Well it took a while getting back here but I been busy checking out trampofoils and Verlen's 12 layer cakes and such. Then I got abducted by the high speed sailing chamionships- all these beyond the state of the art spacey looking carbon fiber hydrofoils with hard sails and counter balancing paravanes and the winner is... a fat guy on a surfboard at 46 mph! Makes me feel very aerodynamic! Ahhhh, the wind in my crewcut, oops time to mow the noggin- almost reached for a brush this morning.

Anyway, thanks Randy, for all the interesting and amusing leads and ideas.

: It seems like even with a swivleling seat, you would still have to have room
: to move your knees and/or whole legs quite a bit to avoid rotating at the
: hip and spine area.
: Your other ideas are all doable. Easy Rider kayask and canoes have many of
: the features you mention (hulls set up to join together, various sized
: outriggers and sail set ups.)
: Verlon Kruger's ocean canoes were set up to be joined into a catamaran with
: aluminum tubes for rough water.
: I put extra deck beams and mounting points on my Chesapeake 18 to mount cross
: bars on.
: You can buy various drop in pedal/propeller units for inline leg propulsion
: with paddle manuvering in tight places.
: You can buy the Hobie drop in unit for about $500 with their back and forth
: drive unit, it is quite efficient.
: There used to be a place in Montana to get a stainless steel sealed 2:1 ratio
: pedal unit that can be used a number of ways.
: There is a forward facing rowing unit made in New England area that can use
: legs and/or arms. Quite efficient too.
: I've got three working models of forward facing rowing units I worked up.
: Since I made them, I found two similar ones on the web, one commercially
: made.
: One interesting outrigger design just uses a plywood triangle on one cross
: piece (aka or ama, I can't keep them straight.) The plywood is angled 45
: degrees back toward the boat, it cuts straight thru the water while
: sailing, provides down resistance as you lean toward it and upwards
: resistance as you lean away.
: Search for "Trampofoil" for another good way to go forward by
: jumping up and down.
: There is a fairly efficient elongated flexing fin/rudder that moves the kayak
: but only forward.
: Build a double and find a not-too-bright but very strong second paddler who
: will work hard for brownies or other rewards as you ride.
: Check the Human Powered Vehicle society's boat page for other ideas.

: Randy