Thomas,

Thanks for the info. My cockpit will be smaller than Nick's original plans called for. I'm using the Guillemot cockpit but modified to be slightly longer. So I'm thinking with the wider beam of the Great Auk, that this will make it even easier for me to get a purchase with my knees under the deck? If I still do add the knee braces into the recess, I'm thinking that I should be able to attach a wider section of foam padding in one piece under the deck and the knee brace at the same time to make a custom fit.

For the seat, I'm thinking about leaving the "cheek plates" out and ordering one the custom seats with built in hip braces from Redfish Kayaks.