affected.

If you want foot braces in the closed version, you cn mount them to the hull. what ever mounting you use can be used to hold the foam insert in place for the sit-on-top method.

I think the method of creating the foaminsert that Stomski used was to put expanding foam in a large plastic garbage bag, and sit on it while it was soft. This gave a part that matched the hull and his butt. You use this as a model and cut a duplicate from closed cell foam, which is far more durable and water resistant.

Hope this helps.

Paul G. Jacobson