I am finishing our freedom 15 and want to add a third seat for occasional solo paddling. Does anyone have a Freedom 15'3' solo and can tell me where the solo seat location is?? Or anyone have a good idea how to determine the correct location??
We have another 15' boat that has 3 seats, but like most boats, it is a symetrical hull. the third(solo) seat is facing backwards--that is, to paddle it solo , one turns the boat bow to stern and paddles it stern first while in the middle seat. The Freedom 15 is not symetrical, so I cannot do the same thing with the new boat.
Any ideas would be helpful.
Thank you,
Vann Evans
solo seat for Freedom 15
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vann evans
- Posts: 45
- Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2008 8:52 pm
- Location: Chapel Hill, NC
In my opinion, Steve has the seat set too far from center.
I completed a Asymetrical solo last year, that is similar to the Freedom 15'3", and mine is set with the front edge, 6 1/2" aft of center. It's just right.
If I were you, I'd hold off until I could put it in the water, and experiment. If it's a stationary seat you want it right the first time !
Good luck !
Jim
I completed a Asymetrical solo last year, that is similar to the Freedom 15'3", and mine is set with the front edge, 6 1/2" aft of center. It's just right.
If I were you, I'd hold off until I could put it in the water, and experiment. If it's a stationary seat you want it right the first time !
Good luck !
Jim
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
I'm with Jim, the location of the solo seat, if it is going to be fixed, should be determined by experimenting first... in an ideal situation anyway. Commercial canoes have fixed seats in place already, and shifting loads around is recommended to correct trim. But changing the seat location sometimes needs to be done to get the canoe to perform properly when it's empty.
A piece of plywood or a wide board cut to the right shape and held in with c-clamps should show where the right seat location is, after some shifting fore and aft... you don't want the canoe trimmed so bow-heavy so that it's always turning away uncontrollably from the intended line of travel and at the same time you don't want it so stern-heavy that the bow is out of the water. At some point a good blend of straight-line tracking and ability to turn easily will be reached, with the canoe more or less level in the water. Some canoes perform best trimmed slightly stern-heavy and others perform better trimmed level in the water. Some time needs to be spent adjusting trim to find this out for good performance.... happy paddling (after the experimentation).
A piece of plywood or a wide board cut to the right shape and held in with c-clamps should show where the right seat location is, after some shifting fore and aft... you don't want the canoe trimmed so bow-heavy so that it's always turning away uncontrollably from the intended line of travel and at the same time you don't want it so stern-heavy that the bow is out of the water. At some point a good blend of straight-line tracking and ability to turn easily will be reached, with the canoe more or less level in the water. Some canoes perform best trimmed slightly stern-heavy and others perform better trimmed level in the water. Some time needs to be spent adjusting trim to find this out for good performance.... happy paddling (after the experimentation).