Well... in the past I've commented on the pros and cons of the Large Fluid Solo. Cons: its very heavy and the seat anchors have failed on me repeatedly. Pros: very balanced volume, wide thigh indexing, raised rails, semi-planing hull with a ton of rocker. Overall, the boat was extremely stable, boofed well, landed soft, carved hard, spun on a dime, stayed on top of holes, and was generally fantastic. After cracking my boat, I decided the weight and seat anchor problem were enough to shop for another boat. After months of demoing everything under the sun - after describing my seat anchor issues on blogs - I've decided, at 177 lbs and 5'10", the Solo just can't be beat. The Jefe Grande (brilliant boat) came closest but was just too big (the regular Jefe thigh braces were too close together). The Magnum 72 hull is also fantastic but the flexing backband and low volume crossed it off the list (I could go on and on).

This leaves me with the task of stabilizing the seat on my new boat. I'll probably put a brace between the seat and rear pillar so the seat cannot move backwards. Has anyone else dealt with this? Anything work?

Thanks,
nwpaddler

Those seat anchors don't often fail, but I'm sorry to hear that you had problems. If you looked closely you'd probably notice the slot was cut too low in your case. I'm sure Fluid replaced them everytime with a minimum of fuss though. Two options:

Option one. Request that Fluid send you two new seat anchors (they refer to them as wedges) WITHOUT the slots in them. Then when you get them you can take out the seat, place the wedge in position with one hand and drill a hole through each seat hole. Bob's your uncle. Seat cannot move, is super stiff and will never fail. That is, assuming they will do this.

Option two. Wait for the new outfitting that IS coming out within the next 3 to 5 months I'd guess. It's bloody awesome, and I'll sure you'll love it. No more seat anchors/wedges either... Very different setup to what it is now, and that's all I can say

I don't think it's a problem with your seat moving forwards and backwards. It's more of a problem with rotation. Rotational forces are at work on the seat.. Think about those options. Hope you come right!

I assume then that the new outfitting will fit into existing boats...

Seems like quite a year for Fluid. New River Runner / Creeker that slots in between Spice and Solo out in later in 2009 and new outfitting for the boats this year.

Fluid

FLuid Tim wrote:

I assume then that the new outfitting will fit into existing boats...

Of course

thats good,

so eeeer, when can I lay my hands on this new kit?

there nothing some further independant varification of the performance/comfort attributes

FLuid Tim wrote:

so eeeer, when can I lay my hands on this new kit?

When it's ready

ya ya ya I'm in stitches too...


ok so how about some details..

Just a new seat outfitting or the whole shabang including step out pillar, knee braces, bulkhead and most importantly, is it lighter than the current outfitting?

Well, I'm not at liberty to say but I saw the first seat (or two parts of it...of three) come out of the oven when I was there late last year. It looked and felt great the next day when it had cooled enough to sit on. It will be better in almost every aspect. Otherwise Fluid would be going backwards, wouldn't they? So it's another big (or maybe several) steps forwards. Pretty cool stuff. In due course Fluid will release something on their site I'm sure.