C-Forum

Hello Fink Users,

PUT IN SOME THIGH STRAPS!

I've been paddling my Fink over a year without thigh straps, relying on the advice of the designer, that is, using the minicell bulkhead and hip pads to connect my lower body to the boat. I stuck with this approach despite the fact that every other C1 I have owned had thigh straps! I gave it a good shot.

Perhaps I did not carve the bow bulkhead effectively to obtain optimal control, but I was always fighting to stay tight in the boat and got flushed out once or twice when I failed to roll the first
time .

I have just recently inserted thigh straps (an easy job with some spare parts I had on hand) and the result was dramatically improved boat control and stability . The boat feels almost as solid as my Cascade did and is more responsive. More time is needed to fully sort this out. But I highly recommend thigh straps in this boat. By the way, I kept the bulkhead and full hip pads in place as they were.

I know at least one of you Fink owners converted to Dagger-style thigh straps and seat early on (I met him on the Deerfield when I visited back East last August).

SYOTR,

Bruce

Bruce,

I hear you, I hav been having the same problems and finally got to the point where I decided to install straps in my FM. I already have the Dagger console, just haven't had time to work on it yet.
Did you use a Dagger console to do the convcersion, oir did you use something else? How did you install it, did you drill any additional holes? Did you keep the Hip grabber thingies, or did you take them out? Do you have any pictures of your setup?

martin

Hello Martin,

I kept everything in place and just added a thigh strap 'anchor' plus the thigh straps themselves.
One hole was drilled high up on the sides of the boat below the cockpit rim, and JUST forward of the big hip braces, for the upper anchor of each thigh strap (no new holes elsewhere). This position allows the hip braces to remain (they are very helpful) and gives me enough leverage on the thigh straps for enhanced boat control.

The key was the insertion of the LOWER thigh strap anchor. A plastic anchor from my old Stikine C1 conversion was cut so that it overlapped a few inches both under the front bulkhead and the seat. The bulhead and seat were removed and the bottom of each was then molded to accept the anchor with a tight fit. The bulkhead and my bodyweight on the seat keep the lower thigh strap anchor firmly in place without the need to drill any holes. Basically it is a pressure fit. Works well, it's simple and only two new holes to drill high up on the boat.

I DID trim the front bulkhead down some more to lighten the boat and improve bow storage access, as an aside.

I'm sure you wish I had a picture at this point

SYOTR,

Bruce

so you think the straps help you lock into the boat eh? Being a fairly large person, i am enjoying the relatively tight fit, but can see some potential in the way you have gone. Itihnk i will stay the way i am for now, with-out. But I have a few questions now that i have gotten some creeking in, likely all of the low volume stuff i will get for the season. my boat has a weird indent that goes from the lower chine, to the upper one on the right side behind the saddle, but still in the main volume of the boat. Im slightly concerned mainly for i doont know how it got there, there are no abrasion marks, however the whole design of the boat is shifted in, so that its slightly convex instead of concave in that area. i cant say that i have noticed the effects of it in paddling.

next subject of discussion, surfing in this boat is awesome, its such a fast hull, compared to the oc1 i have and it brings a new element to surfing, that makes it all the more fun. I am still learning alot about this boat and how to paddle it.

as far as the roll goes, im having a little bit of rolling in moving current and not so much in the still water. I seem to get caught up up the chines in the current, my timing might be a little of because of the frantic reflex of trying to resurface. but im still having some trouble, any tips about it, i lowered the saddle half an inch, and that helped immensely.

Lastly anyone know about the ROBSON skirts? I got one with my boat, and its coming apart at the seam, where it connects the tube the stitching is coming undone a bit. is anyone else having a similar problem with this skirt? anyone else have this skirt?

well thanks for the info.
-isaac

I just got back from a weekend on the Gull river in Ontario, where I tried my Finkenmeister after installing thigh straps.
All I can say is IF YOU HAVE A FM, PUT STRAPS IN!!!!!
it made a HUGE difference, I nailed every roll on the first attempt and control over the boat is HUGELY improved, the number of times I flipped decreased drematically.
The confidence in the boat which I started to loose after a few scary swims due to missed rolls is 100% restored!

I removed the original hip pads and made a hip pad setup that is directly attached to the saddle, this way I an use the holes for the factory hip pads as upper strap anchors.
I then made an aluminum brace (out of 1/4" by 2"material) that runs along the center of the boat connecting the two foam pillars and providing an attachment point fot the lower strap anchor and stiffeens out the hull, too.
I bent the ends up 4 inches and is then attached the brace with screws to 3"x4" aluminum plates (1/8") thick that are glued to the foam pillars to keep it from moving left and right ( the foam pillars themselves are held in place by the bulkhead and the saddle).
The beauty of this setup is that with removing the 2 screws that secure the saddle and bulkhead to the hull, (I replaced the plastic plates the screws attach to on both saddle and bulkhead with 1/8" aluminum), I can reemove them both in minutes for easy access to bow and stern storage area. This is the ideal FM setup for multiday trips, I believe.
Once I get my hand on a digital camera, I will send pictures to Sir Adam.

martin

Hey Martin,

I'm glad we have both had the same revelation . I feel as strongly as you do about the value of thigh straps in the Finkenmeister!

I just got off a three day trip on the Tuolumne here in California and I am now totally sold on the Fink when outfitted with thigh straps. It was a very good decision. The boat was very stable, predictable and solid through the multiple Class 4 rapids on this river, including a right side run down Clavey Falls.

The Fink is an excellent choice for my Grand Canyon trip coming up next month.

I no longer miss my Cascade.

SYOTR,

Bruce