Well, personally, I find the Anas a bit of a handful in a stiff breeze. It does help if there are waves, though. I've paddled faithful replicas of the Ken Taylor, and it tracks very smartly. It's narrower and has a lower depth-to-sheer than the Anas, particularly forward of the cockpit. There are still kayaks in Greenland with a built-in skeg, usually right at the stem. I built one like that, and it tracked beautifully, but was difficult in bumpy conditions because of its lack of turning ability. There are also a lot of kayaks from Greenland which used temporary skegs that tied on to the hull usually around the 1/3 of the way from the stern to the cockpit. My friends from Greenland say that they always use a skeg when racing nowadays, but not really at other times. That was the case with my kayak- it was built to go fast on flat water. From what I understand, they were used originally to make sure the kayak tracked straight after the last stroke before throwing the harpoon. I throw right handed, and my last stroke is on the right side, and if I'm not extremely careful (and sometimes when I am) it sets me on an arc and by the time I have my harpoon off the deck and I'm ready to launch it I'm throwing it sideways, which would mean back in the day I'd be presenting my entire side to the prey's view and not staying behind the shooting screen, and that I'd be much more likely to capsize, because my momentum would be carrying me away from the center line of the kayak. But then again- I only play with a harpoon for fun, I'm not trying to catch dinner.

Sounds like my best option is going to be... where it's most convenient to retrofit in relation to the hatch. Kind of where I was aiming in the first place.

m