C-Forum

Just got an old Mad River Howler and am repositioning the saddle. It has a triple which has been cut apart at some point, but is currently scabbed back together with some minicell.

The issue is, with this being an asymmetrical boat, that when the saddle is in the right spot for tandem, it's wrong for solo, and vice-versa.

Is there a decent compromise?

I don't really see the need to paddle it solo much. Maybe I just split the seats up and set it up to paddle it tandem only?

Well, do you want to paddle it tandem, solo, or both?

Ideally, both. When set up for proper tandem though, the middle seat is too far forward, and handling/turning suffers.

caverdan wrote: . . . Maybe I just split the seats up and set it up to paddle it tandem only? . . .

I've never been a big fan of triple saddles. In my Caption, I've used NorthWater Loop Track Anchors, and two saddles only. You can adjust your tandem seat placement according the weights of the paddlers, and for solo, just re-position the stern seat as far forward as you need.

You can buy the Saddles which work with the Track Anchors, but I found it expedient to make my own seats, having lotsa foam on hand. The Anchors aren't cheap, but IMHO well worth the cost.

http://northwater.com/collections/saddles-kneepads" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good luck with it.
Rick

I had a different problem with a MR Synergy. When the solo seat was in the right place, the rear tandem seat was too far forward. So I grafted a foot of minicell onto the back of the triple saddle and the boat's tandem behavior was much better.

The MR Synergy is asymmetrical, swedeform, but not nearly as asymmetrical as a Howler.

Maybe you need to shorten the back end of the triple saddle?

I did a bunch of measuring and figuring today and came to the conclusion that the tandem positions will work where already installed, which is amazing to me since I was figuring for a 195 stern and a 130lb Bowman.

There's 4 inches of foam between each of the 3 triple saddles, so to make the solo center a little better (not perfect, but better), I'm going to cut the spacing between the rear and center seat down to 2", and graft the cut out piece in between the front and center for a 6" spacing there. This should put the seat where it will handle better when paddling solo, or at least better than it was. It wasn't awful before, it just didn't handle like a slalom boat.

I think this is the most reasonable fix without going to adjustable saddle outfitting, which would be the best fix for fit, except for adding complexity to going from solo to tandem or vice versa, as it would involve moving saddle, thwarts, pads, etc., and am only likely to paddle it solo rarely.