: It just means that the boat is really easy to turn, but a little
: more work to keep going straight. A lot of kayaks are referred
: to as good or strong tracking boats which means that they hold a
: straight line very well and can take you a good distance with
: hardly any effort from the paddler to keep it going straight. A
: loose boat on the other hand is really good at turning and is
: referred to a lot as playful. This is really good for poking
: around shore lines, playing with other kayaks on the water, or
: like in my opinion half day paddles where you can take your time
: and don't have a final time line to get somewhere. but like I
: said just a little more work to keep going straight.

: dave g

Some boats tend to skid - as I call it - turning in an arbitrary direction when you stop paddling. I rented one that was so bad that keeping it straight took more work than keeping it moving. I couldn't keep pace with my group and had to turn back. I investigated and found the rental people removed the rudders from their boats because they kept getting broken.

It is probably caused by having the CoG aft of the center of the (underwater) lateral area. It can be fixed with either a rudder or a skeg. A fully raised rudder will tend to increase wind-socking, a skeg should decrease it, so before taking action get a feeling for how it behaves in a cross-wind, then you'll know which way to go, if you still feel it needs attention.

Don't over-size the skeg - I did that and the boat ended up about as agile as a freight train - I can aim it at my destination and read a book as I paddle . . .