: In regards to your Guillemot question, here is a link to and fragment of
: recent post by Kurt Maurer(Guillemot owner)

: http://www.kayakforum.com/cgi-bin/Building/index.cgi/noframes/read/171731

: >>I had a Guillemot and the OHP.
: >>You couldn't even think straight in the former,
: >>and the latter require shifting the Earth under it to make course
: adjustments.

I'm not an expert - I have about two years paddling touring kayaks. Lots to learn, but I'll share what I know -

I have a Great Auk and my wife has a Guillemot. The Guilly is "easy to turn" - in other words, you have to think about steering all of the time. The Auk is better, but both can weathercock on you when you're paddling fast. Sometimes they will just start turning, and nothing can be done except to rudder them back - no amount of corrective forward paddling seems to make a difference.

I'm sure that this is an example of "PIC" - or "problem in the chair" as my IT friends call it. I have done pretty well in the Guilly, paddling with a GP and keeping the stroke well forward. This way, you are continuously correcting with each stroke and not pulling through too far which will crank you sideways in a single stroke.

I did build a retractable skeg in my wife's boat and I'd recommend that to anybody. It does seem to help the boat track in many situations.

I love the lines of both boats, especially the Guillemot. They leave plenty of room for both of us to learn and improve before we "need" higher performance craft. So no regrets here for building either one.