This is probably a question better directed to cboats dot net, but has anyone here made a set of hip huggers/pads/braces for a C-1? If so, what did you use and how did you attach them to the boat?
I have heard some fashion braces out of aluminum sheet or plastic cutting board material which is then bent to shape and covered with minicell foam.
Minicell
I carved a couple out of minicell and glued them up under the coaming on my Slasher with contact cement.
They worked OK but eventually tore out. IIRC I got most of two seasons out of them.
yup, minicell NM
My hips are big enough that they don’t
need to be hugged, but on my Dagger composite c-1, I scoured the underside of the deck by the 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock positions on the cockpit rim, and then glassed in four layer tabs, two layers of glass for compression, and two layers of Kevlar for tension. I needed only thin padding on the vertical tabs.
Slalom c-1s like mine, and most composite c-1s, have relatively small cockpits, and vertical tabs are quite enough.
The problem with c-1s like the Slasher, the Cascade, the Atom, and maybe the Finkenmeister, is that their cockpits were designed by company liability lawyers. So the cockpits are way too big, and one needs hip huggers reaching WAY in from the sides to get support. I’m a really big guy, and I say c-1 cockpits should be small. That way the front of the cockpit rim helps support the thighs, and the rear of the cockpit can have vertical tabs to support the hips. Small cockpit rims never were an impediment to getting in or wet exiting. (Although I did have a Noah c-1 where the rim was too small for me.)
What kind of C-1
Pete, I have some ABS plates I had in a Delirious if you’re interested…they bolted to the seatbolt holes from the kayak outfitting on that one. Gluing minicell to the cockpit rim works pretty good in some boats too.
Mike
Thanks
Thanks all for the advice. Indeed, the C-1 in question is a Dagger Cascade and it does have a big cockpit.
I think that I will start out with some shaped minicell pads glued or taped in to get an idea of how much thickness, width, and height is needed, and then try something more permanent when those give out.
I did think about glassing in some vertical plates, but given that the boat is a polyethylene one, I was hesitant. The work I have done on it using G-flex looks very good, however, so I think that would probably hold up.
Otherwise, I might shape and cut some L-shaped ABS braces from a cheap cutting board and bolt them to the underside of the deck just lateral to the cockpit coaming, maybe using as one support the machine screw that secures the top of the thigh straps.
Because your dealing with the deck,
you could heat form plastic supports and use pop rivets or stainless screws and nuts to back up any glue job. You could even use screws and nuts to try out the fit before you glue in place.
Just be sure your foot exit is easy enough for real world escapes.