Where's Your Butt?

Posted by Kurt Maurer on Jan 20, 2006

Once your roll is fairly polished, staying in your seat just ain't a big problem, even with minimal thigh braces... or none at all. I don't even try to keep my fanny in the minicell any more, and don't. I'm mostly braced into the boat via my thighs jammed up under the deck, and my lower back against the back of the coaming. Of course, my feet are what lever the thighs against the deck, but even foot braces aren't necessary for this.

Thigh padding, foot braces and back bands are mighty nice, however. Outfitting your cockpit properly is a highly worthwhile thing to do, although I don't like tight, aggressive fitting; I consider it a crutch when you get into thigh "hooks", and that sort of thing. What happens when you're in a boat that isn't quite so tightly fitted?

Rolling is a pretty violent maneuver for beginners, but it becomes an effortless affair for the well-practiced. I therefore recommend that the original poster pads his cockpit, but especially scrutinizes his rolling technique. I've certainly never seen anyone suffer from too much practice.

Ka-Ching! My $0.02,

Kurt

In Response to: rolling a CH18 by LeeG on Jan 20, 2006

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