: Very nice. Is the recessed cockpit the new design from Pygmy? In addition to
: using carbon/kevlar fabric, I'm also considering a recessed keyhole
: cockpit rather than the standard cockpit that comes in the plans.

I am building the old style Coho. I made the recess out of 4mm ply. It is difficult to bend but is strong. I made three mistakes. I should have made the recess 1.5 inches longer on the back and 1 inch shorter on the front. That would have lowered the rear of the coaming almost level to the deck and raised the front of the coaming 1/2 inch. When fitting the plywood recess I should have started the trimming at the shears and worked for and aft. This would have changed the angle of the recess at the rear, reducing the height of the coaming more. When I fit this recess I started at the back and the recess did not flow downward enough. I hope that made some sense. I used the offsets from The New Kayak Shop for the cockpit cut out. The rear edge of the cut out is at the same location as the Pygmy cutout.

Strip building should make the recess easier to do.

After the carbon on the coaming cured some I trimmed it to shape with a razor knife and sanded the edge round. I have never used kevlar, but from what I understand it may fray when sanded. Let us know how it works.

Bill