: Some paddlers have experienced frustration in getting the Guillemot to track
: well for them, and start considering a rudder or skeg. My whitewater
: background makes me used to boats that don't like to track. I prefer
: rudderless designs, but perhaps would change my mind if I actually got the
: opportunity to go to sea!

Hey Chris,

You brought out a point about the Guilly that I had to deal with after I built it for my wife. However, I think I may have contributed greatly to the problem when I stripped the hull. The stern has an area that goes from fairly flat to concaved near the end of the boat. In my case, I didn't realize that the strips had pulled away from the forms in the concaved area until it was rather late in the game. The Guilly "L" has a similar area also, so when I built the "L" I paid a little more attention. I had the same thing happen again but this time I took measures to correct it. The picture below shows how I took care of the problem. I just strapped a couple of 2x4 blocks to both sides in the concaved area and let it dry for a day or two.

As for my wife's Guilly, I just added a few more 1/4" laminations to the outer stem. They start about 5' under from the stern tip and go all the way back to the tip. I feathered it all back in so it wouldn't look like an add-on. It dropped the outer stem down ~ 5/8". Now it tracks better than my "L".

FWIW: I'm 6' and about 240lbs with 9 1/2 shoe though I usually paddle barefoot. I have plenty of room in the "L". Both of these designs are great kayaks.

Happy Yakin.

Charles