Farrarkc wrote:
Good morning,
Would you be so kind to share more detail on this modification?
Hi Farrarkc,
There are many ways that CT seats could be fitted. I just used what I had on hand. The rear is easy- saddles self tapped through the hull. The saddles fit into the rear seat receivers for the beach seat legs. I added a bungee loop over a button on the hull in place of the standard rear webbing retainer as I didn’t have the female clip.
The front was a bit more challenging. You need something strong enough to span the gunwales and take your weight. I used 20mm U-section aluminium tube (leftovers from a DIY louvre kit). You could use 1” Bimini tube. The CT seat has a half pipe section of frame at the front that sits nicely on the tube. At each end where the squared off sections that fit the genuine height adjusters are I added a nylon ‘spacer’ that takes most of the weight. Velcro straps secure the seat to the tube. The front seat mount needed a small bracket fitted to the side of the gunwale as the Centreboard surrounds leave little gunwale. The tube/brackets at the front are through bolted using stainless M6 bolts and stainless ‘channel’ nuts inside the gunnel that don’t need holding with a spanner when fitting.
We really like the CT seats comfort and airiness and the higher seating position which is much drier, makes access easier and helps when swapping from seat to haka when hiking out. Using the CT seats as beach seats is also handy.
If and when I upgrade I hope the later hull high position on the CT seats is as high. If not, I’d have to look at doing the mod again -its that good! Previously the furled sail mainsheet used to sit annoyingly on my shoulder. Now it sits under my arm, which isn’t as annoying.
The negative with this mod would be the higher centre of gravity in kayak (hull only) mode. I made the tube to be easily removable (used M6 eyebolts/eyenuts) so that the original seats could be refitted if needed.