Re: footbraces now or lat

Posted by Howard on Jun 20, 2006

The footbraces should be fitted and the holes drilled for them prior to putting the deck on.

After the holes are drilled and the footbraces fitted, you would then remove the braces and finish the hull...and then install the footbraces back into the original holes after your final paint or varnish work.

Its pretty difficult to do a clean installation of the foot braces without the holes being pre-drilled.

Now for your question about the positioning. the manual will tell you the approximate position of the footbraces. the position down is given as a distance below the sheerclamp bottom edge. and the fore/aft location is typically given as a measure from the back of the forward bulkhead at its normal design location.

Usually the standard measures in the manual are right on target if you built the boat that matched your measurements and your in-seams. if you are particularly long-legged or short legged, you can adjust the "recommended" position fore/aft in order to ensure that the potential peg positions on the track will accomodate your legs.

personally i like to install in such a way that my legs are accomodated in the center area of the track...and avoid the ends.

with the rear bulkhead in place, you have basically established the position of the cockpit assuming you are building according to the plans. before i place my tracks, i will usually do a verify the track position by seating myself on the floor against a wall in a kayaking position and then center the track on my foot, and then measure from the wall to the back of the track. i will then check if that pretty much matches the recommended design location....and if they are substantially different i will go with my measurements, vs what the manual says.

howard

In Response to: footbraces now or later? by Bill Lapcevic on Jun 20, 2006

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