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The JimirimTM is the result of many years of Jim applying "groove technology' to optimize the waterproofing of skirts. In 1993 Jim won the National Squirt Championships in a Shred featuring a "Groove Tube" cockpit system which features an inflatable gasket in the skirt, keeps the boat completely dry, and is still in use today. The Groove Tube was a tamed down version of the original system Jim came out with the year before- where the cockpit was an hourglass shape and went past the feet- for escape and comfort benefits. He was able to go over 4 hours a couple times in that boat without getting water in it. Both these systems were quite tedious to build, but were unique and effective and so Jim pursued and received a U.S. patent for this technology in July of 1994. They were built by Jim on a onesy twosy basis for years and remained very difficult to build. With the original Fantum prototype, Jim unsuccessfully explored direct molding of the groove and did further work on this aspect in 1999. He finally put an all out and successful effort into high spec direct molding of the groove in early 2002 - 10 years after the original concept (which was based on the inflatable sneakers which had just come out back then).
The JimirimTM works by pressing a special length of Fatlip gasket into a narrow groove in the deck of the boat. This increases the contact area between the skirt and the boat- which is what improves the seal. It takes longer to "load" the skirt than it would take to put a regular skirt on a regular rim (it takes about a minute and a half to two minutes) but you receive dividends from your investment an hour later when your friends have to go empty their boats and you are still dry. Maintaining a dry boat like this yields the highest possible performance from it. To load the skirt you can start at the left thigh and work towards your knee. Throughout the loading process be careful to avoid a "migration" of the shock cord which can stretch it and make it act "too long". Once you've loaded to your left knee, go back and start loading the back from left to right- avoiding migration by pushing the cord straight down in a couple inches at a time with the tip of your thumb. Once you are around the back, just proceed to finish the loading. If it appears you have had some migration of the shock cord by the time you are tucking the last bit of it in (looks like extra shockcord) you can "unmigrate" small sections to get the stretch out. With just a little practice you can get the migration to be a non-issue.
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