: I'm going to make a stab at sculpting my own seat out of an NRS minicell
: block to replace my Thermarest pad and hopefully alleviate numbuttosis.
: Questions: 1) My boat, a Pygmy AT17, has a V-shaped hull, but only
: slightly so amidships. Will I want to shape the bottom of the block to fit
: the hull cross-section, or just deform it?

When I did mine, I used three inch thick minicell, and cut it to shape. since the hull shape is angular, it was pretty easy to shape correctly. What I did was to trim the foam to match the width of the boat, cut some dovetail type notches to match the hip brace bar (which holds it in place very well).

Run a batten from the chine to the chine, then measure from the batten to the bottom of the hull. measure up from the bottom of the foam by this distance and mark it along both sides of the foam. then you cut from this mark, to the centerline of the bottom of the foam. I was using spring clamps to attach battens to use as a cutting guide.

The only problem that I have with my seat is that is does not extend far enough forward under my legs, and will put my feet asleep within about a half hour or so.

: 2) All accounts I've seen describe gluing the block to the hull--any reason
: not to just fasten it with velcro patches?

: 3) How critical is the precise fore-aft placement of the seat with regard to
: trim and weathercocking?

: Thanks as always.