Just curious is you have been on a lake with 4 to 6 foot waves and wind 25 mph coming at you from say 4:00, using 12:00 as your stern?

> Pete,

> My Arctic Tern does not weathercock, it will get pushed sideways (due to
> high freeboard) in strong winds, but it is nicely balanced and strong
> tracking, so it does not turn into the wind (or away from it). I actually
> raised the bow on my second Walrus to reduce weathercocking, the first one
> would turn into the wind, I am hoping that the change will take care of
> this problem, but I have not had the second one out in strong winds yet.
> It also weighs 7 lbs. less then the Tern so it gets blown around more.

> I'll give you the basics on what I understand about weathercocking.

> Kayaks that suffer from weathercocking usually turn into the wind. The
> trick is to balance the kayak so that the wind and water will have equal
> effects on both the bow and the stern. Weathercocking can be changed by
> moving the center of gravity for or aft in a kayak, so cockpit/seat
> placement can change it. To get a kayak to not weather cock you have to
> look at the shape above the waterline, below the waterline and the center
> of gravity. A kayak with a lot of freeboard will be effected by the wind
> more but you can negate weathercocking by working the the above items. The
> Arctic tern has done this, if you have enough weight(over 150 lbs.) in the
> it.

> Sorry, I don't know how the Merganser performs.

> Hope this helps, Mike