: I am building a fishing kayak for my father. The cockpit opening
: will be quite large so that he can easily get in and out (75 yrs
: old), and it will be paddled on protected marshy waters. The yak
: is a Kayak Foundry design of mine. It is roomy and stable at 14
: ft long and ~30 inches wide. He will never use a spray skirt.

: So...... On the other boats I have built, I used the normal coming
: riser and coaming lip. This is a bit of a PITA to build,
: particularly getting the glass to lay flat on the underside of
: the lip. This is going to be a large cockpit (~25 inches by ~48
: inches), so it will be even more of a PITA. Since there is no
: need to secure a spray skirt, I figure I do not need to have the
: traditional setup. I am looking for ways to make this
: better/easier/lighter/stronger and less of a PITA to build. I
: need the strenght of the riser/lip, and also like the way it

I would second Bob's thoughts on the usefulness of the lip for handling the kayak. Rather than eliminate the lip, you might consider not building it out of wood, but rather in carbon or fiberglass as with Vaclav's technique at One Ocean Kayaks. The process works well, and you do not have the hassle of trying to wrap the lip in glass. If you don't want the expense of the carbon, you can make it out of glass only, and you can tint the whole thing whatever color you want by adding pigment to the epoxy.

With an opening that large, it will be particularly important to build strength into the cockpit rim. The rim strength will be an important part of the overall strength of the hull/deck assembly over a substantial portion of the boat length. Vaclav's process would allow you to build a very strong rim quite handily. By tapering the foam used as the lip mold, you could raise the forward end of the rim as much as you wish to deflect waves.

Good luck,

Allan Edie

: keeps small waves from soaking the cockpit.

: I have considered using the normal riser, then bending strips in
: the normal way, but either making them flush with the deck or in
: a triangular profile so there is not a sharp angle around which
: I need to wrap the 'glass. I may make the lip a bit taller in
: the front than normal, as there is not a lot of room between the
: bow and th estart of the cockpit (~24 inches). I have also been
: considering shaping the front of the coaming in a sloped shape
: to help have the water run off.

: Any thoughts?

: bvs