C-Forum

I had a Skeeter and could roll it fine. I have an Ocoee and can roll it - no problem. Just got a Prelude and I can't even come close. Whaassup? I cut the saddle down to 7" to help with stability but I don't think I'm hanging up on the gunnel. I have one 2" diameter transfer tube. Not sure thats helping much. On the set up I can poke my head all the way out of the water, but when I swing out and hip snap I can't get the boat even close to level. It is stalling out before I can begin to bring my torso back into the boat. I think the gunnel which is 1 1/2" wide to the inside is trapping lots of water. Do you think foaming it out would help? I need advice.
Jack

cheajack,

I am sure thast foaming out the boat will help, althoyugh I have not done that to mine (too lazy, I guess).
How fast is the water transfer through the 2 " tube?
Prober water transfer made a BIG difference for me in rolling my prelude, I put a 4" tube in, and it's as low down to the bottom as possible, to make sure there is no pooling of water on one side only. I think you should be able to roll it as easily as the Ocoee. The only problem I have is that when going over to the offside the boat does not go all the way around, but wants to rest on one side , and then I have to do some underwater sculling to turn it around to the on-suide before setting up for my roll.

hope this helps somewhat.

martin a.k.a. the great gonzo!

are u getting completely perpendicular? because it you're set up angle is anthing less than close to 90 degrees, you're only going to set up the bow and not have the power to pull the rest of the boat over. that's what I've noticed anyway. make sure you really over extend your torso back toward the stern to insure you're getting perpendicular.

I found the prelude more difficult to roll... err... rather I could probably change that statement to: "I found that boats are difficult to roll when I don't fit into them, and my butt comes off the seat freely"...

I made custom foam blocks that fit against the entire length of the cockpit. I used the foam that comes with the boat (The pieces that are located on the outside of the bulkhead) to use as a pattern so the foam that I contoured would fit flush against the side. I use 3" minicell. I also put in 4 or so aluminum tubes 1" in diameter flush against the floor under the saddle to allow water transfer. I think these steps helped a good bit, but they really helped lower the amount of water in the boat once rolled up. I have found that the Prelude is really more sensitive to good technique than other open boats that allow you to just muscle up. You really need to make sure your head is last to come up. If I try to lift my head out of the water early - back down I go.

Although I'm not an expert, I think the main thing hampering you is fit... if you are not fit right, you can't hip snap enough to make your low brace effective. Once you hip snap and low brace up, pull your t-grip all the way over your off-side gunwale... that should help bring you up.