: 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

A boat with a skeg will be designed to balance with weathercocking built in to some degree, then the skeg is used to counteract that depending on wind strength. What you really don't want is a boat that leecocks ie: turns downwind, there's not much you can do to counteract that, except end up on the downwind shore, eventually.

Bill H.