Tempest 165 Foot Braces

Advice
#1

My wife paddles a Tempest 165 Pro, which is a wonderful boat, but the foot braces are not very comfortable. They have a strange curved shape that provides very limited contact area for the ball of one’s foot.

My options are either replace the whole assembly with Yakima or whatever, or try to build up the existing foot rests to provide a flat surface.

The spacing between mounting screws is 7.25" for the existing foot braces. Drilling new holes in the nice kevlar hull would be er, hard on our relationship… Any suggestions?

#2

Since it’s a composite boat,

– Last Updated: May-17-07 6:54 AM EST –

get rid of the footpegs and make a bulkhead footrest. You can use lightweight rigid insulation foam to take up space and make the layer closest to the feet from minicel. Several folks here have said that a 15-degree angle makes it even more comfortable. Add a heel pad, and she'll have happy feet.

A couple of examples:

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1207887283044194919kscTnS

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1142705956044194919EjYbPm

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1062957119044194919oOrVtM

#3

have a 170pro and agree-dump the pegs
FOAM it out!!!

#4

Or foam and slide the pegs down
Absolutely foam it out - your wife will love it. You can still keep the pegs if you want - in fact in one boat I use the pegs back between the foam layers to help hold the blocks in. They are out of my way but still available for someone else to try the boat.

#5

Thanks for the tips!
Now here is another question:

I’m thinking of buying a used poly T 165 for rock gardens and general abuse. What can I do about the footpegs in a plastic boat?

#6

same thing…

#7

flatpick says…
Steve(flatpick) designed the Tempest and works for WS. He’s a regular on this board.



http://www.paddling.net/message/showThread.html?fid=advice&tid=586879

#8

foot braces
I have replaced the foot braces in the wifes and my tempest 165 kevlar kayaks, with the SeaDog foot braces. They are much larger and more comfortable, plus the adjustment won’t change if you do a rentry and roll. The two outer holes from the tempest foot braces are the same spacing as the SeaDog, you can either plug the middle hole or mount the SeaDog foot braces then drill through the middle hole in the hull through the foot brace with a 3/16 inch bit and the middle screw will self tap in.

You can get the SeaDog foot braces online for $15 a pair.

Dennis

#9

heel stops can help
you can experiment with temporarily duct taping in blocks of minicell. Sometimes it’s nice to have feet stretching room between the footbraces but having a whole foot contact is wonderful