: Hi George,
: You may consider what seems to be a different way of making the
: cockpit riser and lip, which is to laminate 1/8"thick
: marine ply in the horizontal plane,using epoxy.The idea is to
: cut out the riser using three or 4 laminates,they don't have to
: be full rings out of one piece, to make it 1/2 inch high.Use
: food wrap to keep from sticking to the boat.The lip is done the
: same way.I glass in between the lip laminates for piece of
: mind.This process takes a while but results in the strongest.I
: then put Cedar stips on top of the lip.For a refinement I don't
: have the riser laminates directly vertical,I stager them in the
: fore /aft direction,I have them so the end result is a decently
: large radius under deck at the front and also a decent radius
: [2"] on the top of the back so no "sharp edges"
: are presented to the panicking, re entering wet kayaker.I
: continue the inside riser surface with a laminated & glassed
: [2 x 1/8] plywood seat back AND sides so it is really easy to
: get in and out, as there are no snags to catch your clothing.I
: cut the cockpit hole, back part, three inches forward of the
: plans, generally, as I use the riser as part of my back
: rest[when I slob].Most plans seem to have a gap between the
: [extra,superfluous] seat back rest and this surface.I don't see
: why this is a good idea as the above result is aesthetically and
: functionaly correct,in my humble opinion.cheers from Paul NZ.

I think the extra space behind is to make it easier to layback roll. I also eliminate it.

Et