: I've never really seen the importance in a kayak being absolutely straight.
: My sisters kayak, a red plastic blob , gets bent every time she straps it
: down on the car for a long trip, and takes about 5 hours to straighten
: out, but it still paddles fine for that time(plastic kayaks never really
: paddle "straight").

Well, I currently paddle a plastic 'yak which is deformed (curves to the left like a banana) and it most definitely wants to veer to the left. How much varies, because in addition to the set-in deformity, the plastic warps badly when there is strong sunlight on one side. If the sun hits the right side, the left side curves even more strongly. If the sun hits the left side, it will straighten or curve to the right. Cloudy days are the best but even then it has a slight pull to the left. I think the plastic is too soft (it's a 1999 Squall, and pre-2001 CD plastic boats apparently had this problem).

At first I thought it was my paddle stroke, but repeated experience paddling borrowed or rented boats that are straight has eliminated this as a cause. Also, the pull *always* correlates with which way the curve goes, unless there is a strong side wind.

I can actually see the change in the curve after I change direction so the sun is on the other side. Also, I first figured it out after the boat severely banana'ed while sitting on our trailer at a campsite. Parking it with the sun hitting the other side resulted in an opposite curve.

The boat has a rudder and eventually I get fed up with compensating for the pull and just slap that down. Then the boat goes straight but feels like it's fighting itself. I usually don't use the rudder for turning, so it irritates me to have to use it just to go straight when there is no wind.

So to sum up, I totally disagree that straightness is not important. It doesn't matter much when I'm paddling in short circular laps around a dinky pond in the direction that corresponds with the boat's curve, but it is a real drag (literally) on long straight hauls or if going in the "wrong" direction.

Weathercocking is something I accept as virtually inevitable for a small person like me paddling what are almost always too-big kayaks, but there is no way I will accept a non-straight kayak ever again.