: I have also installed seats that are movable on the fly. And I discovered
: once I have gotten the seat positioned I never moved it. So its only value
: is to adjust for mis-loaded cargo. Adding a fixed skeg to a weathercocking
: kayak is the lesser of evils. It will balance out crosswinds but at the
: price of added tracking. The best answer I have found for touring is a
: kayak without skeg or rudder that is wind neutral, tracks well level, and
: turns on edge. This combination does not have a lot of rocker so touring
: speed (or long term effort) is good. A correctly timed knee lift will take
: care of almost any course correction without disrupting paddle cadence.
: Adding a little more rocker will make the boat more playful (easier to
: turn) and better in rock gardens and in surf at the cost of lowered
: touring speed.

Dave,
I thought the above was an excellent description of the ideal! I have a question though. I haven't built a boat (yet) but the production boats I've paddled seem to weathercock more or less depending on the strength of the wind. My Avocet for instance weathercocks slightly in light winds, but at 15 to 20 mph it seems wind neutral. That, and variations in loading gear, seem to make some kind of "on the fly" adjustability - skeg, rudder or seat - desireable. Do you find that once you get your boats balanced they stay that way in all conditions?
Will