You can make it fit with foam padding. The main thing is you want it to fit your sprayskirt. What I did was take my sprayskirt, measure it off, and then use kayak foundry (freeware) to make a cockpit template of the same proportions. Yeah, I could have traced off the sprayskirt but it's not always that easy because the elastic wants to pop back. The spray skirt fits perfectly, and I mean PERFECTLY. Another thing I did was to make the coaming rounded on top (convex) and then concave on the underside. This allows the spray skirt to "dig in" and hold on. The way to do this is using thin strips laminated around the lip and you laminate them slightly off so that each layer is lower down than the first. Then you shape the top to a nice fair curve. The bottom you won't be able to shape much but you can reach under there with some 60 grit and fair it out. It really makes a difference in how the spray skirt seals. The convex top stretches the skirt and causes it to pull tightly over the lip surface. The concave bottom holds the skirt's bungee in place. I can roll and stay under for as long as I like with no leaks.
You want to have strips from top to bottom on each side, i.e. the cockpit rim extends all the way down on each side for about 10 inches. To those extensions you can glue foam and tailor it to your shape. The extensions need to be around your hip area. The foam blocks will be shaped to curve around your hips. You and the kayak will become one, grasshopper!
I would post a better picture for you but I'm travelling and this is all I have already downloaded. You can see in the pic the strips that extend down, but in the pic they do not have the foam padding on them. I'm sure you get the idea though.
Messages In This Thread
- Seeking: Cockpit "Fit"
Ned Smith -- 11/3/2009, 12:52 pm- Re: Seeking: Cockpit "Fit" *Pic*
Malcolm Schweizer -- 11/3/2009, 11:24 pm- Telephone post?
Robert N Pruden -- 11/4/2009, 12:30 pm- Re: Telephone post?
Malcolm Schweizer -- 11/5/2009, 12:10 am
- Re: Telephone post?
- Re: Seeking: Cockpit "Fit"
Bill Hamm -- 11/3/2009, 3:51 pm- Re: Seeking: Cockpit "Fit"
dave g -- 11/3/2009, 9:12 pm- Re: Seeking: Cockpit "Fit"
Bill Hamm -- 11/4/2009, 1:40 am- Re: Seeking: Cockpit "Fit"
Robert N Pruden -- 11/4/2009, 12:27 pm- Re: Seeking: Cockpit "Fit"
Bill Hamm -- 11/4/2009, 4:42 pm
- Re: Seeking: Cockpit "Fit"
- Re: Seeking: Cockpit "Fit"
- Re: Seeking: Cockpit "Fit"
- Re: Seeking: Cockpit "Fit"
Bill Hamm -- 11/3/2009, 3:48 pm- Re: Seeking: Cockpit "Fit"
Robert N Pruden -- 11/4/2009, 12:25 pm- Re: Seeking: Cockpit "Fit"
Bill Hamm -- 11/4/2009, 4:39 pm
- Re: Seeking: Cockpit "Fit"
- Re: Seeking: Cockpit "Fit"
Mike Savage -- 11/3/2009, 1:11 pm - Telephone post?
- Re: Seeking: Cockpit "Fit" *Pic*