Mel Grindel wrote: My wife paddles a Shadow and so far has not been pleased with its tendancy to weathercock (let me also add that this is our first year of kayaking so our skill levels aren't exactly high yet). Unfortunately due to her size (5'6" and very slim (I ain't dumb enough to publish her weight)) she was really limited in her selection of which plastic kayak to get... Now I'm going to tread onto a touchy subject. I personally think that part of her problem with the Shadow weathercocking on her is self induced...SNIP It probably is not entirely her fault, although it is very important to learn to control a kayak with boat lean. I've noticed that most sea kayaks have a strong tendency to weathercock. Could it be the boats are designed this way? One reason for weathercocking is a high volume stern (relative to the bow) and placement of the cockpit in the center or, even worse, forward of center, of the kayak. When the boat is travelling forward with a side wind, the bow is "locked in" and the stern catches wind, causing the boat to veer into the wind. The solution? Take a look at the Coaster (here it is again!) or any other Mariner kayak (and perhaps some of the British kayaks, as well). The stern is low volume, relative to the bow and the seat is set just aft of center. This compensates for windage at the stern and prevents weathercocking. Of course, it's a fine line because if you go too far in this direction, the boat can get blown off the wind and become difficult to turn upwind. My experience with the Coaster and the Mariner Express is that a good balance has been achieved. Neither of these boats weathercock. They are both sensitive to a lean and do require good edge control, as does any non-rudder, chined kayak. The point is, control of the stern is the whole name of the game; most sea kayaks have long, high volume sterns which are difficult to control. This is why rudders are so popular. Finally, Mel, your wife (and anybody else) will be much happier with a composite (fiberglass or kevlar) kayak. Unless price is a big issue, forget the rotomolded plastic! John Lull *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
John Lull wrote: >> My experience with the Coaster and the Mariner Express is that a good balance has >>been achieved. Neither of these boats weathercock. John, Did you deliberately leave the Mariner II out of this short list? Jerry *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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