: Neither boat weathercocked noticeably. The Night Heron always stayed pointed
: in the right direction, but seemed to sideslip on the water. This may be
: due to my particular weight distribution, so YMMV.
I have just recently finished building the Outer Island. I do not have experience paddling the Night Heron, but I can tell you that the Outer Island doesn't show tendancy to weathercock( although I'm still waiting for that good stiff November breeze to confirm). Its tracking is wonderful( it has a soft but definite keel line the entire length of the boat)I just think where I want to go and the boat goes there. Being a slight Swedish form boat( my CG is about 10-12 inches behind widest point) I was concerned I might be constantly over correcting the long nose, back and forth with each paddle stroke. However, that is not the case.

To change direction, does require a good lean turn but it responds nicely( you are not going to make a very small circle with lean turns but I find the reponse of the boat to be solid and predictable.

The most dramatic feature of the boat , to me, is it's speed! (of course , realize that I previously paddled a 62lb. plastic Current Design, Scirocco; which I thought was pretty fast. ) I day paddled with a experienced paddler who owns a Nigel Foster( I think) "Shilouette" 52lbs glass boat. I was constantly having to stop and wait for him to catch up( and I'm by no means a well trained paddler...still learning) .

Both boats are of the low- volume Inuit style but the Night Heron even though an inche narrower, may have a higher foredeck clearance than the OI. Mine finished out at a little under 10 1/2" from bottom to underside of deck and the back deck is 7".

I know this doesn't help much for head to head comparison but it does give another opinion for the OI. Overall, I love mine and find it a real pleasure to paddle. Its a fun build too!