Seating position

How is the seating position or rather the height difference footwell-lowest point bucket (butt height to foot height) in a average surf ski?

Average ski? Its like asking whats the average size engine in a car? Question is a bit vague!

Yep, average...
...beginners/intermediate/elite, size and brand doesn't matter
It's all about the seat position.

Hi Laz. I saw you asked the same question over on the standup forum.

I had asked Mike about the footwell to seat height ratio when we discussed the composite seat pad for my old V-10. He's quite experienced in the area, having designed and built his own boats, level 1 K-1 experience etc.

I originally wanted my bucket insert to match the V-14. I wanted to measure the footwell to bucket difference and match that as well as the shape.

But Mike said don't bother measuring the footwell to bucket difference. At least for our project. The shape of the hulls is so different, that matching the height relative to the footwells is not worth the effort.

That measurement is rather complex if you think about it. I was planning on using the waterline as a reference. That meant glassy water and photos and tracing into auto cad for me - Epic's data cloud on the hull designs is probably a well guarded secret, rightfully so. If I had a big scanner I'd do it for myself but I'd never share the data - that's just morally wrong IMO.

Boat design is black magic and voodoo to me. I don't know how those guys can afford to go through the prototype stage. It must be very time consuming.

Thnks LPB,
I see the bottom of the hull as reference, (It is not need necessarily parallel with the waterline) and a simple measurement setup gives me the values.
Measured on a Fenn Mako 6 is its height difference ~ 2cm.

"But Mike said don't bother measuring the footwell to bucket difference. At least for our project. The shape of the hulls is so different, that matching the height relative to the footwells is not worth the effort."

I am not agree what Mike said, it is a important design characteristic,
you have to see it in the totality, every body has his proper forward angled ergonomic paddling position, what is also affected by total seat height, despite what shape hull you're riding. If you are happy with that new insert and you have your ideal seat height now, is that insert thickness + the height diff. of the V10.
How much is that again?

for what it's worth, a spec ski typically has a "drop" (from seat bottom to heel bottom) of 5cm. my spec ski indeed has this. my XT (stable ocean ski) has only ~1cm drop, hence "stable". my stellar SE (ocean ski) has a drop of about 4cm. the more drop, the less stable, but more comfortable and better power drive. K1's (and Nelo ski's) are known for large drop (high seat); not sure what they are, but i suspect they are in the 7-10cm range (tippy).

Laz wrote:
If you are happy with that new insert and you have your ideal seat height now, is that insert thickness + the height diff. of the V10.
How much is that again?

Ok, the pictures help. I may do the same on my boat someday to get that number.

If you have access to a V-10, you can use the same method and get the number. My pad is 2.1 cm. The insert moves me forward 1.6 cm, very important for my fore-aft balance when surfing. I hope to experiment more, particularly moving forward again. I'm 85 kg.