We build and paddle the VOLKSKAYAK design, a 17', 24" hard chine S&G sea kayak. We find them to have great stability at rest, a nice turn of speed and good handling, and to be very forgiving boats - but note that we are NOT rough-water paddlers. If the wind's much more than 20-25 kms., we try nto either seek sheltered waters, or stay ashore. The size of the VK - it's a high volume design with peaked decks - can make it a handful when the wind really gets up.

My wife also started in a Cape Horn 15, which is a lovely boat - very stable, forgiving and confidence-inspiring. The only fault she had with it was speed, especially in any sort of conditions. We found it hard to stay together when battling upwind - in one case, she simply couldn't make forward progress, while I couldn't keep the VK jogging along slowly enough to stay with her. This incident led to our building her a VK, albeit with modifications - lowered decks, and about 1.5" lopped off the beam. That's worked really well - in fact, I prefer her VK to my own, as it's less sensitive to wind and just generally handles better. We're both very confident of our kayaks in any conditions we're likely to encounter.