: Dear Mr. Nystrom,

No need to be so formal, Bill. Brian will do just fine.

: Thank you very much for your input. What if the paddler were able to use feet
: against foot braces to wedge his or her body against a back rest, and have
: some contact with the boat at the sides of the hips? Suppose the paddler
: was suspended from the coaming, say a cargo net spanning the space for a
: regular home made minicell seat, or go high tech and look at the distance
: fore and aft of Wilderness Systems' phase three, just enough to go about
: to where you might put thigh braces.How does one control the position of
: one's center of gravity, in order to maintain control of the boat? Is it
: with a lean from cheek to cheek while seated on the hull bottom, as well
: as a lean out with the upper body? I'm an inexperienced paddler, and as I
: invision my "experiment", I'm trying to foresee all angles. Have
: you ever been out in rough water with a swinging seat? How rough would it
: need to be before things got really out of hand? Your input is very much
: appreciated.

The issue is that in order to be able to shift your CG in the direction you want to, you need to be centered in the boat. While it can be useful to sit slightly off-center at times - say for paddling an extended distance with the boat edged - for the most part, you don't want to be slopping around from side to side. Picture this: You're sitting in a sling seat without any hip pads and the sling is not anchored at the sides, allowing it to swing. A wave hits you from the port side. In order to counteract the lean of the boat, you want to shift your CG to port, right? However, a free hanging seat will shift to starboard when the boat leans, shifting your CG that way, too. This is exactly the opposite of what you want and will push you closer to capsizing to starboard.

Now, if you have hip pads and/or the seat in anchored laterally, your weight won't shift in the direction of the lean, but when you try to correct the lean, the fact that the seat bottom changes shape when you push against it can work against you. While we're taught to pull up with the inboard knee to change the boat's lean, I find that in practice, I tend to push down with the opposite hip/cheek as well. I find that minor corrections are easier to do by pushing one cheek down than by pulling with the opposite leg. With a seat that changes shape, pushing down is much less effective and produces a delayed response in the boat, which can lead to over-correcting. I've experienced this effect when using an inflatable seat cushion.

I'm also not fond of the idea of forcing the fit by wedging oneself in the cockpit with pressure between the foot pegs and back rest. While this may be necessary for some maneuvers (rolls, in particular), paddling that way on a continuous basis is tiring and leads to sore feet and a sore back. I prefer a relaxed position in the boat with almost no pressure on the back rest and only enough on my feet to counteract the force of the paddle stroke. I find this to be very efficient and comfortable. The seats and padding in my boats are pretty minimal, but they're enough to keep me centered and in control. You can see some of this at the Webshots link below.

I haven't made a swinging seat for the reasons cited above, but I have had one that allowed me to slide from side to side when the boat leaned. Frankly, it was just plain scary! I felt like I had very little control of the boat, despite the fact that that it fit close otherwise.

I've considered sling seats in my skin boats, but the design I have in mind would be anchored at the sides and at the center. That would allow it to conform to my shape (each cheek individually), without sacrificing control. Perhaps that's something you may want to experiment with?