Put this on qajaqusa forums today also - if you read both, sorry for the double post, just trying to get some thoughts

I'm starting work on a new kayak and I'm wondering about masik shape.

A little background: This is my second yak, the first one I made was way too big (24" beam maybe, masik at least 2-3" too high). I'm a big dude and I didn't know what I was doing, so I went huge. Oops. The first boat was a full 18' long and pretty impossible to steer (at least for my low skill level).

New boat: This time around I'm making a 12' long blunt-ended type of deal. Kind of a recovery yak style, I'm using ~6-7" wide headboards at either end (umiak style). I've pulled the beam in to a much more reasonable (for me) 20-21".

I'm wondering about the masik shape. I had no trouble getting into my last kayak because I made it so big, but some of the other kayaks I've crammed myself into have been quite a chore to get in and out of. Most of these were just plain too small, but I'm wondering what affect if any the shape of the masik has on ease of entry. My first boat had a fairly flat masik (like Wolfgang Brinck's boats: http://wolfgangbrinck.com/boats/boatbuilding/greenlandprocess/index.html), I'm wondering if a more arched (or even peaked) masik would make it a little easier to enter and exit with my big meaty inflexible legs (while giving me the same locked-in-ness once I'm actually paddling). I'm thinking the arch might help give the coaming more angle, as well as maybe giving my legs a little extra space on the way in, but still holding them down once I'm paddling.

I'm probably going to glue-laminate the masik, so I can really do any shape I want.

On a related note, I'm thinking about placing the back brace more towards the bottom of the gunwale to give the coaming even more angle.