Dear Mr. Bronaugh,
Thank you for your reply. Mr. Yost, who was one of the first to offer comment on my inquiry, indicated that lumbar support was not an issue for him in his boats, with his seating plan. Your situation seems to differ in the size of your cockpit and/or the seat placement within that space.
I'm getting good responses, and I will be sure to post my results. I'm a ways away from installing the seat, but I'm trying to visualize the arrangements to facilitate the construction process. Off hand, I'd say carlins are in order, but I'd hate to add the weight if I can avoid it by reinforcing the cheek plates. I'm hoping someone might give me an idea about the possibilities of this type of sling-seat and the handling of the boat as it relates to Mr. Shade's diagrams of center of boyancy and center of mass(chapter two, pages 6-10, "The Strip-Built Sea Kayak", Ragged Mountain Press, 1998)
Thanks for the response.
Bill

: I have been thinking about the same thing for my boat. Being that is a flat
: bottom design and nearly 30 inches wide I don't feel that raising my
: distance from the bottom of the ribs an inch or so is going to cost me
: much stability. The sling concept got my attention even before starting my
: current project. My only quandry is with lumbar support. Appearently in
: the design that I chose to build the paddler sits well forward in the
: cockpit leaving a good amount of space behind you open. I think this is
: due to the coaming hieght? I am still trying to work out details for a
: sling and am also looking at a slat seat. Let us know what you come up
: with.Mine is a SOF so it may be easier for me to use the sling set-up.