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PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 8:06 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jul 28, 2012 4:21 am
Posts: 100
Location: Victor Harbor, South Australia
Quote:
Thanks for the kind words - I just need to spend more time on the water to get full use out of it!


Just a thought Mingle...since you are from Melbourne I can understand the weather playing a part in dictating your sailing days...Try relocating to Melbourne Florida. There are lots of innovative AI/TI owners there, and its about the same weather as the Gold Coast! :D
Cheers Ian...
...of course if you did move, extra curricula duties would involve helping the lads over there to learn to speak English with the right accent! :lol: :lol:

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 10:53 pm 
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Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 8:45 pm
Posts: 343
Location: Melbourne, Australia
After a few months of testing the skipper seat mod (and being pretty happy with the
results) I decided to polish off a few rough edges and make the prototype more of a
finished product.

The first thing I had to do was beef-up the 25mm aluminium crossbar under the seat.
After 6 trips out and over 40 hours in the saddle, the original 1mm gauge ally tube
was showing a bit of distortion and one ding where the seat-base had dug into it.

So rather than suffering a catastrophic failure due to metal fatigue, I upgraded
to 25mm x 1.6mm gauge tubing. Although it doesn't really show in this photo,
it's much beefier than the original 1.0mm tube.

Image

The next step was to find a more permanent and secure way of attaching the crossbar
to the seat base. The original cable-tie method worked pretty well, but occasionally
one or more of the cable-ties would have 'popped' by the end of a day on the water.

My preferred method was to machine a 25mm diameter semi-circular slot across the seat
base to recess the crossbar and make it more stable and easier to secure. However I
couldn't find a simple way to do this. A router was no good and to manually cut and
file the slot would've been a long and painful process. I did check with a couple of
machine shops, but it wasn't worth their while to set up their gear to do a one-off
job like this.

Image

So, it was onto plan-B. I decided to use a couple of 25mm mounting clips and saddles
to fasten the crossbar to the seat-base. Similar to the cable-tie method, but far more
robust. One clip at each side of the seat-base to locate and attach the crossbar and
one saddle to ensure the tube won't pop-out when pedaling.

Image

The first step was to affix the mounting clips to the outside of the seat-base. I used
two 25mm x 4mm stainless screws with 10mm washers and nyloc nuts for each clip, with
a few dabs of PVC adhesive to give a bit of extra strength.

The trickiest part of the operation was to make sure the alignment of the clips and crossbar
was spot-on. It was the old adage of "measure twice, cut once", or words to that effect.

Image

The crossbar was then inserted into the mounting clips, aligned and a couple of strips
of PVC electrical tape applied, under the mounting saddles, to provide a bit of extra
'grip'. The saddles were then attached with slightly beefier 40mm x 5mm stainless screws,
20mm washers and nyloc nuts. The screws were inserted through the top of the seat - the
screw heads protrude by about 4mm, but when the seat pad is attached, they can't be felt.

Image

I also added sections of 25mm PVC tube (actually a 25mm joiner cut in half) over the ends
of the crossbar to help locate the seat assembly in the hull-mounting clips and prevent
any lateral movement of the seat. I used these, rather than closed end-caps, for a couple
of reasons:

1. To prevent the chance of corrosion (if water gets trapped inside the crossbar)
2. The open ends are perfect for inserting fingers and popping the crossbar out when
the seat needs to be removed.

They are currently just attached via a tight push-fit, but will either glue or pop-rivet
them into place.

Image

The finished crossbar - feels much more robust and durable than the old cable-tie version.

Image

I also performed a couple of other minor upgrades to the seat. The first was to replace the
original screws that hold the seat base and back together. Out went the (extremely wimpy)
self-tappers and in went two 316 stainless 30mm x 5mm screws, with 25mm washers and nylocs.

Image

I also replaced the old hooks on the rear bungee with Hobie #2101 shockcord snap hooks. These
are much easier and quicker to attach to the rear-well eyelets.

Image

That's it for now. I still have to test these latest 'upgrades' on the water, but I'd say it's
95% complete and a version update to "V0.9" seems appropriate!

