converting Super EZ to C1

[Sir Adam]

converting Super EZ to C1
by Willy Young
I have bought a Wavesport Super EZ. I am converting it to a C1. I am planning on making a saddle that is about 8 inches high and 8 inches wide. I have some knee boots I plan to put in it. I am going to use some foam for toe blocks. Does this sound like a plan or what? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Willy
Posted on Jul 14, 2002, 6:04 PM

Conversion ideas
by Daniel Holzman
I converted a Wavesport Z to a C-1. The process was not as simple as I had hoped, it took me several tries to get it right. The most important piece of the puzzle is attaching the thigh straps to a solid point on the boat. I did this by custom fabricating a square PVC tube which fits into the foam block at the front and back of the boat, much like the original kayak seat which is molded to fit the same way. The tube is about 3 feet long, and about 3 inches square, but the length and size will vary depending on the boat you are converting. I had originally tried to glue in thigh strap D-rings, but the don't glue well to polyethylene (I tried several different glues, none of them work very long).

I attached a strip of industrial velcro to the top of the PVC tube, and I attached my saddle to the tube using the mating part of the velcro. This works fine, because the only function of the velcro is to prevent sliding of the seat, which it does very well. You could glue the seat down to the tube, but then you would not be able to adjust it later.

The thigh straps are attached to the PVC tube using a D-ring which is bolted to the tube using a pair of stainless steel hoops (I got them at a sailboat supply store for $2.00 each). The thigh straps run through a stainless steel plate which attaches to the two kayak seat bolts near my hips, and then through the D-ring attached to the tube. I use an ordinary seatbelt plastic buckle to cinch the straps down. I added a quick release strap which will release both straps simultaneously in the event of a wet exit, although I don't need to pull it to get out of the boat, since the thigh straps are sufficiently far forward to allow for exit without release. If you move the D-ring further up towards your thigh, you will reach a critical point at which you will be locked into the boat, and you will be forced to release the buckles to get out. Although some may be OK with this arrangement, I would not be. If you were to dislocated your shoulder, for example, you might not be able to pull the buckles, and I would not want to take this chance.

I found that I needed to add hip padding to keep me in the boat. Otherwise, my butt slides down the seat when I am upside down, which leads to difficulty rolling. I discovered this most acutely in the Kennebec gorge, when I literally fell out of the boat while trying to roll. After adding the hip pads, which are simply a piece of foam duct taped in place, I am much more secure, and have had no problems falling out. By the way, I do not use toe blocks, but rather ankle blocks, which make my ankles a little more comfortable.

Lastly, the height of the saddle. I started with a 7" high saddle (measured from the low point of the saddle to the boat hull). This was much too high, as the Z was quite unstable and hard to paddle. I have gradually reduced the height to the current level of 5 1/2" above the floor. This is about as low as I can make it, given that I am 6'3" tall. I think you will find 8 inches much too high and unstable, but you can always shave the saddle down later.

There are some good pictures of a Z boat conversion on Playak.com, check them out. My conversion is similar, except for the custom PVC tube (others use plastic gutter pipe), and the use of velcro to attach the saddle (most people just glue the saddle in).
Posted on Jul 15, 2002, 9:12 AM

Kalin? Any thoughts?
by Bryan
Kalin is paddling a super EZ C1 with some sweet outfitting. Talk to him.

Cheers, BP
Posted on Jul 16, 2002, 9:26 AM


Yeah-lots and LOTS of foam! Or..
by Kalin
Hey!

I had a Dagger C1 console in my Super EZ originally. It was a breeze to install because the cockpit is SO huge. I liked the boat (A LOT) and decided to get one but wanted to make it fit tighter for more freestyle potential and control while river running. So we (Jonathon "The Meat" and I) built a "couch" out of foam to go around the back of the saddle. We did a semi bulkhead for the knees and put some Mike Yee Outfitting thigh straps in. We anchored them off of the track that the original K1 seat was on. Seems to work really well. The semi bulkhead was based on an idea I got from Joe Langman. And after speaking with Jamie Dors about the possibility of having the control a bulkhead offers (without feeling trapped) we came up with a design that looks sorta like a kayak thigh brace might....kind of a wrap around effect without stopping you from bringing your knees into the center of the cockpit. It's not perfect but it's not bad...I need to add a little foam to try and snug it up a touch. Jamie ended up putting a block of foam in the center of the cockpit to keep his knees spread. Something I am considering....

I will try to get my hands on a digital camera and get some images to Sir Adam for cboats.net. Won't have a chance to do it for awhile....so be patient.

Also consider checking out TEAM etc Outfitting as well as the new C1 console from Dag in France...

Hope that helps!
Cheers,
Kalin.

Posted on Jul 16, 2002, 3:09 PM