thwart mounted vs. free standing pedestals

[still MotorCityOC-1]

There are quite a few posts about Royalex hulls cracking on the inside. I have the same thing happening in my Ovation, and I'd like to avoid it in my new Phantom if at all possible.

Does anybody think that this is caused (or exacerbated by) any additional flexing of the hull that occurs when the pedestal isn't connected to one or both thwarts? What's worse, excessive pedestal shaped wear on the bottom of the hull due to ridgidity, or cracking on the inside due to flexing? Is a pedestal that connects to only the rear thwart a good compromise?

If you paddle a Phantom, what kind of pedestal/thigh strap setup do you use?

[(O)C]

Seen a few Phantoms with back of pedestal under thwart, with straps. Adding a couple of inches of foam to the sides is a great idea and will make it less of a tub when full of H2O.

My Ovation has pedestal with back under thwart and there is no problem whatsovever (yet anyways).

I think plastic or other materials are the future for playboats because I'm frankly quite disappointed with Royalex in terms of durability... OC.

[Martyn]

I agree with O(C) that plastic is the way to go for playboats. The newer Royalex sheets do not seem as strong as the old ones (About ten years ago, both Mohawk and Dagger had really bomb-proof layups. It made for heavy boats, but they were durable)

I suspect the flexing isn't going to help cracking, but I'm guessing its not a major cause either. If the saddle is flexing the hull, that suggests to me that the hull is too thin.

I paddled a Phantom with a very flexible hull (it almost felt like a semi-inflated balloon). I had Mike Yee outfitting, that didn't attach to either of the thwarts and didn't have any hull problems that could be attributed to the outfitting. If I were to get into a Royalex boat again, which is admittedly unlikely as I'm too hard on my toys, I would certainly go with the Mikey system.

Martyn