C-Forum

I was reading the thread on thwart lenth tinkering and was wondering if it would work for my spark. Looking for more stability being a newbie with out getting a different boat. Any thoughts?
thanks
chris

Don't look at me. I pulled my middlel thwarts in a couple of inches for more speed - and it's still the easiest boat to paddle I've owned since my Old Town Pathfinder...

Hopefully Kaz will weigh in on this... but from what I've learned I'd suggest that you do not pull in the center thwarts unless you want it to become more unstable. I do believe John pulls in the most rearward thwarts just a touch to make it a bit drier in the stern but the amount he pulls them in I am uncertain of.

Kaz is doing a few "clinics" this year... maybe taking one is something worth considering if you want to maximize your personal performance in that particular boat. It's a go-fast hot-rod if you know how to use it properly.

I wouldn't pull the middle thwarts in, on the Spark, unless you're having a hard time reaching out with your forward stroke.
What I did to my Spark is remove the rear wood deck, take out the last 2 rear thwarts and push the hull out as much as you comfortably can, then cut new thwarts to fit the wider hull. You can re-use one of the thwarts you pull out. If you do this, it will make a boat a little bit drier(in theory). Also, the little wood deck won't fit back on.

JKaz

Thanks for the advice. I was looking to make the thwarts longer to maybe gain some stability. I will give it a try I can always put the standard thwarts back in. So far it has been a fun boat I just need to catch up to it.
thanks again
chris

As you say, trying slightly longer thwarts can't hurt.

But, seat height is a sure way to firm up a boat. Is yours as low as you can possibly tolerate? I would think someone with a Spark and stability problems would want a seat <7" high.

Roy

Roy
That is a good point. I just measured my seat and it is 8 1/2" . I will start trimming the seat down as my first step. I will start with 7" and go from there. I can always add foam back. Thanks for you help.
chris

I agree with Roy, that said I would start by removing 3/4 to 1" to start with, you will be suprise of the difference that small amount will do for you!

Oh yes, one other thing. Do you have hip blocks? Are they tight fitting?

Snug hip blocks make a world of difference in the boat-stability department.

Roy

I have hip pads in my boats and agree that they make a world of difference in boat control

I recently paddled an Esquif Prelude. It's a great improvement on Pyranha' version.

The hull was flatter, the chines harder and I"m certain the thwarts were longer. I reshaped my Pyranha to give it an equally flat bottom and significantly harder chines.
The Esquif was ten times better than the stock Pyranha and also had noticeably better initial stability than my modified, with no perceivable difference to secondary stability.

Appears to me that even small adjustments to thwart lengths can make big differences.

add- I couldn't tell any difference in speed or tracking, it did seem a little bit more manoeverable than my boat, but I can't say this was due to thwart length affecting rocker or having rounder more forgiving chines