I then realised that compared to my Chesapeake 17 (that only took 3 months to build!) there is far less knee height under the deck and much less leg room overall. I am not a large person at around 165lbs and 5' 9" but fancied the shorter length and extra stability of the Resolute from the designs in the book. I didn't really think about deck height when I started the build, only after I'd installed the recessed cockpit and tried it for fit, I found that I could hardly raise my knees up at all - compared to the roomy cockpit of the Chesapeake. I have 10 1/4" under the front of the cockpit coaming, and about 8 1/2" to the sides at the knee brace position - peak of deck forward of coaming is around 11 1/2".

I just checked the measurements on a NDK Romany here - it's a boat that a lot of folks about our size consider a good-fitting boat. The front of the coaming on the Romany is not recessed; the inside height at the center is 11.5". At the side where the thigh padding is installed for my wife (5'5" -ish) the glass deck is 8" from the bottom. In her boat there's a 1.5" thick foam foam pad at the inside edge of the coaming at that point. That padding is wedge-shaped, so her thigh would be within 1/2" or so of the glass deck. So those measurements are in the same range as your Resolute.

However, the Resolute is a boat with a flat deck and a sheer clamp (?) with a sharp angle atn the hull - deck joint; the Romany is a curved deck/hull with a 'vertical' hull-deck joint. That may affect the 'feel' for the knees and legs.(?)

Another issue is the side deck width - the Resolute is a beamy boat @25.5" and advertised as having 'a wide cockpit opening' so that may be affecting your leg position and the side room for your legs.

You have foot clearance problems with your heels together at the midline and your toes pointing to the sides?

IMO, the main purpose for a recessed (or partly recessed) coaming is to straighten out the side profile of the coaming rim; they also look good. The coamings in the Moores book all are quite 'curved' in profile, which can make it tougher to get a good sprayskirt seal.

For folks who don't have the book, here's the Resolute: