I have a Bell Yellowstone Solo (Royalex). I’m 6’-3", 225lb and unable to comfortably kneel (well-used knees and ankles). The front edge of the factory positioned stock cane seat is exactly 6” behind center. What would be the desired seat location for someone who exclusively sits as opposed to a seat positioned for mostly kneeling? One thought is that since you probably sit more aft than when you kneel you’d want to position the seat further forward but since your center of gravity is probably further forward when you sit (legs not tucked underneath you) you’d want to position the seat further aft to trim the hull.
My guess is that you’d want to position the seat further forward when you sit to extend forward reach and adjust trim with ballast.
Any thoughts?
I think it’s a wash
Kneeling, your butt is farther forward but your legs are under you. Sitting, your butt is farther back but your legs are out in front. I wouldn’t change the seat at all. Most of the time you will have a little something in the boat with you, and you can just change where you put it if the trim doesn’t feel exactly right.
Put a level in the boat and see.
I'd bet gbg is right in that trim ends up about the same. Either that or the CG moves abaft a bit.
I learned a new word
Abaft was a word I didn’t know so thanks for using it 'cause now I do.
As for seat placement in my YS I’m installing a Wenonah bucket seat as close as I can to where the stock seat was. I paddled a Prism before I got the YS so I know the bucket seat will be more comfortable than the flat cane seat that came with the YS.
CG further aft when sitting
In my experience, people who pay close attention to such things say that they are lighter in the bow when they sit (legs forward) than when they kneel. This means the body's center of gravity is further aft when seated. Slightly.
Hence, if the solo seat in the YS was set up accurately for kneeling, you might want to move it about 2" further abow for sitting.
I’m sure it depends on the person
I think my CG stays almost the same, rather than moving toward the rear when I sit, but there's a logical reason for that. My legs make up a very much larger percentage of my total body weight than is true for most 50-year-olds, because my mid-section never became so big like most guys my age that I know. I would find it believable that the CG might shift to the rear a small amount for a middle-aged guy with an average build, but I doubt if that's the case for a very slender person. Either way, it won't be hard to compensate for with just a few pounds of gear placed far enough from center (the teeter-toter effect: a very small amount of weight placed at the end of a teeter-toter will counterbalance a much larger weight that's on the other side of center, but very close to center).
You looked it up? I should have, too.
It sounded kinda salty and I liked the way it read in front of “a bit”.
If I were going to put a tractor seat in a single, I’d make it a slider.