Seat Back and Hand Grips

Early on in this project I had discussed with Rick the possibility of using the hand grips for controlling the rudders. While it might be possible to do so, my original idea of having a lever arm attached to the grips on the outside of the seat back would not work as my body is actually wider than the seat back.

The alternative of having the lever arm inside the seat might be possible, though it would be difficult to adjust or repair even with a hatch in the seat back.

I decided to opt for what might be the simplest approach: use a light rope to pull the rudder blade forward into the water, and a stretch cord to pull the rudder back to the stowed position. If the stretch cord proved to be impractical in practice, then perhaps a second rope could be added to help put the rudder back in the stowed position.

Since I plan to use this boat as a photo platform during races the ropes would be configured to end on the left side of the seat back just above the hand grip. The right rudder rope would have a second rope configured to end on the right side of the seat back, so when my right hand was free it could also be used to steer - at least to the right.

The next thing to decide was which diameter tubing of fiberglass to use for the hand grip. My original plan was to use some of the same tubing as the akas. It is relatively light, adequately strong and somewhat smaller diameter than the second choice.

Both Rick and Cory brought up the idea of using the hand grip tubing to support the akas. Rick indicated that this is how he did it for one of his boats, but found it brought the stabilizers a bit too far forward. He recommended having them mounted several feet further back, which is why I was working on the removable mounting bracket.

After thinking about it further I decided to use the thicker tubing. This would give me two places where the stabilizers could be mounted. Perhaps I am paranoid, but if the bracket broke there would be an alternative that could be used to allow me to recover and keep on going.

If the forward position worked reasonably well, then the complexity of the hull bracket could also be avoided.

Lastly, just as with the Cadence, with the stabilizers mounted right beside the seat I could attach and remove them while on the water. This proved to be very helpful when launching from a dock.