: Thanks to everyone for their responses.
: I intend to mount the control under the deck at the forward side of the
: cockpit. I understand that this might lead to some water in the boat but
: if I extend the skeg trunk well above the water line and take the control
: tube off the top, that should keep water entry to a minimum.

Ned,

If I understand your last post correctly, you're considering placing the skeg control inside your cockpit. If this is the case, I would strongly encourage you NOT to do so. Whether or not you ever get serious about your boating, you will want to have the ability to wear some type of sprayskirt. Whether you want to hone your rolling skills, or the wind picks up while you're out and you just need to keep the boat from swamping, you'll want a sprayskirt. And you'll want to have the ability to manipulate the skeg while wearing a sprayskirt. The control needs to be outside of the cockpit.

I went back and installed homemade retractable skegs in our Guillemots shortly after they were finished. Everyone will have their opinion, but I'm very happy with the decision of adding them, as it allows us much greater versatility w/ the boats. Skeg up, the boat is highly maneuverable and can easily be spun 180 deg's with little as 3 to 4 sweeps, if needed. Skeg down, tracking over open water crossings become mindless (certainly not so w/o the skeg!) and trimming provides an easy counter to any weathercock.

I posted a plan of my skeg and some pics of the finished work some time ago. Not sure the best way to link to these, but if you search this forum for my (Todd Sullivan) past posts and look for 'skegs', they're out there.

Good luck,
Todd