I like a cockpit that allows a butt first entry. It is essential for a Cowboy (Scramble) re-entry. The Cowboy is the fastest self-rescue method for me to end up with boat empty of water. It is also nice to do landings with my feet out to avoid washing around in the beach wash from the surf.

I am 6'-2' so my cockpit opening is 33" x 19". An off the shelf Snap Dragon spray skit fits just fine. Call Snap Dragon Design 425-957-3575. I bet the Ocean Trek All Supratex skit will fit. It comes in 7 cockpit sizes and 6 waist sizes. The supratex is great neoprene because it stretches in all directions. They will do custom. And it is a good quality budget neoprene spary skirt.

I like a kayak, with no skeg or rudder, that is close to being wind neutral. To do that the seat needs to be located where it will trim the kayak to balance out the crosswinds. Most kayak designs weathercock (turn into the wind) so I make an allowance to move the seat back a couple inches by leaving 4" to 5" of space between my back and the cockpit opening. I have not built a Great Auk so maybe some of these guys that have can tell you if they have moved the seat to balance out crosswinds. Other options to avoid moving the seat back to reduce weathercocking is to add a skeg or rudder. I chose to keep things simple (no moving parts) and moved the seat back 3" from plans in my CLC Ches 17.

: After 10 weeks I'm finally finished stripping my Great Auk and now need to
: determine what size cockpit I'd like. The problem is, I have very limited
: kayaking experience, making it even more difficult. I like the recessed
: look so I went ahead and drew up Nick's plans for the Guillemot cockpit. I
: also like the integrated knee braces you can build into the recess. I
: believe these are more benefical to a higher pitched deck as in the Great
: Auk. My size is 6' 0" and 155 lbs so I think the Guillemot cockpit
: will do fine for me. But I need to determine if I want to do a butt first
: entry or not. Either way is fine I guess, this just seems a little more
: comfortable. From what I've read this may not be possible with a 29"
: long cockpit, however I understand the higher the deck the more easier it
: will be. So I'm thinking about extending it to 31" and maybe widening
: it just slightly. Even these dimensions are still smaller than Nick's
: original Great Auk cockpit plans. I also realize this makes finding a
: spray skirt that fits more difficult, so maybe custom made one will have
: to do.

: One question I do have is, for the extension in length it seems the correct
: way is to add any more length you want forward of the Center of Boyancy
: (CB). This way your seated position remains the same in the boat. However,
: considering I may make small errors in locating the correct CB, is it not
: more beneficial to have the cockpit slightly aft of where you want it (to
: aid in tracking) instead of forward? I've read about a few people that
: have wished they located their cockpit a few more inches aft once they
: paddled it.