: I have been toying with the idea of a tandem for a while now. A
: friend that has never paddled asked me if I had one. Said has
: wanted to go paddling but since she had never been she liked the
: idea of going 'with' someone in a boat. That made sense to me.
: Since I have been toying with the idea anyway I was thinking I
: might work on a design for a tandem even if I never build it.

: I have some basic questions that I simply do not know the answer
: too. Where do you locate the cockpits relative to the LCB? I
: place the backband 14" back from the LCB and so far all my
: boats have balanced quite well with no weather cocking at all.

: No clue where to put it on a tandem. My first thought is use that
: as a center point and place the cockpits equal distance from
: that point. But that is just a guess.

: Also, what is the 'normal' spacing between the coamings/paddlers? I
: can measure and come up with something but just wondering if
: there is a typical measurement? Obviously don't want to be
: kicking the person up front in the rear end all the time. Of
: course I can see where that could be a good thing too! :) A
: little motivation maybe.

: Last question. Assuming this would be a long boat is a rudder an
: advantage? I am not a big fan of rudders but with a newbie in
: the front and a longish boat that could be a little hard to
: turn, it seems like a rudder might be a good addition?

: Jeff

Nick Schade has a diagram in his book that may help you locate the front and rear cockpit relative to the LCB. He includes a formula that will help you locate the fore and aft cockpit distances from the LCB based on the anticipated weights of the fore and aft paddlers. He uses a Guillemot Double in his example. Maybe this will help a bit..

Bob Beaullieu