C-Forum

I have a composite, kevlar/glass, decked, older slalom C2 that was given to us (actually a Hammerhead built by Dagger). Problem is, the previous owners had the bow cockpit offset left, stern cockpit offset right, cockpits are very large and positioned for larger person in stern. My wife and I paddle with me in bow and her stern (I know - odd - but it works for us).

I want to reposition and resize the cockpits so that:
**> they're centered not offset
**> moved back so that the boat will be balanced bow to stern and not nose heavy.

Has anyone tried this kind of refitting on a decked C2, or does anyone have suggestions? I've built a couple of C2s and C1s using hand layups, so I know basic layup and repair techniques.

Anyone have any ideas on how to do this? I've come up with some ideas, but since that would make this a long post, I'll just throw the question out there.

Changing the cockpit orientation is not that uncommon from what I understand. It was done to my Tomahawk when still fairly new. I assume there are plenty of ways to do it (including cutting out the current one and re-glassing it where you want it, thus not having to build a new rim, just glass back in what you have), but I do not know the "best" way. Hopefully some of the folks that have been there and done that will chime in.

Thanks for the suggestion. I forgot to mention that, for some reason, both cockpits are much larger than a normal, slalom boat cockpit. Thus, a standard size sprayskirt does not fit on either cockpit. I therefore plan to do the extra work to make new cockpit rims. Thanks for the thoughts.

Moving cockpits is pretty common in composite C2s. Especially slalom boats that have changed hands.

It really comes down to how skilled you are with glass repair and how pretty you want it to look.

For flexibility, you probably want to center the cockpit holes - especially if your wife has the reach from a centered position.

First off, I would consider the cockpit rims to be an integral part of the stiffness of the deck, so since you want to resize them anyway, just assume you are going to cut them out and build new ones.

Once you have the old rims out, you want to remove the old outfitting, and maybe make some temporary pedestals out of blue styrofoam (or you can use the old ones). Take the boat to a lake, both get in and move the temp pedestals around until you get the balance the way you want. It may require cutting the holes larger (temporary) to get the boat adjusted. A pair of metal shears (aircraft shears) should be fine and you can do it right at the lake.

You can make a temporary form to build the new areas of the deck with plastic (garbage bag) covered cardboard - tape it in place solidly over one of the cockpit holes.

Make a cardboard template of the cockpit shape/style you want - put it aside. I would then put the boat upside down on saw horses.

prep the inside surface of the hole you have covered with the cardboard, then working from the inside, lay in your new laminate, whether glass, kevlar, carbon and wet it out. Once it has cured, peel off the temp form, place your cockpit template in the right spot, mark it out and cut the new opening.

You can mix pigment in your resin so that it comes close to matching your deck color... or if you prefer, use a different color ...

Repeat this for the other cockpit opening.

You can use a piece of plastic hose as a form for the new cockpit rims. I have always preferred Bias cut 6 oz fiberglass cloth for rims - conforms better to the shape. wet out the strips and lay up the new rims...

Thanks for the suggestions. I was planning on doing a lot of what you've suggested, ie
**>cut out the old rims

**>remove the outfitting and take the boat to a lake

**>we have a 'Whupatar' slalom C2 (15') and so have an educated guess as to where the cockpits need to be based on that

**>we'll take a friend along to the lake to tell us about the trim of the boat

**>Thanks for the suggestion about turning the boat upside down. I had thought of using ethafoam, shaping it the way I want, then covering it with a layer or two of chop-strand, and finally sanding that before putting on mold wax and release agent. My method sounds like more work than plastic over cardboard, but as you say, maybe it's how pretty I want it to work.

**>I'll probably use glass (1 layer) and then 2 or 3 layers of kevlar for the new deck portion that I lay up. I have several different pigments and can experiment with mixing those to try to match the color of the deck

**>In regards to building the new cockpit rims, I have used plastic hose before and thanks for reminding me to bias cut the glass, as that certainly makes it lay down better.

Thanks again for the suggestions. Now I have a project for later in the summer after the water gets low here in Wisconsin.

Before you build the new rims, take the boat back to the lake, check your trim again

You may even want to cut the holes slightly smaller than intended for the first try at the lake.

I've done one rim successfully, using the Tygon tube method. I agree about 6 oz bias cut glass, but to make the rim less likely to snap through I put in a bias cut slip of 5 oz Kevlar about every 5 or 6 pieces I laid up. It's been a while, but I think I used plastic food wrap over the rim as I laid it up to get a bit smoother result.

On mixed teams, the Eagers used to slalom c-2 with giant Hoppy in front and little Mary in back, peering under one of his arms or the other. Haven't heard of them in some time.

Thanks again for the suggestion. I've also used plastic food wrap over the plastic/tygon tubing. FYI, the stern of our C2 also has a Mary paddling. She turns the boat partially sideways (prior to rapids) so she can see what is coming up.

I guess I'm a little late with this suggestion but I would avoid the use of any Kevlar in the deck of a boat right around the cockpits. If you should be so unlucky as to pin the boat and wrap it around a rock, you really, really want it to break and not trap you inside. I have built a lot of boats and the Kevlar deck layers always ended just fore and aft of the cockpit(s), with the center being all fiberglass. It is plenty strong but can break in an emergency.

John Koeppe! How the heck are ya?