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ESPRI footrest modification

2171 Views 7 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  PeterJ, 
Dodge
Like many the only criticism I have with the espri are the poor rounded footrests which are difficult to lean on having no hard ridges.

So fashioned an adjustable set using ply and aluminium angle.

The footrest is shaped in ply with a side return to protect the little toe from leaning on the angle rail...finished rest has 1/4" holes, 3cms c to c in line [more than in pic], which allows plenty of adjustment

The rail is 40mm aluminium angle each is 275mm [dealer had 55cms in his bin for $5, so just cut in half]....this is drilled with 3/16" holes, 6cms c to c in line...and is attached to kayak with 2 wellnuts per side into major ridges of espri footrest moulding.
Note: After fitting and testing with different size crew members, the rail was cut just behind the rear wellnut and is finished at 170mm, and the full range of adjustment is still good, and the 2 wellnuts now give a firm fit to the boat

With sloping sides and different angles on sides, when rails were bolted on the footrests did not line up in the middle, so the finished article was fine tuned to correct alignment [variation from pic]

The portside rest has 1" packing under [as pic] to make footrest thicker for the feet; while the starboard rest has the packing now on top [not as pic] and this corrected the alignement and is not obvious to the eye.

Total outlay was $5 alum angle rail, $5.50 s/s bolts and wing nuts, scrap ply

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The Mariner
Very inventive Richo :D Do you find your feet/ankles hit the alum. mounting brackets ?

I have often had a few similar thoughts but I was thinking of mounting an alum. angle almost vertically, following the same line as a ridge on the existing 'footrests' (hardly seems accurate to call them footrests) to basically form a wider edge to rest your foot on... kinda like the normal moulded footrests.
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Dodge
Gday Phil

The alum rails are no problem at all, however when all my users of the espri have tried them out I think I'll be able to cut off quite a bit and shorten them to just behind the aft wellnut, thats why there is no screw inserted at end

The wellnut bolt holes are also centred on the angle, and I am going to redrill them higher as is practical to lower the rail, as I think the 8 or 10mm drop will improve the positioning, and will also take out a minor flexing vertically [a bit like a vertical seesaw by being centred]
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PeterJ
Great idea , but would it end up annoying you in the end . The espri footwell gets a bit skinny near the hatch.
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Dodge
PeterJ said:
Great idea , but would it end up annoying you in the end . The espri footwell gets a bit skinny near the hatch.
Click to expand...
Haven't tested on water as yet Pete, but feels comfortable.

Will show another final modification and pics later which is more compact to original
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Dodge
The footrests are finished, and are slightly modified to the earlier post

The rails are now only 170mm and still give full range of adjustment to likely crew.

They are only mounted by 2 wellnuts per rail and by redrilling above centre line of angle aluminium, when tightened up they are rigid as the boat.

If I were to make another set the only changes to the finished rests would be to use 30mm angle as 40mm is probably over kill.

One of the pics below shows the adjustment range available

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YakAtak
That looks a lot better than the prototype Bob, If I didnt have such long legs I might have to make some up for mine. :p
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PeterJ
thats alot more room , not as Dodge-y :lol:
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