I am building a Merganser 16 and for a bit of a feature I thought I might build the strip cockpit outlined in Eric's instructions and Nick's book.
I have got the risers in place and they look pretty nice (red pine)
I found a piece of tasmanian ash and cut the 1/8" by 7'strips for the rim (a few spare as well).
When I tried bending these dry they snapped on the tight curve at the edges of the back of the coaming.
So I soaked the remainder in A PVC pipe full of water in the sun for 3 days....
Some improvement but still not enough.

Is there something I should know about this process??

Thankyou in advance

Nicholas Sheahan
Mildura Australia