1) Customizing the boat to fit the cockpit?

2) Customizing the cockpit to fit the boat?

3) Customizing the cockpit and coaming and boat to fit the paddler?!?!

I realize #1 is your original question, #2 takes care of itself, but it's often asked, and #3 is most important.

Start with #3. How big of cockpit do you want? The important dimension is the inside of the coaming. Big folks like 18" or so wide coamings. Lots of "stock" commercial coamings, and handmade coamings are about 16" wide. Commercial coamings range from about 30" long on boats like the VCP Avocet and Necky Arluks; 32" for most of the boats out there, and up to 34" or 36" on the really big boats like Teslas (and Pygmy's).

Sit in several kayaks in your local shop, and see what fits you best. If you have a short inseam, a 34" or 36" long cockpit is a waste of space, and also harder to find a skirt. 30" may be on the short side if you have really long legs or poor flexibility*. If you can fit 16" x 32", you'll have the widest skirt selection possible.

I use 34" x 16" coamings on my boats (long legs), but I use a standard size sprayskirt--this is a really tight fit for a neoprene skirt, so I don't loan my tight skirt and boat to beginners.

: I realize this is a personal thing. But given that you have a design for a
: boat, is there any identified process for customizing it to fit the
: cockpit? I'm working on Vaclav's Storm at the moment (first build). I'd
: like to learn to roll in this boat. Any advice?

Now, realizing that you'd like to learn to roll, there's no reason at all not to consider installing a deck recess. I don't notice a recess shown on Vaclav's website, but they're super easy to do. The shape of your kayak and deck is optimum for how it sheds and flows through water, but carrying this shape through to your coaming doesn't help much. There's an upward curve at your knees where you'd actually like a downward or inward curve for better retention when rolling.

So, first things first, absolutely go with the recess!!! This can be as easy as scribing a line 2" to 3" wider than your cockpit size, and infilling the area with strips from one side to the other (they don't have to span clear across-I'm sure you've seen plenty of Guillemot builders' journals showing the stripping of the recess--there was even a recent link or two about this specific step).

One of the easiest rolls to perform is the layback screw roll. I don't know exactly how tall the back deck of the Storm is, but you could even make your recess deeper and extend further aft the way Joe Greenley did with the King to allow a lower coaming aft. 8 to 9 inches of height from keel to top of coaming aft is a good goal.

So, to answer your question--customizing your boat to fit your cockpit is as easy as stripping a recess for the coaming.

For my #2 above, customizing the coaming to fit the boat is easy, as it pretty much takes care of itself. You can still follow all of Vaclav's original instructions and do a CF coaming over a deck recess. Or you can do what Joe and Rob do with the veneer lip glued to the veneer riser. Or do a vertical strip coaming riser like Nick and Eric do. The choices are totally up to you!!

Now, back to #3. You've designed for a coaming that you will fit into...when the boat is done, add some foam knee hooks to the bottom of the recess so you can get some purchase when rolling the boat upright with your legs/torso.

Best of luck and have fun!

Shawn