I’m considering changing seat placement in all of my tandems. I’ll move the front seat closer to the bow and the back closer to the stern. This would provide narrower paddling stations and allow the bow person to use the air tank as a footbrace. What do you think?
its going to skeg both ends
and they will act as anchors. You will also find the bow digging in the water and acting as an anchor impeding turns(unless your boat has more rocker than you want). It will also become more likely to not ride up as well over waves and be less maneuverable and alot wetter ride in whitewater.
Most folks moving seats move toward the middle I think.
If your bow person needs a footbrace then it is usually possible to install a metal one though I dont know the kind of boat you have. Or to put some gear up front that can act as a footbrace.
Nor the kind of seat you have, dont know that either. Its usually possible just to have both people (paddling on opposite sides) move closer to their paddle side edge of seat.
If you want to pursue moving the seat, try one canoe first before committing to changing the whole fleet. You can always move the seat again if needed.
With respect
to kayak medic I disagree. If you have a good stiff boat then shifting the seats out as you desccribed is exactly what racers do. better paddling positions and less leaway for the idiot in the stern to hit you upside the head with an errant paddle…
depends on what water the boat will be
in, and is it for a racing use or more all purpose tripping where you might meet a variety of conditions.
Yep flatwater and downriver whitewater races who have their hit and switch to a “t” are another breed apart and are generally seeking the straightest and fastest line with less maneuvering, but its nice to be able to go on the high seas, trim weight to the middle and continue on.
If I peg my bow seat to the frontmost attatchment, I get awfully wet in class 3 and waves over four feet(I have a sliding seat in one boat).
One solution would to put the seats on adjustable runners and make them both adjustable.
good point
I often forget that people paddle in rough water and like manuevering.
Hut