: Hi Kudzu

: I guess SOF precludes the advantages of a skeg.

: As your speed increases you will turn, no matter what, unless you use a
: rudder stroke (Rotating the torso and placing your paddle in the water
: right up near the rear gunwhale with the face outward) Some paddles work
: better than others for this. You may be lucky and find that simply leaning
: backward over the cockpit as you start going down the wave helps to keep
: the boat more on track in moderate swell. In some boats even a fairly
: minor rearward weight shift can make a fairly marked difference.

: A rudder stroke does not need to be all that aggressive. Too much paddle can
: just slow you down and can also cause one to catch a crab, and that is
: only fun for the spectators.

: Working well in even small following seas can gain one huge advantages in
: regard to covering distances.

: Et

Btw, there are all sorts of things that can be done with SOF, right now I'm trying to finish my round bottom SOF, a very highly modified Tom Yost Sea Bee, with bulkheads and hatches too.

Prototype for the method that once perfected will be applied to Tom's new Sea Dart

Bill H.