Hey Rick,

If you like the Guillemot "L" go for it. You're not much bigger than I am and the "L" is a nice kayak. I don't go out in open water - my paddling is small lazy rivers so I don't get in much wind. I built the Guillemot for my wife and the "L" for myself. When all was said and done the "L" tracked considerably straighter than the Guilly 17' which took a fair amount of paddle correction. Anyway, to make a long story short, After my wife tried out my boat she wanted me to fix hers. All I did was add about 3/4" more depth to the outer stem. Now her yak tracks slightly straighter than mine in a side wind. A very simple correction.

If you build the "L" (or I suspect pretty much any other design) and you want it to track really straight all you have to do is add a little extra to the outer stern stem. Let it start at nothing about 5' from the end of the boat and drop it down 1/2" - 3/4" at a point just before it comes up out of the water. Then bring it back to nothing at the tip of the stern. Very easy to do while you're building it.

The kayak on the bottom is my wife's Guilly that I added to the depth of the stern stem. Maybe it will give you an idea of what I'm trying to say. Sorry but its the best pic I have of the fix.

Happy yakin'. More pics at the link.

Charles.