: Ya the outide line is the recess. But the cockpit is still 30"
: long. I guess in the end I can make it any shape I want right.

: Mike

Etienne makes some good points.
The trade-off is between having the deck right in your lap (good) vs being able to enter/exit easily (also good).
Unless you have excellent balance and a good sculling brace, you'll likely have trouble with cowboy/scramble re-entry with a shorter cockpit.
The sort of rescues that they teach in most kayak classes are all easier with a longer cockpit, in my limited experience.
Playing with re-entry in my Outer Island (rim OD 25 x 19) is a lot different than with a boat like the NDK Romany (rim OD 35 x 18)

Things to think about if you are interested in getting into your boat 'butt-first', or exiting 'feet first':
Seat/backband position
Leg length
Flexibility of paddler
and cockpit length.

You can check out http://www.skirtfit.com/ to see the cockpit RIM (not cutout) sizes for many kayaks.