C-Forum

I have a friend who needs help reoutfitting a Dagger Rival which was set up for a much taller person. I know the pedestal needs to come forward but I'm not sure how much.

Looking at the Rival hull, it is pretty asymmetrical. Can anybody suggest where the paddler's center of gravity should be relative to the longitudinal center of the boat?

My advice based on just doing this for my Howler.

Presume the gunwale in the middle, by where it says Dagger, should be level. Launch the boat and bring a bubble level with you. Put the bubble level on the gunwale and shift your weight back and forth until the bubble shows level. Then, test paddle the boat with the saddle at that location to confirm it feels well balanced.

Thanks for the tip.

Yes, I have used a variation of that in-water technique to determine saddle position to provide proper trim for asymmetrical hulls. What I have usually done is to float the empty hull in the water and place wide tape strips parallel to and just above the water line, then get in the boat on the saddle and move forward and back until and observer says that the tape strips are equally submerged.

In this case, however, I am not the paddler and getting the paddler, the boat, water, and myself together poses a slight logistical challenge.

As a tall person...6'5"...I've never found a need to adjust a saddle...back or forth in the boat... based on my height. That said, if I was going to place a seat in a Rival, I'd check Mike Yee's website...on how he recommends measuring for the Rival. If it's not available on his site, try emailing him. He knows his stuff and I trust his measurements. Good luck.