Jim -
Thanks for the response. Your Dragonfly is what turned me on to that design, and you've confirmed my thoughts about the deck height. Val wants a low sheer both for fit and ease in reentry. Now I've got to think about how I'd loft up the change. About a 2 - 2.5" drop seems right. Probably want to make most of the change amidships and put a sweep into the deck/sheer, right? That could be an interesting exercise.

Hadn't seen the ultralight - that's neat stuff. BTW, I used the fanny pack as backband we'd discussed. Comfy, convenient, and cheap. Sacrificed the stock Pygmy band and some minicel to insert a stronger stiffener into the pack. Makes a nice rig - thanks for the idea.