Cheers,

Mike.


Last edited by mingle on Sun Jul 21, 2013 2:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 3:36 am 
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Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 5:06 am
Posts: 1701
Location: Lake Macquarie NSW AUSTRALIA
That's a work of art Mike. Looks like you've nailed it. You've convinced me to go down the same road. I could never really get comfortable in the original, so installed one as well. viewtopic.php?f=69&t=48290&p=214755&hilit=skipper+seat#p214755
How did you find the tilt or angle of the seat ? I didn't make any tilt adjustment in my design and was worried that I would feel as though I was leaning too far forward or backwards, but I found ( by luck ) it was just right. I also have to 'up' the size of the tube as it's a bit light on. But that's a job for next winter.

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 3:51 am 
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Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 8:45 pm
Posts: 343
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Yep, it makes all the difference to being out on the A.I. - no sitting in a floating duck-pond!

The rake of the seat is just right for me. It does look like it's leaning back a bit, but when I
have my PFD on, it pads it out perfectly. I also find that leaning back a bit is a far more
comfortable position when pedalling. Most of the time I'm perched on the front edge of
the seat anyway.

I might have a go at making the rake of the seat adjustable, along the back edge of the
seat, where it sits on the 'saddle' behind the seat well... Hmm... Mind ticking over already!

The new seat sits about 15-20cm higher than the original Hobie version, which does
sound a lot, but the feeling of sitting higher just feels so much better - you get a much
better view from up there. :-)

One major advantage is being able to stand up (and sit down again) very easily. It's like
sitting in a deck chair, as opposed to sitting in a hollow - you just have to stand up, instead
of clamber out, like with the old seat.

Cheers,

Mike.


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 4:17 am 
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Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 5:06 am
Posts: 1701
Location: Lake Macquarie NSW AUSTRALIA
I haven't taken mine out in heavy conditions yet and can't help but think that in sitting higher than the gunnels, I may feel as though I'm slipping off the seat and going over the sides. Can't wait to give it a good test run to find out.

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 5:50 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:17 pm
Posts: 97
Location: Jerrabomberra, New South Wales, Australia
Hi Mike, I went straight to the 1.6mm 25mm pipe as well. I'm thinking I could perhaps use a dremel to machine a 25mm diameter semi-circular slot across the seat, as you said, it may be a slow process and it would lower the COG just a little. Maybe a large power drill used on it's side to cut and shape is the way to go. I may explore that avenue as we have a good workshop in the store.

Instead of going down the velcro path from the seat to the padeyes, I've used zip ties. I also used the 1/4" shock cord hooks with 8mm shock cord for the rear pad eyes and a s/s clip to anchor the seat base to the rear. Some re-jigging was needed with the bullhorn rod holders though.

We'll have to see how it goes as I still haven't used mine in anger yet. I'm waiting for some good weather down the coast and some kingies to turn up.

The Seafarer rep came into the shop last week for a visit and told me the skipper seats were on special, 10% off, that would be right, bought mine a month too early. :roll:

Snow down to 700m last night and 8 deg all day. I hate this place in winter, I envy you guys up north. :(

So, in the man cave with the fire going, a cold beer, some tinkering with the GoPros, and watching the footy is the order of the day.

Thanks for the posts mate, Bob.


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 1:03 am 
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Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:58 am
Posts: 2893
Location: Forster, NSW, Australia
Slaughter wrote:
I haven't taken mine out in heavy conditions yet and can't help but think that in sitting higher than the gunnels, I may feel as though I'm slipping off the seat and going over the sides. Can't wait to give it a good test run to find out.

I know what you mean! I got dunked exactly like that a while ago when I was showing off to a supermodel (that's her on the right) and broke an aka brace pin... As they say, didn't touch the sides.
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2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 11, 2014 7:37 am 
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Joined: Mon Sep 09, 2013 12:13 pm
Posts: 1
i'm looking for a skipper seat retailer in the US. can anyone help me with this, i'm looking for a seat # 181076 so far i can only find them in AU. thanks pakeha


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